Giant Water Wheel Looks Good, Generates Electricity

Giant Water Wheel Looks Good, Generates Electricity AG WORLD 27-2-21 "My wife, Melissa, wanted a waterfall in our back yard so I made one and added a big water wheel that looks good and generates electricity," says James Finch, Roxbury, N.Y. He hauled in big rocks to dam up the stream that runs through his property and then filled dirt in behind the rock wall. "I didn't want to impound any water, just raise the level to make the water fall," notes Finch. To make the water wheel, he cut off both ends of a large oil tank to make the sides and then welded in buckets from an old grain elevator. The wheel rotates on a 2 7/16-in. dia. solid shaft. The wheel mounts on a frame built from the chassis of an old dump truck. It drives a series of pulleys that get progressively smaller and faster. The smallest pulley drives a 130-amp DC alternator, which turns at about 1,800 rpm's. Water flows through a steel pipe and into the top of the wheel. "The water really shoots fast on the steel. The wheel is very heavy but turns easily," notes Finch. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, James Finch Welding, 2787 Lower Meeker Hollow, Roxbury, N.Y. 12474 (ph 607 326-7529).

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