My Windmill Hobby

[zzvyb6]

FYI:

Gusts of the past Restoring windmills a passion for Brighton-area man (with video and photo gallery) | Livingston Daily | livingstondaily.com

 

[dave1949]

Great hobby, Bill. Thanks.

 

[Ken73]

Very cool! We stopped in at the windmill museum in Lubbock, TX last year - all kinds of makes including some that had no tail (they folded in on themselves to furl.) Do the furling mechanisms "un-furl" when the wind slows down or do you have to go reset it? Seems like all the ones I see that are stopped, have furled, and the ones going are not. (Still learning about them!)

 

[SanDucerro]

Very nice!

 

[creekbend]

I enjoyed the post. Thanks for posting.

 

[Marveltone]

Awesome stuff! I've been wanting a windmill to pump water at our barn, but they're scarce as hen's teeth up here... and expensive, too! Thanks for sharing!

Joe

 

[zzvyb6]

Very cool! We stopped in at the windmill museum in Lubbock, TX last year - all kinds of makes including some that had no tail (they folded in on themselves to furl.) Do the furling mechanisms "un-furl" when the wind slows down or do you have to go reset it? Seems like all the ones I see that are stopped, have furled, and the ones going are not. (Still learning about them!)

Those without a tail vane self-govern by the raising and lowering of a weight or the stretching of a spring. Those with a vane also have a self-governing mechanism in which the tail is offset (in a top view) from the drive shaft. As the wind blows harder, the wheel tends to fold in as a result of the offset vane stem. (The tail vane follows the wind direction). They also had a pull-out mechanism utilizing a crank winch or lever down at ground level. This allowed you to stop the action under all circumstances in case you needed to up and grease, oil or check some other operation. If you are up on the platform and the wind comes up, you could be in a LOT of trouble, especially with a safety harness on. A couple of mine even have a brake drum and a brake band to hard fix the wheel hub, all activated by the pull-out..

 

[Greenrancher]

Very interesting. I'm sure you've been to the Mid-America Windmill Museum a couple of hours south of you in Kendalville, IN. That's also an interesting place.

 

[3v0]

Thanks for sharing it is awesome.

This has to be my day for nostalgia. I visited dad's now abandoned farmstead I for the first time since 97. The windmill which was so familiar now looks like a plucked chicken. Quite sad really.