Windmill Restoration

[zzvyb6]

This project has been underway since the long rainy season kept me in the machine shed. This is a fully restored Flint & Walling Star 37 also called a Zephyr model. Because its has some extra preminum parts (bronze bushings in the tailbone and roll bearing on the drive shaft), its a "Super" version. I had to make a few new parts (oil pump, bonnet, pullout swivel) and fix a few others (tailbone, straighten tower angle iron, bullet holes in the fan) but she's a workin girl.

This is a back geared oil bath model from the late '30s that was popular here in Michigan. Bought it out in Cedar Springs and brought her home in parts.

You need a tractor and a loader to put these together. This is the second one on the property as a working mill. Another one just like this Zephyr is gradually going together in the shop right now. The fan fell down off the motor and got seriously crumpled.

Because of the economy and the demand for scrap metal, these old jewels are getting pretty scarce in the state. This is NOT Chinese crap iron....

 

[ultrarunner]

Quite a project and you should be proud turning back the hands of time.

 

[crash325]

Thanks for the pictures and story. Love old wind mills. :thumbsup:

This part of the world use to have lots of them. They were a different style than yours. They had worked for many, many years with little on no up keep. Our fine Govermeant , tore them down and trashed them.

One ranch had a wind mill that pumped at 500', he called it the "deep Well".

 

[tmshort]

Now that is COOL!

Thanks for the pictures!

 

[dodge man]

There is a place near Quincy Illinois, that has about a dozen old wind mills. The are installed on short towers, which I assume are just part of the tower. I don't know if these are brand new or restored, but I assume they are restored wind mills.

At work one day I was on a levee near the Mississippi, and saw an old one that must have been double or triple the size of a normal windmill. It was used to pump water out of a levee district. It had either fallen over or been take down and just dropped next to the tower.

Thanks for sharing the photos.

 

[valley]

Very interesting looking mill. Good for you!

 

[MotorSeven]

ZZ nice job! Those old wind mills are really neat. Heck of a man lift you have there.

 

[MillWeld]

Are you going to use it to pump water? make electricity?

 

[dapper]

ZZ
Nice Job. How tall is the wheel and tower? Looks like about 10' wheel, on a 40' tower? You say it is working wheel? How far are you lifting? Love to see these old mills taken care of. Even if they don't/can't work anymore, they are just a great piece of art work when flying in the breeze.
For my wedding present my wife bought me a 8' Aermotor on a 35' tower. The Aermotor was new and was installed over an existing 40' drilled well. It has been sailing along for 11 years now, and always brings a smile to my face whenever I look up and see "Millie" running.
Glad to see someone appreciate these as well. :thumbsup:

 

[jake98]

I'd love to have one of those! The ones that are left around here are rare, and look like there's not much left to them. But I suppose that's what restoration is all about..

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

That 3rd pic has the dog wondering "why would anyone want to climb that high up?".

My buddy just sold an Aermotor without a tower. Needed the blades/fan repaired and who knows what to the internals. Got $300 for it. They hold their value.

 

[looknlearn]

That looks like a nice project you got there. Good to see some of those old windmills in use. I hate to see the old stuff which has lasted for the last 75 years with almost no maintenance be scrapped and the stuff made now won't last near as long with meticulous maintenance. Things used to be made to work and last for decades. Now most things are made so they can sell something and get rich and they have no real thought of the end user. Though I will say, there are a select few companies that still make things to last and their prices match that.

Any way, getting off the soap box, here is a place that restores and sells the old windmills.
American Windmills

 

[AHNC]

I installed a few of them back in the late 70's. They were Bakers. We put one up on the side of Mt St Helena, overlooking Calistoga, CA. We pumped to a 10k gallon water tank. Got it going and everything was great that Fri. Had a bit of a blow that night so I went back up to look at it the following morning and the whole tower was bent back like a flower stem. Plan B, not the factories angle iron tower, worked.

 

[mooseracing]

T
Because of the economy and the demand for scrap metal, these old jewels are getting pretty scarce in the state. This is NOT Chinese crap iron....

I've been trying to track one down, but the prices that I have seen, make me think they are made of gold.

Lake Odessa has a place in town that specializes in parts for the old brands as well.

I've been driving the back roads looking, but I have gone north towards Ceder Springs in awhile.

 

[Big Thom]

My uncle had an old wind mill on the family farm. It was still pumping when I was a kid (50 years ago). When he took over the farm, he pulled it down and use his old Case to drag it back into the woods - to rust. I think it was an
old Flint and Walling as the farm was about 15 miles south of Kendalville, IN. where they sued toi make them.
Would the tower and blades still be worth anything today?

 

[Big Thom]

My uncle had an old wind mill on the family farm. It was still pumping when I was a kid (50 years ago). When he took over the farm, he pulled it down and use his old Case to drag it back into the woods - to rust. I think it was an
old Flint and Walling as the farm was about 15 miles south of Kendalville, IN. where they used to make them.
Would the tower and blades still be worth anything today?