dpb wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
....
Windmills require NO maintenance (except to turn the vane so they'll
quit pumping).

Snicker, snort...

You've obviously never tried to keep a bunch of them running on a large
ranch...
....

Took a while to find it on the web, but for the prime example...

Windmills: surviving on the Plains
By DARLA BRACKEN
....
"The XIT Ranch had 325 windmills over its vast 3 million acres and a
special full time crew to take care of them. There were many different
types and designs and hundreds of companies manufacturing them between
the 1880s and into the 1920s and 1930s."

While others weren't as large as the XIT, the fulltime windmill crew was
a common occupation until thru the 30's into the war years on the High
Plains. The manpower shortage during the war really was the beginning
of the emphasis to shift to alternate power sources although it didn't
become terribly prevalent until the 50s and 60s as electric power
distribution lines expanded drastically w/ the advent of the electric
co-op's(1).

It was also dangerous business often, having to climb a tower w/ a
runaway vane after the brakeline had broken being one of most perilous.

....

(1) We were supplied totally by wind until after WWII when in '48 got
REA hookup for the first time. Until then, both windmill and Delco 32V
windcharger system were our water and only electric power on the place.

The windcharger was immediately decommisioned, of course, the windmill
continued until the well casing failed and a new well was drilled in the
mid/late 50s. It, of course, used submergible pump and much larger
capacity.

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