Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

My name is Joe, I live in East central Nebraska in the Platte river valley.
I bought a Baker WC the other day, pretty sure the gearbox (I hope that's the right term) needs rebuilt. I think the gearbox was partially underwater at some point in its life, as it has worse rust on 1 side, compared to the other side. Looking forward to gleaning some knowledge from you guys as I go through the process of rebuilding and erecting this old Baker!

Rebuildable and parts can be located still for a WC. Bronze bushings for bearings. Looks to be in good shape.

Welcome to the forum.

Joe , most of us wish our windmill motors looked that good when we started our rebuild's .
enjoy the ride as there will be good days and bad days , ( look what I broke ) days but when it up catching the breeze and singing to you , WOW !

Looks like a candidate for a rebuild for sure. 15 sails, means it was a later model, from 1940 up. Very common, you can find anything you want for it. Question is......does it operate? can you turn the wheel / hub? That's important to know.

Yes. The hub rotates. It didn't want to rotate more than 1 or 1-1/2 turns until I removed some "gunk" that was embedded in the large gear teeth. I sprayed everything I could with PB blaster when I brought home. I am having trouble removing the "pin" that goes all the way through the gearbox. It is to the far left in the picture I posted.
I thought it would be easy to remove, but I was mistaken. Lol !

That pin can be really impossible. What you can do is to rotate the hub and make sure the pin is still. It supposed to be still, but if it does move with the rocker arm, it's rusted to it. Otherwise, it's a press fit into the case. I always worry about breaking the case hammering on those pins. You're most likely going to replace that shaft anyway, because they always wear really bad. Cut both sides flush with the case, soak real good, and start driving one side or the other with a drift. If it is free from the rocker arm, it should start coming out. Might work it back and forth a little, but don't mushroom the end of the shaft. It's tight enough, and mushrooming it will just be a bad stuation.

The pin does not move with the rocker arm.
I can get it to move in about 1/16".... but that's it.
I figured it would need almost every part replaced, but I didn't want to destroy something unavailable.
Is windmill-parts.com good to go?

I sent you a PM

It's good that the shaft is stable. Its a relatively common size, so a piece of cold-roll will replace it. If that shaft does not fit tight, where it comes through the case on both sides will leak oil. No doubt there will be rust on the entire length, but once you get it moving, it should come out. I would still cut it off flush with the case. Nothing is special about that shaft.