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[Ron Stauffer]

I crunched the numbers on the prior owner. Unless he is one of those identified by DOGE still on the SS rolls, he probably isnt talking...

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

Thanks for the pics of your tailvane Larry !! It's ruled out two mills the model 98 and 99. Without a close up of the gear box can't tell if it's a 03 model or a RA. The 03 model is very similar to the 99 but is more heavy duty and has replaceable babbit bearings. The RA model has replaceable Arms. Either way Very cool mills !

[Nick48]

Ron the previous owner is long gone but he moved here in 1929 and told me the windmill was here then as the
old barn that the beams are pegged together

[Ron Stauffer]

If it was saw mill beams that were pegged that would be right. Hand hewn pegged would be 1800s. Check your anchors in the top foot that is below grade.. That is where they will rust. When I looked at your post on my desktop,
I saw your location is sw Missouri.. You are at least 25 miles from the river or it would be way more rusty. You really do need to appreciate the overall condition of it for being in the windy West.

I am assuming you are utilizing the water source under it based on the amount of electric boxes? Will the 702 be used to pump? Your tail vane fits up to a 602/702 tail bone. If.
You can locate a 723 hub for a 702 you can use those V spokes and repair the wheel. You have options to replace, hopefully you will shy away from anything from Argentina, Mexico or shiney aftermarket 702. I am not windmill prejudiced or biased but I do have an opinion...
Ron

[Nick48]

Hello Ron if it usually is in the top foot I will check the anchors, I was concerned about digging very deep and disturbing very much soil and I was going to do this before doing much to the tower, and yes I have a submergible pump in this well it a 45’ dug and rock line well that they punched and cased a 150’ cased well, I had it plastic lined and replaced the well pipe with schedule 80, could you imagine anyone hand digging a well that deep, thanks for the information on the foreign made mills, I had heard that the new Aermotor had plastic bearings ?? I want it to work and be usable, I had been looking into a rebuilt Aermotor but wanted get everything on my end taken care of first and I have been looking into having a new well drilled and if I do I would like to return to pumping water and want it to look original with a oil bath mill, there is some extra wire on the tower I had some Christmas decorations on it in the past which I need to remove as I installed underground to power the well

[Nick48]

Also Ron when we get out of this wind and rain I’m going to get some more measurements on the tower and better pictures

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

Hello Larry I'm interested in you mentioned the Mill was used to fill steam engines. Was there a water holding tank next to the Mill at one time??

[Ron Stauffer]

Larry
I have worked on enough windmills over hand dug wells to have some appreciation that some people deal better with claustrophobia than others. Either google or visit the one at Greensburg KS.

Yes anchors only seem to deteriorate close surface when air gets added to the mix provided soil ph is near neutral.

The aesthetics of anything new on that tower with the history of the windmill just wouldnt seem right with me. The import mills have plusses and minuses as well as aftermarket 702s. No one makes exact clone of the original so they are not hard to tell from an original 702. Garlock bearings are what is in the 802 model. Garlock when in a new motor with new shafts and better tolerances of machining are unbeatable regardless of what you might hear. The rez has been using 802s for close 25 years and they hold up very well in less than ideal conditions.

I dont have any 8' 723 hubs for 702 to take V spokes, just 6' and 10' 723. Tail vane, V spokes with 723 hub and fan is all the that could be moved over to a 702. Maybe you want to leave the open gear complete and hang it in the barn? I should have blades that would be a close match to your original. If you think of reusing the fan there is ways to test them to see how solid a fan it will be. That will be a single rivet wheel so aesthetically unpure to be on a 702. When you relettered the vane, was the original paint a faded red like what you painted it with or was it more the red oxide red look? Provided you traced over the original lettering well, the graphics on that tail is correct. Aermotor had build sheets for sheet metal components. The corners of your vane is like a oil bath era vane. OG vanes had corners like FIASA vanes for lack of a better description. "Tucker" was the assembly practice of putting the end of the tail bone under the support strut of the vane. There are no aging marks of it being changed any time in its life. No marks on the slotted pan head bolt to indicate it had been off.

Yes, I would still like the footprint measurements. A pic has to be square on to one side so there is no foreshortening to visually tell a 6 from a 9. None of the other 3 leg Aer towers were 6 degree like the 4 leg but this one could be. There were other manufacturers who had 6 degree 3 legs so they were out there.
Ron