Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

With Ian on the way, I thought I might ask the question that's been on my mind. Other than pulling the mill out of the wind, is there anything I need to do to get ready? Is there anything I even can do?

And second question, I had to build my brake mechanism from scratch and I didn't quite get my measurements right. Fully pulled out of the wind, my brake is dragging but it's not locked down hard. I imagine I probably don't want it so it cannot spin, but what's the general advice for weathering a high wind event?

I don't think there's anything in the rule book when it comes to hurricanes. Maybe try praying to the windmill God!!!

If the tail comes over completely parrallel to the wheel, then the wheel is out of the wind. Circulating winds will still push the mill around, and the wheel giving a little to help absorb the wind change is desireable for a lot of folks. I think what I might do is to go up and tie the pullout fork down with another wire, just to make sure the pullout doesn't break or give. MAybe consider it "insurance".

Good luck. Hope it passes with minimal damage for everyone. My daughter lives in Jacksonville. I think she willl be out of the worst of it.

Joby i hope you and your windmill are okay down there that was one nasty hurricane.

My Daughter in Lake Helen close to Daytona Beach survived I'm thankful for. No power of course.

Mine in Jacksonville had no issues. Unfortunately, millions of others did. What a mess.

Glad kids are OK .
If we need to organize a relief effort for them let us know what we can do to help .

I'm in north-central Florida about a half-hour north of Gainesville. The storm track shifted a lot further south than they had originally predicted and I barely even noticed the weather. 1/2 inch of rain, maybe 30 MPH gusts. We lost power for about 12 hours. If I hadn't been watching the news I wouldn't have even known there was a hurricane. Good for me, but I feel for everyone who was in the path. There's months of cleanup in store for some areas. Even inland. I spoke with a city we do work for down SE of Orlando. They got 18 inches of rain and still have some sewer lift stations under water as of yesterday. I know Interstate 75 is closed in areas because it's under water. That part of the state is low and flat without a lot of rivers or streams. It's going to take a while for that water to make it to the ocean.

Joby , glad that worked out well for you !