Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

With the help of my 2 sons, son-in-law and brother-in-law over the weekend, we were able to tilt up my Baker WC on it's 25', 4 legged tower for the first time. There were no issues getting it up and now it is running smoothly with no squeaks or wobbles. I am very happy with how it sits and looks. The fan is tilted back slightly as has been discussed on this forum as an indication that at least the front bearing is good.
I would now like to replace the pull-in handle with a wooden handle. If what I have read is correct, the original handle was probably made of fir. The handle that came on it when I got it was pipe that had been painted with a wire used as a catch at the bottom to hold it in place. The pivot is not correct but I have that piece and will reuse it. Can anyone share pictures of how their handle and catch looks so I can have an idea of how it should look? Here is what I have.

Chuck , you should be very proud of the windmill up and running the the Texas sun ! great job . !
I might suggest you hage some kind of weight on the sucker rod to make it think its working , ( i once hung a 15 gallon propane tank for weight till i gat a more perminate soultion .)
Mike B
New Braunfels TX

I have water pumps if you need additional additional stuff added .
see the section of pumps & cisterns

Thanks Mike, I will do that. And yes, I am proud of it. When I got it, the sucker rod had been cut with a torch. I cleaned and retreated the end before I raised it. I am planning to dig a well there but that is another project. Probably should have dug well first but knew where I wanted the mill. Oh well.

Looks really good chuck, and thanks for saving another Icon.

Looks great and congratulations.

Baker Monitors W series usually came with a winch, instead of a pullout handle. You can use whatever works. I have a mixture of winches and pullout levers on my windmills.

A wood or a pipe handle would work fine. I prefer pipe or square tubing because it will not rot, plus my handles are generally a piece of scrap metal. I’m unsure on the preferred type of wood.

To get the correct pivot point is trial and error for me. Meaning, I’ll drill 3 or 4 holes in the pipe for the pullout wire and one at the pullout lever mount for the bolt hole. You can adjust the pullout lever up and down the leg as needed to try and find that sweet spot as well as rotate between those 3 or 4 holes that the wire actually affixes to. Others might have better advice or a more scientific approach. I just use a piece of baling wire to secure the lever handle to keep the windmill either off or on.

Looks great Chuck. Congratulations!

Thanks Michael for the information on the Baker W. I didn't know they used winches on some of them. My plan right now is to make a wood handle but that may change. One of my hobbies is woodworking so I was considering turning a handle from some green Bois d'arc or white oak that's needing to find a home.
And thanks to the others for the kind words. This is my first windmill but I hope it's not my last. I've enjoyed learning about mills but I know I've just scratched the surface.
One more thing, I got the "feet", if that's what they are called, from Terry Rodman. We vacationed in Minnesota 2 years ago and learned about his place in Jasper. He was so kind to show us around, even though it was raining the day we visited. We enjoyed it so much, we went back again this year, only to learn we were 2 weeks late for the trade fair. He was the nicest man to show us around again.

Glad you had good success!

Thanks Windy and thank you for your earlier advice.