windmill repair guy

[rockwind1]

a friend of a friend told me about a repair guy out of grand junction who goes to arizona for a month in the winter. but can't find any contact info on the intraweb. would anyone know of him or his name? i have an old aermotor i was considering trying to get running again,, thought i might do it myself but also thought i might see what it would run for a expert to do it. i am a decent backyard mechanic.

can anyone tell me what is up with some of stuff at the bottom,, see video,, looks like a5" piece of abs pipe with some electrical wire going into it, then the main well casing with the up and down rod going into it,, then another smaller hole with some pipe and a hose bib. i am think, that back when the windmill worked,, that pipe went to the tank at the top of the hill and slowlly filled it up. there is an electric panel with a plug in for a generator so i think after the windmill either went dry or stopped working,, someone dropped a submersible pump down there and ran a generator to fill up the tank.

how did they get the submersible pump in there with the sucker rod and drop pipe still in the casing

does anyone know the easiest way to figure out water depth? here are some video's of my set up. i was thinking just a rock and a string but was worried it my get caught around that electrical wire. also why are there 2 pipes with wires going into them? i was thinking one reason it stopped pumping was that the water level dropped below the pumping rod in the casing,, so i thought i could extend it if the water wasn't too far down.

i hope i can put a youtube link on here.

[CTXmiller]

Might be Ron S you’re referring to? If so, he is on this forum.

[windybob]

That's what I was thinking...

[rockingjl]

Ron makes 2 to 4 trips a year to Arizona to do service work and put-up windmills. He especially likes making a trip in July, lol

[windybob]

But it's a dry heat. lol

[Ron Stauffer]

While the above is accurate about me, the friend relayed info is accurate also. There is a John Kroft that lives above Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction whose address is in Glade Park. He has a 40 in the Quartzite area that he goes to in the winter as was relayed. I talked to him before he headed down there right at New Years, so is still down there as far as I know.

John and my paths crossed about 20 years ago. Our life experiences have way too many parallels even tho a generation separates us. I introduce him as "Dad" which always gets a big grin.. It is race to see which one of us is going to be first to find the Lost Dutchman. I call him crazy as he scouts that area with his ultralight for old mines and windmills. But he returns the psychological assessment of me for traveling international to do high mountains. I think it is also a parallel in our lives of wanting to be high but mine keeps both feet on the ground at 20,000'...

Now, in regards to your well pit, the casings that are on the left and the right are sleeves for the water line to the tank on your left as viewed in the pic and the electric service for the sub on your right. The well is in the center with some sort of stuffing box on the pump rod. AZ water is pretty nasty so be prepared to possibly replace pipe. I have seen varying ways to set subs under windmill cylinders in AZ that I havent seen elsewhere. Your mill and tower looks to be in decent shape.

I will send you a PM with my and John's cell, we can figure something out

Ron Stauffer
Montrose CO

[arizonian]

But it's a dry heat. lol

Hey, I resemble that remark!

[rockwind1]

While the above is accurate about me, the friend relayed info is accurate also. There is a John Kroft that lives above Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction whose address is in Glade Park. He has a 40 in the Quartzite area that he goes to in the winter as was relayed. I talked to him before he headed down there right at New Years, so is still down there as far as I know.

John and my paths crossed about 20 years ago. Our life experiences have way too many parallels even tho a generation separates us. I introduce him as "Dad" which always gets a big grin.. It is race to see which one of us is going to be first to find the Lost Dutchman. I call him crazy as he scouts that area with his ultralight for old mines and windmills. But he returns the psychological assessment of me for traveling international to do high mountains. I think it is also a parallel in our lives of wanting to be high but mine keeps both feet on the ground at 20,000'...

Now, in regards to your well pit, the casings that are on the left and the right are sleeves for the water line to the tank on your left as viewed in the pic and the electric service for the sub on your right. The well is in the center with some sort of stuffing box on the pump rod. AZ water is pretty nasty so be prepared to possibly replace pipe. I have seen varying ways to set subs under windmill cylinders in AZ that I havent seen elsewhere. Your mill and tower looks to be in decent shape.

I will send you a PM with my and John's cell, we can figure something out

Ron Stauffer
Montrose CO

Thanks john. I would appreciate it. Climbing up on top of windmill tomorrow to check it out. Hey, we have something in common, I’ve been up to about 20,000 FT as well, Annapurna trek and over in Tibet.

Anyways, I was going to get one of those hamster exercise wheels and screw it onto the windmill,,, then release the hamsters and see if it will spin

I believe I sent you an email through your website, something about wind power?