Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

I have a customer who purchased from a neighbor (through Craigslist) a 6' Aermotor (X802) rebuilt by Muller Industries. I will be helping him erect the tower and install the mill.

This mill has new wheel, tail, spokes. I experimentally screwed a couple of the spokes into the hub, and they are not "timed" very well: the spoke clips point in all different directions instead of lining up properly.

I've had a few mills like this in the past. I think one was a new Aermotor and came with lead washers to put on the spokes to give you some fudge factor when tightening them. I dunno where one would find lead washers in this day & age.

On another job I cut some copper water pipe, flattened it out, and punched holes to make the equivalent of copper washers. That worked, but was a lot of screwing around.

I am looking on McMaster-Carr and Grainger websites, I see a myriad of sealing washers, some that are various kinds of synthetic rubber (PVC, neoprene, silicone, buna-n), others that are rubber bonded to metal. Also copper washers. And then there are wave washers or "crinkle washers" that "act like springs to compensate for tolerance variations and uneven surfaces."

Do any of you guys have a recommendation for a washer that will allow the installer to tighten spokes to varying degrees so the spoke clips line up correctly?

Number the holes on the hub with a sharpie. Screw a spoke into a numbered hole. Write the number of the hole on the spoke. Mark the direction you want the tab to face on the base of the spoke. Put the base of the spoke in a vise (not the threaded part, the part that looks like a nut) and twist the spoke (using a pipe wrench on the opposite end) until the tab is pointing in the direction you want. Screw back into the same hole to check. Straighten the spoke on an anvil or other such surface. Repeat for all the spokes. Has worked for me for many years. And no, I have not experienced any broken spokes. If the spoke you screw in needs to be twisted more than 180 degrees, try another spoke in that hole. You may have to twist one that much, but do it a little at a time. Good luck.

Through Aermotor you can get both the lead and steel shim washers. The lead washers are ineffective. The steel washers require an in and out to check for alignment and then adding washer(s) for timing. They are very thin and dont affect the wheel running true. I have twisted spokes and used Dakota anytime spokes but can do them the fastest with steel shims. Aermotor has different sizes washers for different size mills.

Ron Stauffer
Montrose CO