Cheap fix

[Kansas Rust Buzzard]

I am contemplating trying to lathe something out of steel and machining the rest out for this, of course the bearing part would be another headache. Its for a 16ft and I am sure the smartest thing I could do would be bite the bullet and buy a new one. Of course I am known for being cheap so that really hurts. ANyone got a suggestion? I suppose there is a small chance I could find a used one at the trade fair? If anyone has one in their bone pile that is coming, please let me know. This and a 3 inch deep well plunger is about all I lack but labor on the big Aermotor. Thanks

PS: I put a smaller one that is complete beside the broken one so I could send it to some local windmill people and they would know what I was looking for. Its the upper furl ring and arms (I could probably save my arms but they are bent up) for the 16ft 702.

[PaulV]

Ron Stauffer may have one in his bone pile. He works a lot with the big Aermotors. Perhaps he'll see this and chime in.

[Ron Stauffer]

I looked and I dont have any extras. Thought there was as I saw an F in the stack but it was an FE613 so a FIASA 14. Dakota has notoriety for making anything out of steel that they can instead of using cast. I think even they are still using cast for the upper furl ring. That is not something I would weld and use even if you had the pieces because if your weld brakes you are taking the head off to replace. Cheapest new is south of the border but not south of the equator

Ron

[windybob]

Wow, Ron doesn't have an upper furling ring for a 16 footer? Omg That's one of the signs that the world is coming to an end. lol

[Kansas Rust Buzzard]

Is Jim Collums on the new board? I am trying to think of people in big windmill country? I bet the freight on getting one from Mexico would be more than Aermotor would charge. Thanks

[CTXmiller]

There is a fella in Ft Sumner, NM that had a lot of large mills when I went by in the spring of 2017. Might try him. His name is Casey Norman of Mitchell’s Windmill & Supply, Inc.

[Ron Stauffer]

I have one, it is part of the package when you buy a complete. My biz was always focused on selling and installing completes. The only way I break up completes is with a large parts purchase as I found that there isnt money in selling parts. Solar has pretty much killed the large windmill market for pumping. It is just the way it is.

Casey probably has it as he got all Derrill's inventory and sells parts. He says the same about large windmills for pumping.

Ron

[Kansas Rust Buzzard]

Thanks, yea Ron, I wouldn't ask you to break up a set, my business is the same way. I didn't think they had solar that would compete with a big windmill yet? I know most of the guys around here that got rid of their mills and went solar ended up pulling them and putting in submersibles and carrying a generator around in the pickup. Of course it may be the dust, its hard to even have a green house here because you loose so much light transmission with all the blowing dirt. I will get ahold of Casey, thanks again.

[Ron Stauffer]

Aaron
If they had to pull the solar pumps and replace to run with a generator, that tells me they originally were the cheaper positive displacement pumps. Grundfos pumps can run off of either solar (DC) or gen (AC) without changing anything. Dust can be mitigated by more panels. Panels now at under $1/watt are the "cheap fix".

Ron

[Kansas Rust Buzzard]

How do you keep the solar panels clean? I got a small green house and when it don't rain you got to powerwash it. I have thought really hard about getting some solar panels but it looks like a job to keep them clean enough to work?