Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

Having had a 10-foot F&W Steel Star Zephyr hidden in my back building for several years, I finally struck a barter arrangement to get it put up. I'd given up not knowing how to get this done. Now I have someone who I have confidence in, who has experience, who will put it up soon. It is in good condition and is being thoroughly prepared to run again. I live in an area that sees light breezes most of the time and can, at times, get gusty/windy. I would like to learn all I can about how to care for this F&W under this environment. I've read all I can find and the fellow putting it up is already giving me a lot of good advice. I'm asking here in the hope of gaining a wider range of comments about what has served you all well in maintaining your windmills in windy areas. I do have a 29-foot reach Telco bucket truck, and hope that will help me take good care of it. I'm at an age now where ladders are not a good idea any longer. General thoughts appreciated, Dennis

Dennis is your bucket truck tall enough to get to the mill for maintenance?

Oooops.... Guess I forgot to clarify that part. He's assembling a 20-foot tower. That's intentional because my bucket truck has a, "29-foot reach." Windmill might look better on a 30-foot tower, but what we're doing is my choice for servicing it. I think it might be close getting up where I can pull the hood off to refill oil. I'm new to owning/watching/maintaining a windmill. Still trying to figure out how they behave. If I pull the sails in, can the whole thing still swing into my bucket if the wind picks up? (That would be bad) Hope this helps.

Yes even furled your windmill will still rotate back and forth. Just plan maintenance on a calm day.

That's what I thought. Might take careful planning. I wonder how long term brake maintenance is for the F&W's??????