WIND CHARGERS: BUILDING TOOLS FROM THE NATION'S PAST
(Page 2 of 5)
March/April 1983
by Paul Gipe and Carl Judy
As you likely know, these machines are available as a result of yet another "child" of the Great Depression: The REA, which brought federally subsidized power to remote homesteads (although some parts of the country weren't electrified until the early 50's). The REA allowed rancher after rancher to abandon the wind systems, and-once such individuals were tied into the grid-they often sold their machines for scrap ... passed them along to nonelectrified homesteads ... or simply let them stand in the face of the harsh elements.
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An estimated 50,000 wind chargers were in circulation as late as 1950. And approximately 2,000 of the machines are once again (or are still) in use. In most cases, these units provide supplemental power, but a sizable minority are their owners' sole sources of electricity.
The old-but still very practical-machines allow the average homesteader to eliminate the middleman and take control of the energy-acquisition process. In fact, finding and rebuilding such a unit can result in substantial savings and personal satisfaction, However, there are pitfalls to be avoided.
WHERE TO LOOK
First, you should know that all of the easyto-reach areas have long since been picked clean of good machines by the pros. If you spot a wind charger near a paved highway, its owner probably couldn't be hornswoggled out of it by P.T. Barnum! Therefore, your best bet will be to choose a promising, off-the-beaten-track area in which to search.
Several factors come into play here. Those who sold their windplants often did so to more remotely situated ranchers who were reached by the REA much later. And since these ranchers were in a buyers' market-with a great many machines suddenly up for salethey could purchase the best ... usually the Jacobs, which is justifiably called the "Cadillac" of wind generators.
How does one go about finding an area worth searching? Well, the same rule holds for locating a jumping-off site as in looking for a specific wind machine: The more remote the region, the better the chances of success.
Once you find a suitably isolated locale (keep in mind that major towns along the railroad lines were electrified before the advent of the wind chargers), talk to the people who might know the whereabouts of available units: farm machinery dealers, service people at the local REA co-op, gas station attendants, and hardware and appliance merchants ... or even the crowd at the corner tavern. Then work up a list of prospects and canvass them by phone. Another, more difficult, way to conduct your search is to cruise the roads with a pair of binoculars and a map. In some cases, though, there won't be any roads to the abandoned homesteads that might harbor your quarry. And, remember, getting to a site is only half the battle ... you still have to get back out, possibly with a 600-pound wind machine clanging around in the truck bed!
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