Six hours of digging post holes by hand, driving rammers and tensioning wire, and the Golden Pliers final at Fieldays came down to less than a point.

Fencing contractor Tony Bouskill took out the individual title in the competition.

“We don’t get to use machines for this one, and so we’ve got to get back into the good old spades and rammers,” he says.

His personal best is around five hours, but this year was a bit slower.

“It’s taking a bit of time, trying to get things perfect instead of hurrying up, so we’re all around six hours.

Six hours of competition leaves competitors exhausted.

“You start making some bad decisions, not getting things right.

“Sometimes it can be what’s in the ground when you’re holding those post hole borers.”

The competition opens with heats on the Monday of Fieldays week, with around 30 competing in the heats to find the top eight.

“It came down to under a point between first and second.”

Bouskill also won the Silver Spades doubles competition alongside his father.

“There’s always the odd little thing where you’re telling each other to change this and change that, but other than that it usually works pretty well.”

He says the best preparation is just being at work.

“That’s the place to make all your mistakes and fix the pieces, obviously without the farmer finding out too much, but it’s definitely the best training ground to have.”

CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp is our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch/listen or download the CountryWide CONNECT mobile app, available on Apple iOS and Android.