Bryan Bros Windmill Completed
or should that be Bryan Windmill Completed
The windmill is now completed and is working to my delight pumping water up and over 30m in head I still have to post some pictures of the final build however, it is not finished yet and I still have a ladder up along the side of it.
Although it works and I straightened out the fan as best I could It is obviously out of round. It takes quite a strong wind to get it started and keep it going so when its going its going pretty fast. This with an unbalanced fan is not good for the bearings. I really wanted to use all the original parts but not if they are going to do more damage to the windmill. Another note is that the fan I have on there at the moment is a 7ft fan, however there are wear marks on the tower about 6 inches lower. Could this have originally been an 8ft wheel but when the bearings gave way, and the fan ran off skew it may have hit the tower, so rather than replace the bearings which would be a big job they just put on a smaller fan?
I gave it a lot of thought and decided I wanted the windmill to run for another 100 years this meant replacing the fan. This would mean it would run smoothly and not damage the gearbox and wear the bearings unnecessarily. It may not look as rustic. But I can run it continuously rather than have to turn it on and off to save on wear. It will also look better when moving not like a unbalanced bike wheel. Another advantage is that the new fans are manufactured nearly exactly the same as old fans so it will not distract or look out of place. It will be another call to Bryan Windmills to speak to Peter to get his opinion on which fan I should fit and or it may be a case of try them both to see which one fits best.
So I purchased the 8ft fan and the four new spokes, The Spokes were a slightly different design and much more rigid with two welded cross pieces to keep the shape when under pressure. I was very concerned that if the hub sizes were different and the spokes so rigid that I may have to rework the spokes to get them to fit.
The first step was to remove the old fan then try a new spoke. It fitted exactly just like it was a new one made to fit. It also cleared the tower in all directions I was very relieved and very happy. So the remaining three spokes were attached then the harder part attaching the four fan sections. What makes it hard is the size and weight of the section when working on just a thin ladder run four meters up. As each section is fitted it gets a little harder as the weight of the fan makes it heavier to turn the fan. I ended up rotating the fan a quarter at a time and tying it while I fitted the nuts and bolts.
The end result
A complete Windmill Restoration
The new fan makes a huge difference the old fan needed 20km/hr winds to start and keep turning. The new fan now starts in 15km/hr winds and continues to turn in lower winds. The windmill now runs nice and true not like a trick bike at a fun park. It is nice and straight with no bends in each of the blades. It is a little shiny and new looking but in a year or two that will be gone and it will last the other 98 years.