raising a windmill??

[glockdoc]

Friend has a windmill that needs to be raised on his new property. Did this once before in the late '90s but didn't like how it was done and want to find a better way. The last time, we placed two of the legs against the concrete footings, started the tower up with the tractor bucket until the Jeep winch was able to take over. Using a chain on the bucket to keep the tower from coming over onto the Jeep we were able to get it upright fairly easily. The concrete footings kept the legs from kicking out from under the tower and that is the part I don't like. Also, since the tower was now standind next to the footings, we had to jack up the tower and then slide the tower over onto the footings. The tower is around 30' tall and made of oilfield pipe. I have no idea of the weight but we had to tie off the Jeep to a 3/4 ton to keep it from sliding. You may be able to tell more from the pic.

http://magmeister.com/images/jeep.jpg

What I am considering is fabricating some sort of hinge fastening two of the legs to the footings and then raising it as before. Maybe using 1/4 plate, heavy wall 1" pipe, and 7/8 round for the pin. It may be stronger to form the hinge entirely of the 1/4 and eliminate the pipe. Not sure how hard it will be to heat and form. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. Thanx

[glockdoc]

one other thing. I was thinking of making some sort of tepee from a couple long poles and then placing it under the winch cable half-way between the Jeep and tower. This would eliminate the narrow angle between the cable and ground and may even allow the winch to raise it without using the bucket and decrease the loading on the hinge. Has anybody tried something along this line or have any ideas? thanx

[Dan Missey]

First you need to figure out the way you are going to connect the footing to the legs. After you do that it will be simple to use that and make something to hold and lock the back leggs down like they do on sailboats as you lift the stucture.

[TXTrailerdaddy]

I am getting ready to raise a 39' windmill. If you go to this website American Windmills She has an alternate way of raising a windmill by using an A frame. I don't think I want to try it with my mill. It cost me too much to restore it and I'd be afraid of buckling the light gauge angle iron. I think I am going to rent a basket lift and use that to lift it into place. If I can get it to lift over 40' then I will set the motor after the fact. Other wise I will have to pay someone about $750 to set it.

[mrimpact]

txtrailerdaddy.you ever go to ashley salvage or river city steel?.

[banzaitoyota]

we used a tractor and a pickup truck

[jniolon]

several times in the past we've raised and lowered a 65' tilt over tower that holds ham radio antennas... it used a hinge base and was not that difficult to raise... some type of flat bar welded to the windmill base and a matching piece on two of the legs with a couple of grade 8 bolts for pivot pins could make a nice hinge... use the tractor to raise it up to the point where the winch could pull it on up... I'd have some type of cable/rope to ease it into verticle position so it doesn't slam down on the third leg...

If it is as heavy as the one in the picture, you shouldn't have any problem. the hinge plate could be left in place or burned off after the tower is bolted in place..

john

[TXTrailerdaddy]

Yeah, I just went to River City yesterday and bought some angle for my windmill. I also bought some 3/4" angle and they had some blades and some flat stock that I need to make a root plow for my tractor. I am not sure what type of blade this is, but it looks like it mounts to the edge of a grader or something like that. I got 240 pounds for $36. Not too bad. They have a lot of I-beam there too. I need to build a 16-20 trailer and that stuff would work.... Looks a little beefy for what I need, but at .15 a pound it might be just perfect.

[mrimpact]

my uncle gets his metal there at river city for 10 cents a pound because he's been trading/buying there since the 70's.I think ashley salvage gots more but wayne sells most of all the good scrap(axles) for $50 and no less.Alton Newell's grandson runs river city steel.Where did you get the beams? Is that where all the metal cage boxes are in the back? Then they got a box of all the expired propane cylinders.Did you see a red truck there with an american flag on the back of it?Just curious

[trashcan]

Texas Guys, you ought to try Texas Specialty Steel on hwy 181 in Elmendorf, they ae small, but pretty competitive on their prices. One thing though, I think the yard boss doesn't like me cause I am mostly ignorant (but I'm learning!!!) of sizes and i.d's and o'd's....and I drive a Surburban instead of a truck. Thump On!!

[Dan Missey]

I herd if you get pulled over down there, and you don't have at least one preset on your radio set to country, they will write you a ticket. Is that true?

[dda52]

Horses don't have radios....... at least not factory installed!

[pepster]

An "A" frame is the way to go. Not only will it improve the angle on the line going to the Jeep, but it will also reduce the force necessary to pull the tower up. I use this method for erecting tower type deer stands without a front loader. I figure if it's good enough for the builders of Stone Henge, It's good enough for me. Good luck how ever you choose to do it.
Pepster

[glockdoc]

Thanx for all the info. American windmills site has some good stuff, their hinge design is simpler than what I was considering. The A-frame they were using was a liitle hard to make out. Pepster, what do you make the A-frame out of? Would a couple 4x4 wood posts bolted together work for me? How do you anchor the frame's feet and do you fasten/clamp the cable to the top of the A-frame to keep it from slipping? And how tall would the A-frame need to be to be effective? One of the benefits of helping to raise the tower is that I get to hunt out it. TIA

[pepster]

glockdoc,
You can make the A-frame out of wood, and 4 x 4's will work just fine but 2 x 4's will also probably be strong enough. Almost all the force applied to the A-frame is in a downward direction. Make your A-frame as tall as practical but it should be at least one half the height of the tower that you are trying to raise. A taller A-frame requires less effort to pull a tower up than a shorter one. Screw, bolt or lash the top of the frame together. The horizontal brace of the A-frame should be screwed to the sides of the frame about where you would put the horizontal line for the capital letter A. Make sure that your winch cable is long enough and place the A-frame about midway between your jeep and the tower. Start with the A-frame leaning toward the tower about 45 degrees. The cable does not need to be physically attached to the A-frame as it will rest in the notch created by the joint between the two sides of the frame. The legs of the A-frame do not need to be anchored since the pressure from the cable will hold it tight to the ground. As you apply tension to the cable and the tower starts to rise, the A-frame will lean forward, toward your jeep and it will eventually fall to the ground just about the time that the tower is upright. A helper with a rope on the far side is a good idea just in case the tower wants to come too far. You'll be amazed how well this works. Last year I erected a 16 ft. tall "Texas style condo" tower stand for hunting. I built my A-frame out of 8 ft. 2 x 4 ' s (it was all I had at the time). The tower was extremely top-heavy and I had no way to anchor the legs. It came up with such little effort that I was truly surprised. Best of luck with your project and play it safe.
Pepster