Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

I would try to go less on the diameter of the holes the less compacted dirt you disturb the better.

I will backfill the holes with concrete, or maybe bury 4 3000 lb ecology blocks and roto hammer some large anchors in them.

So now another side question is now that I have the tail spring installed it's very hard to apply the furl system. What do you guys do for leverage at the tower base to stop the fan?

I would guess that the bearing cap won't have babbitt. If for some odd reason it does, then you can pour babbitt, or put brass on it if needed.

We make anchors 4 ft long with a 10 or 12 inch foot on the bottom. holes bored 3 ft deep. ( give or take) position anchors, check measurements about a dozen times. Brace anchors and pour a half bag of redimix and a bucket of water. Come back later to set tower. That enough concret to hold the anchor in place, but not enough to hold it too tight if we need to move it a little bit. After setting and levelling the tower, really pack the dirt fill going back in the hole. ( local conditions, and variables such as size of mill and tower, and wind will determine alternate types of installation.)

7 degree inward angle on the foot anchors to match the tower leg angles

Kevinwterry wrote: ↑Thu Jun 27, 2024 9:15 pm So now another side question is now that I have the tail spring installed it's very hard to apply the furl system. What do you guys do for leverage at the tower base to stop the fan?

Just a longer pullout lever should be fine at the base of the tower to give you extra leverage as needed.

I’d bell out the bottom of the footer holes, so that your footer will neither sink nor pullout in high winds once some concrete is placed in that belled out area. Least that is what I do.

If you need a photo of the tailbone/buffer area, I can take a photo of the tailbone. As for the bull gear cap, the older 602s caps had babbitt. There is little to no wear to the cap when compared to the saddle. I have one bull gear cap with Babbitt that I can take a photo of, if needed.

Only the very early 602s had babbitt in the big gear bearing cap. Not needed.

Here in WI, where we used to have a thing called winter, I dig footing holes 5' deep. Here's Aermotor diagram.

Well it's been a bit since I last posted. I have since built the tower, painted it, moved it to its location. Buried 4 3800lb concrete blocks, set the stub tower on the main tower and tipped it up with the hinge method.

Now I need to work on the lower furling handle. Anyone have a good picture of what works best?

Also it's leaking oil from the snout. Possibly because when I put oil in it I poured some on the small gears. Maybe too much, and then I drained it before I set the stub tower on the main tower. It sat fan down for about a week before we tipped it up so maybe the residual oil drained to the snout and is now working it's way out. Also it's not perfectly level yet. Still need to add a few shims to the base. But it's really close. Is there suppose to be an oil seal I'm possibly missing?

Looks good Kevin!! No oil seal try running it a bit might stop leaking.