Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

Hello; will be raising my steel tower next year. What is the general thinking about lightning protection? Most of these towers have been up for 100 years without incident, but still...

I would not lose any sleep over it. It's very rare, plus they are grounded good.

Thanks; windy bob. Our soil is very sandy here in northern Michigan, and I am wondering at its conductivity. Anyway, I will take your advice and not lose too much sleep; I just won't be sleeping under the tower during a thunderstorm!

PLant a tall tree next to it. That will fix it. LOL

Either way, I lose...I will have a nice big tree next to it, and then wonder why there's not enough wind to turn my mill!! (I think this is where the crying emojis are supposed to go)

If your mill ever gets hit by lightening, send me proof, and I will furnish replacement parts for shipping only. And I'm not going to lose any sleep over that either...

OK...good enough for me. Seriously, I like the idea of bolting 5' angle iron leg extensions with "T" ends to the (3) tower legs. Ground water shows up at 6' to 8' depth, so conductivity should be good. If I want to go the "belt AND suspenders" route, driving an 8 foot grounding rod bonded to each leg would be cheap insurance.

You won't need ground rods. The tower is going to be well grounded once you anchor it.

Welcome to the forum!

I this a girt that was struck by lightening . The girts,braces and tower leg all had the dendritic pattern as the lightening went to the ground. Looked like someone had taken a plasma torch to it . I have seen trees with that pattern but this was the first windmill. I saved a couple of the pieces

What were the footings for the tower? Concrete pad, or steel leg extensions directly into the earth?

This is a similar pattern I saw on a dead ash tree that was struck a couple of years back. I was standing about 100 feet from the tree when it was struck...flash-bang!!!! Splinters of bark and wood blew in a fan shape debris field for a couple of hundred feet.

You don't play around with lightning.