I will attempt to answer the responses so far in this one posting.

I used what I had on hand for the tower and generator.

I had the flange bearing in the barn, so I used it.

The pipe in pipe was used because it was a quick fix and I had it on hand.

I also think the 1 1/2 inch pipe is too small.
And the stub is too long.

All these corrections are on the list of things to do. But as
most of you know, it takes time to get to these things.

Have been looking for larger pipe for a while now. I only go
to town about once a month, ( and to the big city about once
every 3 months), so it takes a while to find salvage steel and pipe.

I have been thinking about the thrust bearing concept as mentioned
by DaveB and DanB. What I was thinking was using a thick piece
of HDPE (1/2 inch or so) as the washer instead of brass. Our
Canadian friends call this puckboard.
Has anyone already tried this????