Wind Turbine Construction On Our Farm (With Pictures)
- Thread starter SONNY
- Start date
Today we got over to the farm to see how the progress was doing!!
over in the neighbors field
this is the Westward view
Thats me standin' at the hub of one of our propellers!---Somehow I felt rather SMALL standin' there!
this was about half way down the blade
same view, different camera settin'
and the main event ----Well they don't call them "PORTA-POTTIES" for nothin'! LOL!
Thursday they will put the blades on our other one and boss invited us to come at 7 am and watch,---and of course bring cameras!
Bolt tension is 1,500 pounds per bolt, x 206 bolts!---Don't think they gonna fall!!
Movement at top of turbine is 3 feet, depending on which way the wind is blowin'---movement BEFORE propeller is installed can be 6 feet!
We have a few more pics in the other camera, but have to wait for batts. to charge so we can get them into the putter, will post them a little later! thanks; sonny
over in the neighbors field
this is the Westward view
Thats me standin' at the hub of one of our propellers!---Somehow I felt rather SMALL standin' there!
this was about half way down the blade
same view, different camera settin'
and the main event ----Well they don't call them "PORTA-POTTIES" for nothin'! LOL!
Thursday they will put the blades on our other one and boss invited us to come at 7 am and watch,---and of course bring cameras!
Bolt tension is 1,500 pounds per bolt, x 206 bolts!---Don't think they gonna fall!!
Movement at top of turbine is 3 feet, depending on which way the wind is blowin'---movement BEFORE propeller is installed can be 6 feet!
We have a few more pics in the other camera, but have to wait for batts. to charge so we can get them into the putter, will post them a little later! thanks; sonny
Here are the pics from the other camera!
Look closely and you can see the joint towards the top of the pic
West blades on the ground!
West tower site
our Escort and the assembled East propeller
A nose cone!
general view of East site
The dog house that goes on the top rear of the nacelle
Today was kinda muddy and cloudy, but we wanted to get an update for you!--thanks; sonny
Look closely and you can see the joint towards the top of the pic
West blades on the ground!
West tower site
our Escort and the assembled East propeller
A nose cone!
general view of East site
The dog house that goes on the top rear of the nacelle
Today was kinda muddy and cloudy, but we wanted to get an update for you!--thanks; sonny
beaconlight
501 Club
Thanks Sonny.
Don McCombs
501 Club
Hey Sonny,
Do they have those windmills spinning in all this wind yet?
Do they have those windmills spinning in all this wind yet?
They have most of the 240 turbines spinnin'!!---last 3 are to be "topped off" the middle of this month! I wanted to get pics of the big crane, but it's been below zero here with a little snow, lots of wind so don't know if the crane is moved in yet or not. They have to take it apart to move it this time as it finished up 4 miles away from us and is too far to drive it!
Weather is supposed to warm up a little towards the end of the week so I am watching my chance to go see how they are progressing! thanks; sonny
Weather is supposed to warm up a little towards the end of the week so I am watching my chance to go see how they are progressing! thanks; sonny
Joe Malinowski
501 Club
Thanks for the pictures that is amazing can't wait for more.
From "Missouri Resources", Winter 2008 issue.
"At Bluegrass Ridge, each landwoner allowing a tower on his or her land receives an annual lease payment of $3000 per turbine." "In the next year the wind farm will pay property taxes of more than $500,000 to Gentry County." There are a total of 27 turbines on this wind farm near King City, Missouri.
The dollar figures were the only ones provided in the article. Just my opinion. Leasing out a portion of your farm for a wind turbine would sure beat getting $17- to $27- an acre for pasture land.
"At Bluegrass Ridge, each landwoner allowing a tower on his or her land receives an annual lease payment of $3000 per turbine." "In the next year the wind farm will pay property taxes of more than $500,000 to Gentry County." There are a total of 27 turbines on this wind farm near King City, Missouri.
The dollar figures were the only ones provided in the article. Just my opinion. Leasing out a portion of your farm for a wind turbine would sure beat getting $17- to $27- an acre for pasture land.
John *.?-!.* cub owner
501 Club
Are those used blades that were brought in form another site? In the pictures they appear to have rust on thme. Or is that mud?
Today was a historic day for us!!!---Turbines up!! Temps right around zero, but we managed to get some pics of the very last turbine of the 240 going up! (ours were the last 2)
This is the completed East turbine!--Virginia took it's picture so it wouldn't feel left out!
completed turbine (last one of the entire project)
There!
Almost there
propeller going up
Propeller just off the ground
Nacelle up, ready for propeller
Picks are kind of not in order but at least you can follow what is happening!
We have more pics. to post in another batch or 2 and have some of the crane bottom (its hidden behind the dirt pile in these pics).
Enjoy these while we work on processing another batch! thanks; sonny
This is the completed East turbine!--Virginia took it's picture so it wouldn't feel left out!
completed turbine (last one of the entire project)
There!
Almost there
propeller going up
Propeller just off the ground
Nacelle up, ready for propeller
Picks are kind of not in order but at least you can follow what is happening!
