Freeman Clipper 6' windmill

[windybob]

Notice in the pictures how the wheel spider runs on the front bearing case. You can even see the wear circle in a picture. This is not uncommon in mills.

[Slim]

Yeah now that you say it I do think I can see it. I guess thrust one way or another wasn’t to big a deal to the engineers hey & it’s lasted this long and it’s much older than me so who am I to judge

[windybob]

All the different types of mills I've had apart have a way to take thrust. The wind hits the front of the wheel, it has to push on something. Plus, if the gears are going to stay lined up, thrust has to be taken up in the right area. Thrust was an important measure of the design.

[Slim]

I guess what I fail to see is what takes the thrust load when the wind is at the mills back ( turned out of the wind ). I can see maybe a thrust washer at the very back of the hub shaft bearing cap maybe that’s it. Honestly I have hard time seeing how things work with just my eyes sometimes in pics I’m probably just dense when it come to windmills.

[windybob]

When the mill is off, the wind does not hit the wheel in the back. The tail pulls over sideways parallel to the wheel, and being as the tail is always with the wind, the edge of the wheel is sideways to the wind. In other words, the wind hits the wheel on the edge. In this position, there is very little if any thrust.

[Slim]

Windy you have opened my eyes much appreciated see I told you I was dense

[windybob]

Some of this stuff is difficult to wrap your brain around. It took me forever to understand how 2 swivels work at the bottom of the head, one for the pump pole, and the other for the pull cable. I thought about it long and hard for weeks. Finally I got a handle on it. LOL and you thought you were dense!

[Slim]

Yeah sometimes it’s just hard to get until you seen it in action

[Wayne]

Windy I'm still working on the 2 swivels.

[windybob]

Really! How do you get 2 items to rotate around a center line? Especially when the centerline rotates contrary to the items rotating around the outside?

There is a way I found to remember the solution by. Sure took me a long time to figure it out tho. I guess that's why people go to engineering school. lol