Windmill Made From Rotary Hay Rake Wheel

Windmill Made From Rotary Hay Rake Wheel AG WORLD “It rotates even in the slightest wind and turns 360 degrees just like a real windmill ” says Robert Bach Barriere B C about the colorful ornamental windmill he made using an old rake wheel The 4-ft dia wheel icame off a 30-year-old Massey Ferguson ground-driven windrow rake It’s mounted about 15 ft high on top of a 3-in dia metal post The wheel’s original center-mounted bearing is welded to the top of the post A shaft runs down from the bearing into a greased metal tube that allows the wheel and weather vane to rotate 360 degrees at the top of the post The blades are made from 3-in dia irrigation pipe and measure 1 ft long by 6 in wide They’re set at a 15 degree angle to catch the wind Bach cut the pipe in half and flattened it then cut the blades out to the appropriate length He pop riveted them to a 1-in wide 1/8-in thick metal band already on the wheel that supports the rake’s tines Bach made the windmill’s 3-ft long V-shaped weather vane out of aluminum sheeting He also clipped a series of small wheel rim weights off a car onto the wheel to help balance it “Iit takes very little wind to rotate the wheel yet the wheel is heavy enough that even in strong winds it turns at just a moderate speed ” says Bach “To spruce the windmill up I put a fresh coat of yellow paint on the wheel and painted the blades black ” His next brainstorm? “I plan to build a windmill with 2 rake wheels one located behind the other where the blades will turn in opposite directions “It should be a good show ” he says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Robert Bach P O Box 324 Barriere B C Canada V0E 1E0 ph 250 672-9218

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