Windmill Ceiling Fan

Windmill Ceiling Fan FARM HOME Miscellaneous 90-10-63 It's difficult to miss the full-size windmill mounted on the ceiling of the Kenny Bush family farm museum in Milan, Ill. The Baker windmill has a 10-ft., 38-vane fan mounted on a 32-ft. tower complete with ladder and work platform. Bush had fond memories from his boyhood of windmills that pumped water for cattle, hogs and horses, as well as their house. About 12 years ago he found a Chicago Aeromotor windmill with an 8-ft. fan on a 30-ft. tower similar to the one he grew up with, and he installed it on his farm. Two years later he installed one on his daughter and son-in-law's property. Eight years ago, he spotted the Baker windmill while attending an Indiana windmill convention. "It caught my eye and I decided it would make a great ceiling fan for the meeting room at our family farm museum," he says. Lifting the tower with a forklift and bolting it to the ceiling wasn't difficult. Bush's main concern was safety in mounting the several hundred pound fan over the dining area. He took a cone type variable speed friction drive honey extractor and powered it with a 3/4-hp gear motor to allow slippage for a smooth start, and when shut off allows it to coast to a stop. A lever controls the desirable speed. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kenny Bush, 6706 78th Ave. W, Milan, Ill. 61264 (ph 309 787-1926).

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