Monday June 12

[DanB]

Yesterday George and I spent the day butchering perhaps 50 trees - some tiny - some large, to make room for my tower.  Had to do it - trees are everywhere and this was the  flattest/best spot on the property for my new tower.  Once that was done (it took all day in 90 deg weather) we layed out exactly where the tower and the anchors will be.  

Pictured above is the rear end/rear spring/driveshaft assembly from a Model A Ford.  We'll put these about 6' under and they'll serve as the 'dead men' for 3 of the guy wire anchors.  The drive shaft will stick out barely and we'll weld to that to attach guy wires.

Here's a very heavy (I estimate at least 1200 pounds) old 10KW Okeef Merit military generator with a Jeep engine.  This will also go 6' under, and we'll weld various bits of steel and re-bar to it and then pour concrete over it for the 4th anchor (this is where the winch to hoist the tower will exist).

Tomorrow we'll have a backhoe up to dig the holes.

Last week I spent about $500 on cable, cable clamps and thimbles and chunks of steel to make the base of the tower.  We'll probably get the base welded up on Thursday with any luck.

Flash is excited about barking at rodents/rabbits that'll be hiding in the 10' wide, 10' high and 30' long slash pile we made yesterday!  It was a busy day in HOT weather - I'm glad that parts done.  It's been way too hot and dry up here this year - the worst I ever remember.

[terry5732]

Those will be some big holes for the anchors - I'll put $20 on hitting some big rocks.

I'm still freezin

[DanB]

Im afraid I can't take that bet..

yes- the plan is still open depending on how the digging goes.  

[jmk]

 Looks like anouther bon fire! Did you guys have the flys to fight off in that 95 degree heat? Looks like you have been working hard.

 I just made anouther section for my tower. I made my tower out of that 7/16" wall 3" outer diameter pipe. It weighs 1,100 lbs at 54' now. The gin pole weighs about six hundred at 26'. You might like the block and tackel method. I put a double at the top, and a double at the bottom. Then I put a single at the hinge and acualy pulled from about 160 degres. It was 180' of cable on the pulling down the hill in the picture. It reduced my pull to 1/4 the pull if I were to pull it straight. I was able to idle my lawn mower in reverse, and even get off it to check the guys where a tree gets in the way. I will cut some trees to get my van back there when I do the final lift. I was surprised it was so easy to lift. I bought the pulleys on e-bay for $13 a peice. They where acualy singles put together as double blocks. The gin pole was going about 1' for every 4' I drove down the hill. A big winch is the way to go but they cost so much.

[wooferhound]

It's been trying to be 100º this past week here in North Alabama. You guys are lucky. I hope Flash the dog was happy about you scaring the varmets out of the foliage when you were cutting down the trees . . .

[richhagen]

I was just thinking that I didn't know where you'd find 6 feet of dirt above the bedrock up there.  Rich

[ruddycrazy]

Hiya Dan,

         Sheesh mate what a waste using that old genset with the jeep engine. I suppose the motor is seizd up and the genset is buggered for you to give it a burial. One would of thought a cube or 2 of cement would be the best solution and by using your scrap steel would make for good re-enforcing. But each to his own, best of luck with the fabrication of the base and I can't wait to see some photo's when it's all finished.

Cheers Bryan

[hvirtane]

old 10KW Okeef Merit military generator with a Jeep engine.  This will also go 6' under,

To bury that underground... I think it is wasting of good things, which could be useful for somebody else. Why not trying to sell the machine using 'classifieds' and then using concrete?

Some time ago one of my friends intended to use

an old boat engine for the same purpose.

the machine is now in my shed.

- Hannu

[JeroenH]

DanB,

The size to which your projects are growing amazes me.... When can we expect MW-sized turbines? It is fun to follow the progress on the otherpower website from the small discbrake turbines to the 17ft version.

Do you have some formal training to judge the stresses in metal constructions like this? I wouldn't want to be around when the storm of the century comes along and this tower comes crashing down (Don't get me wrong: I sure hope it won't!).

[kenputer]

  I have a couple of hounds that would love to help flash with that task:-)

[hvirtane]

the rear end/rear spring/driveshaft assembly

from a Model A Ford.

We'll put these about 6' under

I think that this also should be sold

at 'classifieds' or rather

at an auction. I think that you

could get far more money for

it than it would cost to

cast some concrete underground.

Maybe you could suggest a car

enthusiast to come to take it

for making that anchor underground...

- Hannu

[DanB]

it has multiple major problems - not worth fixing.  I've been trying to give it away for years, nobody wants it and I cant blame them.

[DanB]

these are not good parts.  One is all ground up inside, the others have been sitting outside for perhaps 30+ years (theyre full of water, the tapers on the shafts are very rusty etc).  There's not mucgh of use here other than castings.

Model A rear ends are fairly worthless - very common parts.  Lots of folks 'hot rod' model A's still so there's lots of origional running gear available.

These ones go 6' under today ;-)

theyll hold my tower up and itll help clean up my yard.

