Monitor WC vs AC

[LoTec]

A potential customer texted me some photos of his windmill. I am doing some studying before I drive 250+ miles to go look at it in the flesh.

It's a Baker Monitor mill. Enclosed oil bath with the dome shaped cover. Probably eight foot wheel. Judging by the fact that it's got the long pipe sticking up out of the top of the tower, with the turntable down under the storm stay, it could be an AC mill or an early WC. I am thinking WC, though, because it has a five section wheel.

i am a bit puzzled by the combination of the long neck and the five section wheel. All the ACs and the other early long neck WCs I can recall working on had six section wheels. I think I've also seen later model WCs (with turntable on top of tower instead of under storm stay) with six section wheels, so I was assuming Baker switched to five section wheels sometime after switching to the tower top mounting system.

I suppose it's possible that sometime in the last half century someone rebuilt this mill with an early long neck motor and put a later model five section hub and wheel on it.

Anybody here have any insight for me into the historical timeline of Monitor mill evolution?

[windybob]

I never could find out a year when Monitor went from 6 to 5. I just figured it was during or around the depression as a cost cutting measure. Same as Dempster. I don't think it would be a stretch to have a long neck 5 section WC. There was so much overlap in mill design and sales, from Baker, that nothing would surprise me. In 40, they put the turntable on the top, and in 41 they changed to a vertical tail. I do know that in 41, some 8 footers still had 6 section wheels, I try to get them when I can because they look really nice with the full 18 sail wheel. And they sit on the top of the tower. Next time I get to the shop I will check to see if the AC had the slotted hub like a Hambone.

[CTXmiller]

I have had two WC long necks and both were 5 section. I have had one WC pull-out model and it came with a 6 section hub. I have a WE with a vertical vane and it is 6 section.

I don’t have any better information as to when or why they changed.