Windmill Questions

[edmartin]

Ok folks, give me your comments, experiences, and suggestions. I have an unused 2 inch well on my farm. I'd like to install a windmill for a reliable, no power backup. My wife and I want to use either a Aermotor or Demptster for that old farm look. I also want to use one of the hand pumps that connects to the sucker rod. Keep in mind this is only a backup water source.

 

[Army grunt]

Do you mean a 2 ft. well? so its a boared well, how deep is it?
Army Grunt

 

[DanD78]

Google Bennett supply in Colorado. They have everything you would ever want for wells and wind mills. They have pumps for 2" wells.

Water Well Submersible Pumps, Sump Pumps and Sewage Pumps, Aermotor Windmills and all water well supplies and accessories.

Dan D.

 

[zzvyb6]

I have a couple of working windmills on the property. Mine are Flint & Walling brand. Star 26 and Star Zephyr out in the fields. You should check the local Craigslist cities in your area to find one that's 4 sale all ready to go. A 30' tower with an 8' fan and a couple of brands in working condition go for about $1000 to $2000 around here. Brand new will be $1000 more. All kinds of pumps and cylinders are available, too, both new and used on eBay. Its no big deal to put up a tower over an existing well using a tractor. Adding the motor and fan is pretty straight forward as long as you are not afraid of heights. Get the well checked out first to make sure its sanitary and has the volume capability. Be on the lookout for a pump jack that allows you to cycle the pump with a hit/miss engine. Then the Cool Factor is HUGE !

The clone of Frank Lloyd Wright's "Romeo & Juliet" windmill (last picture), has a tank built right into the tower. That would give you water pressure in the house if that's a requirement.

Getting an older one from the '20s or '30s and fixing it up will give you a lot of pride and satisfaction. Parts are available or can be made in-house using simple tools.

Although the flow rate is not high, a 2" cylinder with a 4" stroke can produce a lot of water over a 24 hour period in a mild wind.

 

[dieselbeef]

its alot more complicated a machine than ya think. it was fer me anyways. easy enought to put up tho. we built it on the grnd and stood it up. the downfall of this is tho that the well has to be very close to dead center under it..itll work if its not perfect but wears the rods and stuff a bit funny.
right now mines not puping because the well isnt deep enugh..we jetted it and it dries up once in a while..mostly for decoration anyways.
i also just got word i have one avail. mines a 8 ftr and the one i am buying is a 6 ftr. both on 20 ft towers
takin it down will be a chore..no crane or anything. we will tip it over with a cpl tractors and lower it onto a trlr.

i dug 3 ft holes and drove a 6 ft rod into the ground and set the windmill. squared it off using all thread on the feet and poured em full of concrete.

theyre awesome. cant wait to get the next one!
gary

 

[edmartin]

Thanks for the help. I should have more specific about the well itself. It's a 2" ID with a galvanized casing. I plan on having the water tested as soon as I get the old sucker rod out. If I had to guess it's probably about 40 to 50 years old. Judging from the depth of my other well and my neighbors it's probably 180 to 200 feet deep. I have no idea about the water level though. From what I've read, I'm going to need a 40' tower and an 8' mill. Like I said, this is just for a backup water supply. But I am certain I want the hand pump that can go in line with the mill sucker rod. Thanks again.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Thanks for the help. I should have more specific about the well itself. It's a 2" ID with a galvanized casing. I plan on having the water tested as soon as I get the old sucker rod out. If I had to guess it's probably about 40 to 50 years old. Judging from the depth of my other well and my neighbors it's probably 180 to 200 feet deep. I have no idea about the water level though. From what I've read, I'm going to need a 40' tower and an 8' mill. Like I said, this is just for a backup water supply. But I am certain I want the hand pump that can go in line with the mill sucker rod. Thanks again.

If you actually have to pump the water up 200', you will need to jump up to a 10' mill. The maximum lift with an 8' mill and a 2" pump is going to be 140'. Even if you were to drop down to a 1 3/4" pump, it will only lift 185'.

A new 10' mill and 40' tower is going to run you in the $10,000 range. Better get looking for a GOOD used one. Don't bother with an old warn out unit, it will cost you quite a bit of money to get it rebuilt. We did a 12 footer on a 40' tower for a guy. He had bought a used mill and tower. When it was all said and done, we could have sold and installed a new mill & tower for about the same price as what it ended up costing him fooling around with all the used warn out stuff.

Just giving you a heads up, when looking at stuff, you need to know what you are looking at.

Good luck.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I have a couple of working windmills on the property. Mine are Flint & Walling brand. Star 26 and Star Zephyr out in the fields. You should check the local Craigslist cities in your area to find one that's 4 sale all ready to go. A 30' tower with an 8' fan and a couple of brands in working condition go for about $1000 to $2000 around here. Brand new will be $1000 more. All kinds of pumps and cylinders are available, too, both new and used on eBay. Its no big deal to put up a tower over an existing well using a tractor. Adding the motor and fan is pretty straight forward as long as you are not afraid of heights. Get the well checked out first to make sure its sanitary and has the volume capability. Be on the lookout for a pump jack that allows you to cycle the pump with a hit/miss engine. Then the Cool Factor is HUGE !

The clone of Frank Lloyd Wright's "Romeo & Juliet" windmill (last picture), has a tank built right into the tower. That would give you water pressure in the house if that's a requirement.

Getting an older one from the '20s or '30s and fixing it up will give you a lot of pride and satisfaction. Parts are available or can be made in-house using simple tools.

Although the flow rate is not high, a 2" cylinder with a 4" stroke can produce a lot of water over a 24 hour period in a mild wind.

The Romeo and Juliet windmill is very interesting; I've never seen anything like it. What's the story on it? Do you know who built it and when...and what's the purpose of the turret...etc?

Dennis.

 

[Depmandog]

I checked into putting up a windmill a few years back. My purpose was transferring water from a low spot in my property up to a ditch. Never got around to it, but then we never built the house we were going to either.

Anyways, I was thinking of a old farm rescued unit. But I learned the old ones have bearings that use an oil reservoir that needs oil a couple of times a year, while the new ones have sealed bearings. Don't know about you, but climbing that tower twice a year doesn't sound fun at all. So I was leaning towards new.

My two cents

Dean

 

[TheGoose]

Most of the windmills I have seen used with 2" wells had the cylinder above the ground. In fact all of the windmills I have seen on 2" wells had above ground cylinders.

In order to use an above ground cylinder you would need a water level that is not more than 25 ft from the surface. Anything more than 25' it will not pull the water up. Really 25' is the max, it really needs to be about 10-15'.

I suppose a 1-7/8" cylinder could fit in a 2" well, but I have never seen one. Most older windmills here either use a 2.5" or 3" casing.

http://www.deanbennett.com/cylinder.htm

Here is a link to a 1-7/8" cylinder. Good luck.