Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

That cast piece is called the tailvane hinge and the tailbone bolted to that. I can see a furl arm attached to the top of the main frame.The pullout chain hooked to the top part and a metal rod hooked on the bottom part and the tailvane hinge. When you pulled down on the chain the furl arm would pull the tailvane hinge to the furl position.

Just an update...I posted a video of the tower being lowered...well the last couple of feet of that. It all went exactly as planned. We had a tractor on one side to start the mill over and two trucks on the other side to control the decent...Two trucks because I was afraid of skidding across the grass with only one truck. I have the fan laid out just outside my shop...will be working on this over the winter. Same with the head...mounted on a post just outside the shop. If I put things in the shop there's no room to work on anything else...so the rebuild is weather related in timing. It's a rare mil...if anyone has any other information they could copy or share I'd appreciate that. I have a buddy that's a gunsmith and can do some machine work so that's a plus. Thanks all! Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Gravel Hill it's good to hear from you and am excited you're still interested in restoring your mill. Another one saved from the grave yard. Please continue to keep us posted. Thanks Dan !!

Thanks for the video Able .

I resolved myself to the fact that I can't restore this mill to its original state. Just too many things missing. So, this winter I built what I needed to make this mill function to a degree. It spins...the tail when finished will work as it should...as will the furling mechanism. I've attached a video of where I'm at right now with the mill on the test stand... I hope I've not disappointed folks with my plan to only restore to point...Frankly I just don't have the budget to make it perfect with new gears, babbit, shafts, cast parts... I'll be making the tail in the next few weeks now. On nice days I change bolts on the tower...I hope to pull it all together this summer...

thanks for posting your update . great to see it turning and parts moving around , big accomplishment , time & money is all it takes .

Any time a person takes an old mill, and makes it something special to view, and enjoy, is a success in my book. It could be a t the bottom of a junkpile, remember. I think you did good!

Agreed at least you saved what you could and it will be up and running again. Thanks!!

Thank you all for the encouragement! Some of the things I've encountered...The tower power shaft is so rusted into the carrier bearings that it's never coming apart. The bearings are cup shaped with the cup facing up. I assume as you climbed the ladder you put oil in the cups. Well a hundred years of rain sat in those cups... I'm leaving that all on the tower as I think it at least helps tell the story of how this mill was used on the farm, and it might hold the tower together better in the long run.
Since I can't cast parts, I built them with mild steel. I built a new tail bone hinge and the pullout mechanism. That should work according to my testing on the test stand. Spokes...here's where I strayed from original. Remember that all I have is a mill head and a nice fan, no spokes. So I fabricated the spokes out of 1-1/2" x 3/16" angle iron. With only pictures and parts and no real measurements to work with I had to do some math. Well when I bolted the last fan section to the spokes I was only off by a half bolt hole...it's good to be lucky. The hub I fabricated. the hub is bolted to a 5 stud wheel bearing spindle that's mounted inside the old axle shaft bore on the mill head. I hope it turns forever.
Returning this all to the tower and getting it all raised will be a big job...50 foot tower and a 13 foot mill...it's huge. I'm thinking I'll need to use the local mason's construction lift...Nice guy and he rents it out..it's a big one!
Glad you experts approve of my restoration plan...I was really afraid to post where I was going here. This farm has been here since 1883...My youngest daughter wants to move back here and live on the farm so it looks like we can keep another generation on the farm. She's still into horses and horses have been here since the beginning. It's what we do. More later! God Bless!

Great read, hope to see pics of it working again