We have more pics. to post in another batch or 2 and have some of the crane bottom (its hidden behind the dirt pile in these pics).
Enjoy these while we work on processing another batch! thanks; sonny
Here is another batch of pics for you!
if you look real close, you can see a black speck up on top, thats a 6 foot tall man!
now we have 2 men looking down at us
they are guiding the crane operator to the hub
this id what is at the bottom of it all THE BIG GUY!!
in this pic, notice the man standing behind the crane? the tracks are taller than a man
to get this pic. I had to climb the 50' tall dirtpile just west of the tower!
the size of this thing is hard to really tell or feel just from pic.s
the tracks are 4 feet wide and taller than a man!--the crane is 28 feet wide at track level. they dont use any outriggers on it, just counter-weights. its 28 feet to the top of the BIG control room, and see how small it looks?
It's hard to really tell the massive size of this thing unless you can see one in person, but we tried to get some good pics. for you to enjoy and get an idea of how the construction goes on this kind of project!
They still have final hook-ups to do as well as grading and roadwork, etc. Thanks; sonny
if you look real close, you can see a black speck up on top, thats a 6 foot tall man!
now we have 2 men looking down at us
they are guiding the crane operator to the hub
this id what is at the bottom of it all THE BIG GUY!!
in this pic, notice the man standing behind the crane? the tracks are taller than a man
to get this pic. I had to climb the 50' tall dirtpile just west of the tower!
the size of this thing is hard to really tell or feel just from pic.s
the tracks are 4 feet wide and taller than a man!--the crane is 28 feet wide at track level. they dont use any outriggers on it, just counter-weights. its 28 feet to the top of the BIG control room, and see how small it looks?
It's hard to really tell the massive size of this thing unless you can see one in person, but we tried to get some good pics. for you to enjoy and get an idea of how the construction goes on this kind of project!
They still have final hook-ups to do as well as grading and roadwork, etc. Thanks; sonny
The temps. at the time we took the pics. was a wee bit above zero that day with a stiff wind at ground level!--So picture in your mind what it would be like that high in the air, WIDE open, no hill for windbreak!! --My hats off to all the crew on that project for the good job that they have done so far! thanks; sonny
beaconlight
501 Club
I am sure Donny and Ron could tell some antenna tales, high up windy and hot, cold and in between.
Sonny, A european company just opened a blade plant in Windsor, CO. I met one of the new employees, he said the schedule was to make each one in 18 hours. Right now it is taking them twice that long. Guess I'll have to watch for them on the highway now. 140' blade is hard to miss.
Bob
Bob
Sonny,
I must say that this post is very imformative! Did you happen to note the contractors name that actually did the construction and how long it took them to complete the construction? Have you noticed dead birds around the structures since the turbines went online?
John
I must say that this post is very imformative! Did you happen to note the contractors name that actually did the construction and how long it took them to complete the construction? Have you noticed dead birds around the structures since the turbines went online?
John
I will have to check on the set-up contractor. I know Michaels construction did the electrical, and White construction did the access road work.
The big crane was a rental unit from Ky.
The second 140 turbine section was put up in about 6 months, and only had the one big crane for the whole job(he is a professional turbine contractor!)---the first section took over a year with 6 big cranes,(different contractor!!--his first job!!--and last from what we heard!!)
We didn't see any birds around the turbines, and they are going to use our west one for a check unit about birds. ----one turbine will have 5 strips 10 x 500 feet from the base out and will be kept sprayed to kill all vegetation so they can watch.--they will look once a month for a year.----they will do a total of 12 turbines out of 120 to use as checks.
We heard that an overseas company was looking to build a blade plant in the USA, so they wouldn't have to handle the shipping of them!--They see a big world market for the blades in the future! thanks; sonny
The big crane was a rental unit from Ky.
The second 140 turbine section was put up in about 6 months, and only had the one big crane for the whole job(he is a professional turbine contractor!)---the first section took over a year with 6 big cranes,(different contractor!!--his first job!!--and last from what we heard!!)
We didn't see any birds around the turbines, and they are going to use our west one for a check unit about birds. ----one turbine will have 5 strips 10 x 500 feet from the base out and will be kept sprayed to kill all vegetation so they can watch.--they will look once a month for a year.----they will do a total of 12 turbines out of 120 to use as checks.
We heard that an overseas company was looking to build a blade plant in the USA, so they wouldn't have to handle the shipping of them!--They see a big world market for the blades in the future! thanks; sonny
beaconlight
501 Club
You sign off with Thanks Sonny. It is really us should be thanking you.
I am not concerned with bird kills because we caught a red tail hawk with a house. That said I disagree with the once a month check up for dead birds. scavengers will have dragged many off in that time. It is also true every bird will die someday so the finding of a few should not be great cause for concern.
I am not concerned with bird kills because we caught a red tail hawk with a house. That said I disagree with the once a month check up for dead birds. scavengers will have dragged many off in that time. It is also true every bird will die someday so the finding of a few should not be great cause for concern.