Kevin's b602 project

[Kevinwterry]

Hello all. New member here. Thanks for accepting me!!. First off I'd like to say thanks for all the info on this site. I've read through a ton of posts and learned a bunch of stuff within a few days. I went from not knowing anything about this thing last week to learning it's an aermotor b which means it's a 10ft fan, it's a 602 so it's got the v spokes unlike the 702, and to where I'd find the year it was made and also how to decode the year stamp. Really appreciate everyone's contribution.

Anyways onto my project. I bought this windmill at a local auction online without even looking at it. It wasn't going for much so I threw a bid in and i got it.

So based on information I got from this site, I think it a 1925 b602.

I have the motor, a 10' fan and the hat (sorry, I'm still trying to understand what to call the parts)

The motor is missing the large gears, the driven gears. The drive gears and main shaft move freely.

I plan on using this windmill as a front yard statement piece. So all it needs to do is spin. If I can find the driven gears cheaper than 200 each then maybe I'll add them so the kids can see how it would have worked.

So I dont have any hardware at all. I understand that i will probably need to fabricate most of the pieces myself which is fine. I also will need to build a tower. After looking a some pictures online, I feel like a 30ish ft steel tower will look great with the 10ft fan.

So what i really need help with is......

--the "v" spoke measurements, rod size and lengths.

--spoke u bolt dimensions.

-- tail vain dimensions.


I'm sure theres more but let's start with this.

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[Windcatcher530 Dan]

Welcome to the forum Kevin. If you're only going to enjoy watching your mill spin you don't need to put the large gears in the gear box.

[CTXmiller]

Kevin,

Welcome to the forum.

I’d still be inclined to try and find some bull gears as the oiling system is a circulatory system and without the oil circulating, the Babbitt in the snoot will wear even faster. Now if it is going to rotate on the tower and only very rarely even actually spin (i.e., be turned on) then you’d be fine without the bull gears.

Your dating of the gearbox looks accurate to me.

You might check how much (if any) vertical play there is in the hub/snoot Babbitt to give you an idea if there is much or decent Babbitt left there.

I have V spokes, U bolts and a vane for a B602 that I could measure. If someone can beat me to the measurements, then great…the vane might be the slowest for me to get to as it is stacked behind others.

[Kevinwterry]

Ya thanks. I'm just on a 5 acre piece with woods on all 4 property lines so I dont think itll be spinning much. The main shaft feels tight, no side play or up and down movement. Spins okay, definitely needs some lube. This is the first time actually bringing it into the shop and looking at it. I've had it maybe a year now.

I cant find any v spokes for a 10ft windmill anywhere. I will most likely have to fab them up. Any measurements are greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

[CTXmiller]

Here are some measurements. I picked a better tape measure so you could read the measurements. Vane and V spokes to follow in a subsequent post.

On the forum, the images sometimes rotate in a post from how they were taken. So clicking on an image will rotate generally to how the photo was taken or so I seem to recall.

[CTXmiller]

V spokes B602.

The spread where the nuts are on the V spokes…you’ll have to bend the V spread to insert them through the hub and then bend them back to align with the wheel band holes.

[CTXmiller]

B602/B702 vane as they are interchangeable.

The tailbone (i.e., the metal piece holding the vane to the gearbox) are different between the 602 and 702, but the vanes from either the B702 or B602 will bolt to either tailbone…the older 602 or the newer 702. Hope that makes sense.

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

When you make your V arms what you can do is thread the ends a little deeper and use two nuts one under the outer wheel ring and then the one on top so you don't have to try to make the nub the wheel ring sits on.

[windybob]

Just FYI...negatory on bending the V spokes to install. They install without bending, in the proper shape.

[Kevinwterry]

Thank you ctxmiller for taking the time to dig out the parts and post the measurements. That was exactly what I was looking for and couldn't find. Looks like the spokes are 7/16". I've got a bunch of 1/2" rod left over from another project, maybe I can use it? Otherwise I'll just get some 7/16. As to threading the spoke ends, i was planning on threading the rods but then had the idea of just welding on some all thread so I can do what windcatcher530dan suggested.

As for installing the v rods into the hub, I figured I'd have to compress the v down to fit them into the hub. But I've also seen a drawing on how to install them like windybob is likely referring to