[jmk]

 I bought a bucket of chain. It was 5/16" highest rating I could get. It was like $70 for it. I think it was 75'. I took four bolders that were 2-3' and air chiseled a notch in the rock in the best provided spot to keep the chain bound to it. one of the rocks was actualy smaller in the middle and didnt even have to chisel anything. I used one of those $15 air chisels with a point tool. It took about 15 minutes a rock counting the time to bind a chain. I bound it with a stainless bolt,and washers. Then mared the threads with the chisel. I think I should have settled for a lower rating on galvenized chain. The chain I have sticking out of the ground is rusting. I have had rusty chains kicking around for years that are smaller and still have grat strenght though. It would just feel better if the chain was not rusted. I buried them 5-6' deep.

[jmk]

 I think that's great Dan. I don't blame you. I would get rid of the stuff too. One of the those billionairs from the stock market used to say,{A good plan today is better than a better plan tomarrow.} Go Dan go! Your making good progress as usual. I can't wait to see it up and hear how many amps you have to dump because the batteries are all ready full! You will have to get a big bank so you can suck up all that power, or mayby you already do?

[DanG]

Tell the backhoe operator to avoid those pesky veins of silver! With a those hunks of iron above plus cabling the silver will just draw every lightning strike for miles around!

Seriously - about lightning, will you be doing anything extra at tower base or cable anchors? When the iron goes in the ground a couple of handfuls of salt tossed in with it will increase the grounding effect...

All I know is better to disipate the smaller charges rapidly to keep them from reaching full strike potential...

Great Monday Post as always...

-

[willib]

Dan give us a glimpse of the blades ,did i miss them?

are they done , started? what are they made of , cedar?

inquiring minds want to know

[asheets]

I was about to say the same thing...  I hope you recovered usable components from it...

[asheets]

I have a question....  I've been keeping track you your various installs and costs over the past 18 months -- including but not limited to cabling, magnets, mag wire, pipes, various electronics, misc parts, etc.

Do you think that by now you've spent enough to have broken even on having the utility bring a line to you?  

[Ungrounded Lightning Rod]

So get a piece of zinc, hook a wire to it and to the chain, and bury it in the ground near the chain.  (Go down as far as the bottom of the chain so the zinc will be wet any time the chain is.)

It's called a "sacrificial anode" ("anode" for short) and is just like you plated the underground part of the chain with all that zinc (unless you have some major DC currents in the ground or buried it too far from the chain).  B-)  You may even see some of the rust turn back into metal.

You can get them at boating stores in various sizes with wires attached.  Probably at hardware stores, too (though I never checked).

Protecting the underground part of the chain would be a good idea.  Without protection it will deteriorate faster underground than above, so you might be surprised by a falling tower.  With protection it will pretty much only deteriorate above ground (and even that will be retarded).  So you'll be able to tell if it needs replacing.

Good for rebar and other embedded-in-concrete anchors, too.

[Bruce S]

didn't ask me!

An old jeep engine with a gennie to spare, I'd driven all the way from St.L in the 81 F100 even paying for gasoline to pick it up.

Oh well I'll shed a small tear and be on my way.

No Cheers today :-<

Bruce S

[jmk]

 Here in Michigan they wanted $10,000 to bring it 1/4 mile. That was ten twelve years ago. Dan lives 17 miles from the nearest pole. Not only that I don't think they would like grid power up there. It would bring his population up, and change everyones life style that lives up there. I can't speak for them but I would like the fact that it's isolated from everything conected to the grid.

[exmokwindpower]

 $500 is very expensive to be spent on cable, cable clamps and thimbles and chunks of steel.If you buy them frome China,it will be very cheap.Certainly,the quality is also very good.

[TomW]

Sir;

If you buy them frome China,it will be very cheap.Certainly,the quality is also very good.

Surely you are joking? Nearly every piece of hardware or tool I ever got stuck with of Chinese origin was pure junk. Poor steel, bad convict labor manufacturing processes. Maybe I just got unlucky. Please do not spread misinformation here and expect not to be challenged on your words. We certainly play whack a mole a LOT with Chinese origin automated Spammers. Don't get me started.

Please do not view this site as a customer list for your company. That is unacceptable.

T

[wind4Reg]

Worst than that exmok isn't even the manufacturer of the turbines they are claiming to manufacture. Their website contains ripoff pictures of wind machines built by other companies and even their page about how they manufacture their turbines is a cut and paste from a Spanish wind turbine maker's site, which I posted before in reply to exmok's 2 previous posts which were removed from this site. Since Exmok's website is a complete sham, I wouldn't be sucked in by his pie in the sky offers of quality stuff at cheap prices.

wind4Reg  

[hvirtane]

OK.

I didn't know that there are still

good A Ford parts cheaply available. Where

I'm living even the castings are rarities.

As well any kind of usable parts of

that Jeep engine generator would be

valuable here. But if there are

a plenty of them, where you are,

then it might be a good idea even to

put them underground. Maybe after

some time somebody will come

to dig them up for the payment

to cast there instead concrete anchors...

- Hannu

[drdongle]

Your stuff may be "cheaper" but the shipping ( for small quantitys)will kill you......

[BT Humble]

Seems a shame to bury the model A parts - aren't they worth a bit?  Ditto for the Jeep engine?

BTH