A 'One of a Kind' Waterwheel

(Page 4 of 4)

July/August 1983
By Richard N. McCray  
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SUCCESS AT LAST!

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You've probably guessed that my waterwheel performed just as I expected it to (maybe a bit better!). But it really surprised me the first time the water level in the stream increased to a foot or so. Then the wheel turned at a very respectable 11 RPM and could have delivered 3,875 gallons of H20 to my garden in the course of a day (if I'd asked it to!). The only real problem I've experienced with my highly competent;4 ter pusher is the occasional "log jamming" that occurs when debris is carried downstream in high waters, and I solved the worst of that easily enough by driving lengths of closely spaced pipe into the creekbed upstream of the machinery.

So, after waiting 65 years, I finally built a useful version of my great-grandpa McDowell's toy waterwheel. With a total investment of about $250 in the project and a lush crop of vegetables as a result, I can't complain about the many (enjoyable) hours of spare time it took me to bring my childhood fancy to reality.

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