Windmill & Tower Sizes

A Few Words about Windmill and Tower Sizes:

Windmills are measured in wheel diameter. An “8 foot windmill” is 8 foot when measured across the blades.

As a general rule, the tail extends out from the motor about the same distance as the wheel diameter. An 8 foot windmill tailbone and tail vane extends out about 8 foot from the middle of the tower.

• Windmills come in 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 foot sizes. (20 foot diameters windmill can be special ordered)
• Each size windmill has its own special motor and tower. Parts are not interchangeable between sizes.
• Remember that as the diameter of a circle doubles, the area of the circle is four times larger. Therefore, the 12 foot windmill has an area four times greater than the 6 foot windmill. The 16 foot windmill has four times the area of the 8 foot windmill and so on.
• It is also important to note that the weight increases quickly as the wheel size increases.

Windmill Size	Windmill Weight	Windmill Long Stroke	Maximum Lift *
6 Foot	210 Pound	5.5 inches	140 Feet
8	350	8	200
10	650	10	300
12	1130	12	450
14	1780	14	650
16	2510	16	1,000

*In feet with long stroke with 1-7/8 pump and fiberglass rod. Never use at maximum lift.

To help judge sizes, I have put together some photos of varies windmill projects.

Six Foot Windmill:

Introduced in 1925 for the “Gentleman Farmer,” or town and city use for shallow wells and light winds. However, the manufacturers found it cost about the same to make six foot windmills as the eight foot windmills so the cost of the six foot mill and eight foot mill are about the same price.

The six foot windmill also turns at a much higher speed that the larger mills and users tended to overload the small mill so the six foot windmill was not that successful.

We occasionally find good tails and wheels for the six foot windmill and add new motors and linkage.  We also provide new six foot windmills.

Eight Foot Windmill:

By far, the most popular windmill is the eight foot diameter windmill. About 90 percent of the windmills found in the field today are the standard eight foot windmill.

This “workhorse” of the windmill family can be found all over the world pumping water, or spinning just for fun.

Its success comes from it unbelievable life expectancy of 50 years or more using a great design to turn in low winds and its ability to regulate the wheel speed in high winds.

The 8 foot windmill on the 21’, 27’ and 33’ tower

 

Ten Foot Windmill:

The ten foot windmill weighs in 300 pounds heavier than its little brother the eight foot windmill, and is noticeable larger on any size tower.

The ten foot windmill stature is notable and it is a hard worker lifting 100 feet more than the 8 foot, or pumping more volume at the same depth.

The Ten Foot Windmill on a 21’ Wide Spread, Standard 33’ and Custom Wood Tower

The Twelve Foot Windmill

If you want a landmark windmill, the big 12 foot windmill will make a statement. With a larger blade area and a tail vane that is over 6 foot, the twelve foot windmill can be seen from a long distance.

The “Big 12” is also a substantial water pumper. It flows a large volume of water or pumps from a deep well.

The 12 foot Windmill on a 33 foot Tower

If you are looking for a big windmill, the “Big 12” is the one.

 

The Fourteen & Sixteen Foot Windmills

Until you stand next to the 14 and 16 foot windmills, it’s hard to grasp how large they are.

Here is Kevin and Rocky with the fourteen.

Kevin and the crew with a sixteen

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If you want to see a really big windmill, take a look my video of us taking down the 20 foot Aermotor windmill.