windmill

If you find two..dibs on the 2nd one.

Gunner, Bakersfield

Political Correctness

A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

No, but I did run across a neat book that tells how to find, identify and rebuild those old Depression-era wind generators. Pretty interesting stuff.

In North Central Texas a good used windmill tower will bring $1000 to

1500. I prefer a minimum height of 27ft. You need the extra room for casing above ground level and PVC is 20 and Steel Pipe 21 ft. Pipe elevators will use about 18 inches. So I can say with accuracy, because I have a love hate relationship with windmills, a windmill tower cannot be too tall. I think a better design would be setting a large diameter pipe just to one side of the well. Next place a small pump jack between the well and pipe. The pump rod would work the tail of the pump jack and the pivot point of the pump jack could be move to adjust the stroke of the plunger or traveling valve. Counter balance weights would be added to the beam . In theory one could move a considerable amount of water if there is windmill fuel.

Anyway a used windmill just sitting there is worth a LOT of money. There has been quite a few people wanting windmills set on wells or just set up to look at in their yards. You are not alone. To make a wild statement "everyone wants one".

Scott in Texas

Back on the farm we had two windmills up on the hill. There wasn't enough wind to run them, so we had to take one of them down.

sorry, not in socal, so-ny state, just wanted to show off this photo i took this past summer of my (aermotor)

windmill. (i think i posted this link here at the time).

b.w.

Rex - what's the title/author of that book?

Also, anybody know what the typical pumping rate is of the old windmills?

Hul

Rex wrote:

I don't recall, but I'll look tonight. Also, I misunderstood the original post, which apparently was about the old water-pumping windmills. This book is about the wind-power generators which were sold to remote farms back in the 1930s, before the electric lines got out there.

I do recall it was written about 1970. An interesting chapter was devoted to approaching remote farmsteads and dealing with wary backwoods types, and their dogs etc. How to spot the types of towers that indicate a wind generator head might be stashed in the barn. Then it went into minute detail about the two major brands that were out there and how to disassemble and rebuild each component to restore the unit to original working order or better. Very interesting book.

Many variables; wind speed, wheel diameter, well depth, working barrel size, etc.

--Andy Asberry recommends NewsGuy--

1 7/8's working barrell maximum production with a 8ft-16ft head 180 gallons per hour or 3 GPM. 12 MPH wind reduced 20%, 10 MPH reduced 38%, a short stroke reduces capacity by 25%. 1 7/8's is the most common size deep well cylinder used with 2" pipe. Most of the time I figure 1.5 to 2 GPM rule of thumb. I think the maximum speed is 18 MPH, then it starts braking itself (slowing down to maintian constant speed).

What would be the pumping rate with the 1 7/8 pump in an 18 mph wind from a 500 ft deap well? And, did the "8ft-16ft head" refer to well depth or maybe prop diameter?

Hul

The head is the windmill ( head= fan+ Motor+ tail) top section. It would take a 14 or 16 ft head to pump from that depth. 14ft maxes out at 560 ft a 16 ft maxes out at 920 ft. The GPM should be 3 at 18 MPH. A 16 ft mill has a 14 7/8s long stroke and a 11 3/8s short stroke. Short stroke increases pumping elevation 1/3 and reduces capacity 1/4. Wheel RPM at 18 to 20 MPH wind is 53. Strokes per minute is 16. Another almost useless fact. The head on a 16 fter weighs 2510 LBS. There are none in my area. It is possible to see some in West Texas or New Mexico that I know of. They are the equivalant of a 6 FT RATTLESNAKE....you do not see them that often. I have seen one 6 fter and it was stuffed. Largest I have seen alive ( Western Diamondback) not timberrattler 66 or 67 inches....it still had somekinks in it.

Scott in Texas

SNIP

I think we should point out here that it is not the depth of the well hole that determines the size mill needed. It is the distance to the water that matters.

Scott, where are you in Texas? I've worked on several 14s in Hood county.

--Andy Asberry--

------Texas-----

That sounds about right. I just replaced my windmill pump jack with a submersible. I got tired of fixing the old system. It had to run constantly to maintain enough water. Now the submersible runs for about an hour a week to keep the cistern full of water.

I figure the old pump jack was around 1.5-2 gpm. The submersible is around 20 gpm.

The original pump jack system is fine, but is much more particular about mainenance. The whole pump jack is a maintenance item itself. Then there is the pump in the bottom of the well. Then someone has to maintain the windmill head at the top of the windmill. Also very particular about any airleaks above the water but below the outlet(drains back before leaving the pipe).

If you dont' have power near where you need water it is a good solution, but if you have electricity, or can run a fuel powered pump it is a lot better IMHO. It depends on your application.

FWIW - Having the windmill tower there was a godsend. I pulled my own well pump w/ block and tackle and dropped a submersible down for under $100. Beats the heck out of the $3k+ the "pros" wanted to do it. And I had it done in about the same amount of time they estimated to do it with a boom truck.(about 6 hrs).

JW

RIght near the Big city of De Leon. I was writing about a 16 ft windmill. There are not many of them out there. Tons of 6 to 10 fter's. My love hate relationship with a windmill is the owners of the windmills. Most people believe it is cheap water. I think, feel,and Believe it is the most expensive to pump. Air is free everything else is not. When people call me and say:"I think all you have to do is pull it and put on some new leathers. They need to help me pull it in the worst possible conditions involving the maximum involvment of human labor, then they might appreciate it when they just want to patch the situation and hope it will last a few months. In short they will fix it right the first time and not have to do it again and not complain about pulling charges or cost of materials. Things have gone up since 1919. This is the mindset of some windmill owners " I can pump all this water for FREE." When they get the bill for install or repair they say " I could have done it cheaper with a submersible." Yes that is what I tried to tell them. The funniest story I can think of is ...A man from Houston calls me says he bought a place and drilled a well. Asks me to install pipe rods and working barrell. I ask what is the water for. He says for my new house. I told him he was insane. But he admonished me by saying "my wife and I like windmills, how they look, how they sound, etc". I told him they only pump when the wind blows and the wind does not always blow. He says the WIND ALWAYS BLOWS ON MY PLACE. Ok he puts in a storage tank and booster pump to his house. Life is good. He calls me about 2 to 3 years later. He says I have company coming and the windmill is not pumping can you come and repair it. This was 6 or 7 pm. I get there and repair the problem and ask how has his system worked. He said hit and miss. One time he said the wind did not blow for 14 days straight. What did you do I asked. He said he called the volunteer Fire department to bring him some water. I put a submersible on the working barrell a few days later.

Scott in Texas

Scott - thanks for the info.

Hul

I agree with your point about free wind being a lot different than free water. But any setup with proper storage ought to be able to make up for the variability of wind. Around here, on two-pump systems, 2500 gallon poly storage tanks are popular. They cost about $800. At say,

100 gallons a day, that's enough water for 3 weeks, which should generaly be plenty if a wind-powered pump is installed in a suitable area.

Wayne

So now, he can kick in the submersible if the wind doesn't't blow?

--Andy Asberry--

------Texas-----

Correct. It is best to T in a foot valve for the windmill just below the working barrell. It is best not to draw water through the submersible to protect the thrust bearing in the motor. If you have ball checks in the barrell change them over to a spool check. I usually put in a regular F x F submersible check valve just below the barrell to be double checked. 99% of the time water in the column pipe will not leak back at all, thus increasing production. If you really want to get wild you could put a stuffing box on top and pressure up the system, just in case your submersible outruns the line going to the storage tank.