Thread: Southern Cross Windmill Maintenance - Rebuild .... How to?

A nice project mate. Great to hear of a planned refurbishment. I missed out on one about 16 months ago now.

Tried the guys at the Backshed yet? TheBackShed.com - Southern Cross Windmills These guys are a stack of useful knowledge and experience in all sorts. All the best. Keep a running thread on progress would be awesome.

Mine hasn't creaked since the crankshaft broke off just behind the blades a couple of years ago. I had replaced the pump with a motorised deep well jet pump many years before but the sight of the blades turning in the breeze made it look useful. The belt drive gearbox for the pump is still there.

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

Hello All,

Are there any publications that detail the maintenance and repair or rebuilding of Southern Cross windmills?

Does anyone here on the forum have first-hand experience they could share about working on these windmills?

I have a long neglected small Southern Cross windmill that has been chained up for years. At one stage the next-door-neighbour complained of the windmill fan creaking all night. So quite a number of years ago, I put the brake on and chained the fan. Back then I was not in the financial position to do much else. The windmill had been neglected decades before we brought the property so it has not been serviced or maintained since Adam was a boy.

I found the contact details for Southern Cross Windmills and they only provide a service to put people in contact with their recommended local repairers. Accessed 11th August 202o from, Windmill Maintenance - Southern Cross Windmills

The bearings for the windmill shaft are no doubt worn out and need replacing. Due to my proximity to coastal breezes, each bolt on the tower has corroded down to the point that the heads and nuts look more like rivets. Accordingly, each bolt will need to be ground off, punched out and replaced. No idea what condition the head gears are in. Some of the wire braces on tower have corroded away.

I would like to try and save this old relic before a strong wind comes along and drops it.

I will be hiring a mobile elevated platform - "Cherrypicker" to initially disassemble the fan and tower - my days of hanging off ladders and ropes has past.


Kind regards
Lionel

Love to volunteer but you guys won't let me in. Helped repair a few when I was a little guy. I think getting the right parts would be the only possible blocker. The tech is both simple and rugged so a repair should be reasonably straight forward. I have the phone numbers for the gents who repaired quite a few. If you need chat pm me your number and details and I'll ask if they can help you.

Originally Posted by NavyDiver

Love to volunteer but you guys won't let me in. Helped repair a few when I was a little guy. I think getting the right parts would be the only possible blocker. The tech is both simple and rugged so a repair should be reasonably straight forward. I have the phone numbers for the gents who repaired quite a few. If you need chat pm me your number and details and I'll ask if they can help you.

Hello NavyDiver,

Thank you for the very kind offer of linking me with some learned windmill folks. The windmill is a bit back on my "To Do" list, so it could be some months before I work on the mill. I will make contact again about the windmill a bit later on. Thanks again.

By the way, I found a photocopied 1950s Southern Cross Windmill manual available through eBay. It may help me to fill in some gaps of my sadly lacking knowledge.

Kind regards
Lionel

The following are the experts and will welcome you. Only problem is their "website" appears to be Farcebook:

Penong Windmill Museum - Home | Facebook

Community of Penong breathes life back into broken windmills for new museum - ABC News

add some history: Time for Toowoomba to let go of the lamington and claim the Southern Cross windmill - ABC News

The bearing is white metal and is cast into the housing during manufacture. I believe there are still a few foundries that can refurb the bearings.
W D Moore in Perth used to do this, but have shut down their foundry. If you contact them they could advise you. They still carry SC windmill spare parts

I have a SC 6 foot on a 20 foot tower, running an Alderdice 2 1/2 " pump, I put up 22 years ago. I have a "brand new" 8 footer complete in the shed as a spare