Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

I posted a while back that I had taken down a windmill on a property that I planned to restore and put back up. Come to find out, it was a 612, which I was advised not to use that as my project that I plan to put back into working life. Basically this will be used to pump water into a pond, mostly for looks, but it will be working quite often. I have found some ebay that are refurbished A702's. Does that seem like a solid route to go? I was also going to quote out new, but I like the idea of the older style. I would assume a fresh A702 mounted on a new 40ft tower would provide many years work, but should I look to go a different route?

Just make sure the seller who is selling the rebuilt 702 is honest and reliable and willing to guarantee the mill. There's been a few on the forum who got burned with rebuilt mills !!

I sent you a PM

What most consider the classic 702 or Chicago era built Aermotors of 30s, 40s and 50s have the open style hub, hot dipped riveted wheel and matching style spokes. Refurbished may or may not have the open style hub. If refurbished have new spokes, wheel, bone and vane, they will vary from the original Chicago design but will interchange. So the question becomes, how aesthetically pure do you want the head to be? Also new towers for 8' mills are 2 x 3/16 corner angle versus the original 2 1/4 x 1/8. The difference is very visually noticeable.

If it was me, I would locate a good used Chicago tower and put a genuine Aermotor 802 mill with the hot dipped wheel and vane option. Cost would be similar to refurbished with new tower. You would get the benefit of the longer lasting garlock bearing motor, and new mast and furl that comes with complete head.

Ron Stauffer
Montrose CO

Thanks for the response! I am pricing out some different options. The only towers I have found around here are pretty wasted or have been cobbled on quite a bit. Not to say they can't be fixed, but we will see.

So I bought mine off of eBay. Probably the same listing that you are looking at. Turns out it’s just a guy selling them online for Dakota Windmill out of Hurley, SD. I ended up picking mine up directly from Hurley since it was relatively close to me. I requested a Chicago era case/hub with the Chicago logo on the vane. The quality of the tower, sails, vane and all other pieces was very good. No complaints there. The main gears on the other hand were totally wrong. No clue what they were smoking up at Dakota that day On one of my former posts its been documented of everything I went through and pictures of of the original gears included with the mill and the ones I swapped it out for. Other wise it has been a very good windmill. No complaints.

As far as finding a tower. Me personally, I have no regrets buying a new tower from Dakota. Sure not quite as wide of angle iron as the OG towers but it’s all brand new. Straight pieces. Nothing bent. No fixing what someone else rigged together. Everything just went together and was perfect.
Windmill ft. Wife

It's a wonderful day when that windmill starts to sing , each has it's own song , beautiful !
and
a brave wife .

Towers are plentiful and not as rusty out this way. We go through them and they wind up being half the cost of new. In 25 years of doing this, I have never bought a new tower. There are more non aermotor towers in these two stacks of eight foot towers than I like but they were already stubbed for aer.


Ron