So here is the story. My daughter and her family were in town for the holidays. Jaris, my son-in-law, was eager to help as were my sons Stephen and Jordan. I had some vacation time coming, so together we tackled the to-do list.
Jaris performed a great service by running the load calculations independently and verifying my own. In the end, when the winch was turned-on and the turbine mast began to tilt into the air, it was reassuring to know that we both came to the same conclusions! Jaris helped with the final conduit runs inside the building as well as pulling wires, installing the winch and planting the final ground rod. He was a God-send! When we finished our work on Friday the tower was lowered to the ground in order to install the turbine.
Stephen helped me wrestle with the trencher I rented from a local vendor. It was quite a chore. We had about 150 feet of trench to dig, and the machine wouldn’t move unless the two of us both pulled on it. Couple that with a 4-hour rental agreement, and we had a recipe for some back-breaking work!
Jordan joined in on the fun on Saturday, installing the final conduit run to the tower base and running the wiring between the turbine and the battery barn. He helped with the final assembly of the turbine and with the lift itself.
While all this was going on, I had two beautiful granddaughters entertaining us and bringing joy to all of us! We played, explored, read books and enjoyed the short time we had together. Having my family together for Christmas was truly a blessing!
On Saturday, December 31, we finished our work just as the wind began to abate. After a quick (but thorough!) check of our preparations, we connected the winch control and proceeded with the lift. With Jordan on the winch control and me running around checking guy wires and anchors, the turbine went up without a hint of a problem. With the flip of a few switches, the blades began turning and we were in the power generation business!
And now you know the rest of the story!
North Texas Wind Power 