Samson

[Wind Charger Mike]

I'm about 40 minutes from Bastrop, be glad to help if I can. I looked at it a couple weeks back. You're going to need a boom with some capacity to reach out over and lift to get the weight off the vanes to disassemble. Flatbed trailer would be a lot easier to load. Its hard to assess the condition the way its sitting, been laying there for about 7 yrs. The Bastrop fire got to the wood platform, that's about the time it was taken down. It was supposedly operational prior to that. Don't know if shaft is bent or any castings are cracked. I noticed one of the radial arms with a slight bend. It has the "special spread tower" which is nice. The challenge of just dealing with the size of this monster is appealing to me but I don't need another project.

[PaulV]

I certainly don't need another project. I already have a 16' Aermotor waiting in queue. It's hard for me to resist a challenge though. Been looking for one this big for a while. Tough to resist trying to save it. Perhaps the stars will align and everything needed will come together to make this possible.

[MAS]

I agree with Mike a flat bed and a crane would be the way to go. The tail is about the size of garage door. Blades are close to 6'.

[PaulV]

Thanks Jim, Wayne and Wind Charger Mike for your offers to help

[kozzy]

I have a bit of advice. Take a TON of photos of everything you disassemble before you take it apart. On our 20' Samson, the crew got a bit too energetic and there are some re-assembly issues that I'm scrambling to figure out. Better photos would have helped a LOT in that (I wasn't able to be there on disassembly day)

Also, you might find a lot of casting damage to the incidental castings. We've run across a half dozen places where something like an ear was broken off. The castings have a LOT of flaws in them and tend to be quite porous so are prone to damage. If you find bits missing, it might be worth running around the area with a metal detector after to find any broken pieces. Its usually easier to re-weld than re-make so those little bits can save time.

Bag and label all the bolts your remove. They binned ours in one bucket and sorting what came from where is becoming a bit of a pain. Though most are being replaced anyway, it would have been easier to do that with a well marked original to reference.

I know that the above is obvious but on a hot day with a hard-to-handle windmill, it's easy to rush and that will come back to bite you.

Oh..and dang, a good set of 8 point sockets for square bolts and nuts is sure worth the expense On our 20', they seemed to use a ton of different sizes rather than narrowing it down. The bolt heads are also different in size than the nuts that go on them with square bolts and that can be frustrating to people who haven't learned that fact yet.

Here's an example of the type of casting damage I am speaking of and a flaw in the casting showing why it failed. Large inclusion.

Pullout hook.jpg

Casting defect.jpg

[windybob]

I would follow every single one of those ideas.

[Mister Ed]

Todd (and maybe Jim K) did the one down at Kendallville. They may be able to provide some advice or pitfalls to avoid. I don't recall off hand if that's an 18' or 20'.

[PaulV]

Some very good advice for sure. Much appreciated.

I've not inquired on the mill yet, and am hesitant to until I can get a handle on lift and transport options.

A truck and flatbed trailer would be perfect, but I do not have anything substantial enough for this task. I usually rent box trucks for my windmill adventures. A large Penske truck has the capacity and would hold the entire mill and tower. Loading the head into the back would be problematic. Any ideas??

Unsure of the feasibility of procuring a crane or boom truck for a day or two. Disassembly is not going to be quick.

[Wayne]

I can offer you the use of a 24ft Goose neck. It is what I call a low boy. Bed in between the wheels. It hauled my Super M Farmall with front end loader from Tyler so I'm thinking it would haul the Samson. I would have to get it inspected and tagged. Haven't needed it since the move so it hasn't left the yard since 2017. Haven't wanted to spend the $150 to get tagged if I don't need it. You would of course have to bring it home when it was empty. That way maybe you could disassembled Samson have it all layed out and ready to load before you rented the lift. The trailer would certainly be easier to load and unload.

[PaulV]

Thanks Wayne! I may come calling.