Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

I found this while digging my pond. The property had been farmed for years before they planted it in pines, and then we bought the place and started shaping it to our liking. It looks to be a brass check valve of some sort, but no one I've shown it to has been able to identify its source. It wasn't ...

Wayne- the wind was gusting more than I'd like to admit. And then an hour after we got the head set, it got calm for about 4 hours. Should have just waited it out and it would be been fine. The way we did it was a little sketchy. You're right, those little lifts sway a ton, and it takes a little bit...

Mike- No interest on any other windmills, but I do have plans for a water tower. My windmill tower is ~32 feet tall. I figure if I max out my water tower at ~25 feet I should be out of the wind, and it would give me about 10psi at ground level. I could still dump the overflow to the pond. I haven't ...

Paul- I thought long and hard about different ways to install this mill up on the tower and settled on the rental tow-behind manlift. I have some trees that need trimming in the yard so I'll tackle them while I have it for the weekend. Assembling the mill was a little tough- My "Garage" is...

Rented a tow-behind manlift and put this back up in the sky this morning. Spins smooth and quiet. Still need to source a pump, sucker rods, etc, but it’s out of the garage and in the air again.

Played pin the tail on the windmill this weekend. Any advice on whether I should try and transfer the lettering over onto the tailbone and supports? I'm not real sure how this was originally. No evidence of any of the original lettering on the tail, none on the tailbone or supports either. None that...

Finally got paint on the new tail metal. Turned into a family event, I got help from my 11 year old, my 8 year old, and my 5 year old. I cut in the edges, they painted in the middle of each letter. Might be my favorite thing I've done on this project so far. I also bought new galvanized hardware to ...

"Lip Joint" sounds like my situation. My bonnet sits onto of the case, the case and bonnet overlaps, the bonnet on the outside, the case on the inside. I'll get humidity condensing in my case but there's nothing I'll be able to do about that even if I sealed the bonnet to the case.

Well crap. When you install a bonnet what do you use to seal it? Wasn't on my radar until I read this.

Picked up my new front bearing yesterday. Need to see how well the machinist did on the OD. It's supposed to be a press-fit. I'm hoping I can get this all re-assembled this weekend or next so I can see how my oil flow to the front bearing. I'm planing on assembling it all but leaving the front hub a...