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Timber getters and their bullock teams are long gone. However, they played a major role in the development of early North Coast settlements. Bullock teams hauled logs to a waterway, or in the steep country to chutes, where the logs could be launched. Bullock teams hauled the timber out of the forests to the sawmills, the railway stations and also to the wharves for the journey to Brisbane. There were often several bullock teams in and around railway yards at one time. A bullock team consists of 12 to 24 desexed bulls (they can be of any breed) that are paired to perform heavy work. Bullocks were named and answered to their name. The pairs were generally named with alliteration – Ringer and Ranger, Tom and Tiger, or Sam and Sonny. The key to operating the team was creating a bond between the working pair and training an excellent pair as leaders. The bullocks who made up the team behind the leaders were called the polers. A good team could pull a load of up to ten tons of weight. With strong necks, they were then yoked together, which transferred their power through a pole or chain to pull the heavy load – either timber or other agricultural loads. Source; www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/ringer-and-ranger-tom-and-tiger-n...

Bingera, a sugar-industry locality, is midway between Bundaberg and Gin Gin. In 1883 William Gibson, a sugar grower who had started in Hemmant, Brisbane, purchased some land on the north side of the Burnett River. His sons were partners in the venture, and another Hemmant planter, John Howes and Bros, contributed financial backing. The Bingera Plantation (named after a pastoral station) was established, and a large crushing mill was operational by 1885. 'Bingera' is thought to be derived from an Aboriginal word indicating bream (fish). Gibson and Howes had a railway siding to their mill, and Gibsons Siding was renamed Bingera in 1897. Bingera was the biggest mill in the Bundaberg area and its plantation was not subdivided into farms. Source: queenslandplaces.com.au/bingera-and-south-bingera#:~:text...(named%20after,was%20renamed%20Bingera%20in%201897

BULLOCK teams were once a common sight across Australia. Working at a slow, steady pace, the yoked cattle hauled supplies for early explorers, ploughed fields, threshed grain, pulled logs for the timber industry and were a` key method of transport for the wool sector. Source: Heavy-hauling bullock teams are a tradition slowly passinghttps://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au › news-story

According to Mr Lockwood, bullocks are far more intelligent than most people give them credit for, and while verbal commands are important, much of the communication between him and the bullock team is unspoken. "Yoking up is pretty hard and they are big boys. They knock you around a little bit," he said. "They are not dangerous but they are heavy, so you have to be fairly staunch to be working around them. "You can have all the knowledge in the world, but honestly it's in your heart. "There's verbal commands, but even my persona around the bullocks, the way I stand, it's a reflection of everything that goes together, so it's pretty personal." Source: www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-09/bullock-teams-keep-alive-a...