Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

I'm rebuilding the sails on an 8ft Aermotor and have a couple questions.

I know I can get entire sails direct from Aermotor, but some of mine aren't all bad so I was thinking I would rebuild them.

Is the basic process just to grind off the rivets, take them apart, form them basically into shape and use galvanized bolts to put it in place?

Seems like its a lot of work to get this piece off and the sail removed. And some are missing the tabs, so I was thinking of making new ones on the plasma cutter.

The answers are all yes. You can buy galvanized 20 guage sheet for cheap. We use regular plated nuts and bolts. Alway use lock washers. everything can be straightened.

There are two ways you can remove the old rivets you can either grind them or drill them i prefer to drill them that way you don't grind the galvanized off the sails

I made a round block of wood to hammer against and I do one sail every couple days, I don't want to get burned out by doing them all in a row.

When you take the sail off that weird little bracket, do you just bend the tabs out of the way (Blue Arrow), sometimes the tabs just break off (orange arrow).

Slide the clip down the sail. I have also brazed the clip tabs back together on occasion.

And I also drill out the rivets when I can.

Kevin , looks like you have the rebuild under control , it appears you have the skills !

Thanks, I pretend to know what I am doing until it works. Taking a break from the sails, I very carefully drilled out the main shaft and drove it out. The old one just broke off and fell to the ground, that's why I am fixing the sails. Instead of press fitting on a new shaft, I was thinking of threading the end and bolting it on. Is that a bad idea? It scares me to apply force to this hub.

If you are nervous, try heating the hub and put the shaft in the freezer. I've pressed many on, and not had issues and without heating/cooling.

The old one just broke off and fell to the ground, that's why I am fixing the sails. Instead of press fitting on a new shaft, I was thinking of threading the end and bolting it on. Is that a bad idea?

Yes, it is a bad idea. The same thought process was done as part of the re engineering of Aermotor when Valley Pump purchased them 45 years ago with some added green paint. There were lots of wheels falling off, remedy was welding them fast.

A link to shaft replacement:
viewtopic.php?p=25253&hilit=peening+shaft#p25253

BEFORE you get too keen on putting a shaft in that hub, you need to assess the wear on the case snout and the inside of the hub. The oil collector can hold the wheel in the air a long time after the shaft breaks until it wears the collector enough to fall off. The oil reservoir ring on the snout can be repaired easily. 2.68” is the desired OD. The inside of the hub should have a defined lip next to the oil cavity. It’s dimension is a couple thousandths larger than the snout ring. There is no easy repair if it is worn. It isn’t common to have a reusable hub after a shaft failure, so good luck.

Ron Stauffer
Montrose CO