Ontario man turns a bulldozer into a wind turbine

[Henry W]

Hey RCA, how about Victor.

Henry

[rcavictim]

Some of you might remember Doug K. from the LEF.  He was/is an electrician at the big mine in Sudbury.  Doug once told a funny story about a large piece of machinery at the mine which he had referred to as the "BRT" to a supervisor who had then used that term to describe the thing in conversation with one of the upper management types.  This embarassed supervisor later learning that Doug had made up this acronym got upset at Doug.  The acronym stood for "Big Round Thing".  I thought that was pretty funny.

In tribute to Doug and inkeeping with the philosophy of acronyms I have been referring to my creation as the "BGT" or Big Green Thing.  This could also mean...

Bob's Greatest Test/Trial/Testimonial etc.
Bob's Giant Turbine
Bob's Geriatric Test
Bug Government Taxman

Other ideas include Wind Trakker

I had a fleeting thought to paint a message on the four rotating vertical blades but the thought of any further relationship with Ontario Hydro, especially one involving intimate bodily contact is just too unappealing.   

O    H    K    M
N    Y    I     Y
T    D    S 
A    R    S     A
R    O           *
I                  *
O


Regards to all my fans and thank you for your support.  Fairly recent pic attached taken last summer.

[rcavictim]

Here is a full on shot taken last fall.

[rcavictim]

Was going through some early project pictures.  Here is one showing the tower having just basically filled out to final shape.  At this point I was able to get a clear realization that ....I had a hell of a lot more work to do.  Quite.  That was summer 2008.

Some of you might notice that there are no outrigger jacks in place to help stabilize this structure at that time. It was remarkably well balanced and stable sitting merely on the tracks.  Even today I can crank up all the jacks so the entire structure rests only on the tracks and it is quite firm although I can get it rocking a small amount with my bodyweight from the top of the ladder or service platform.  With the feet down it feels as secure as being buried in a 20 cubic yard cement foundation.

[rbodell]

Was going through some early project pictures.  Here is one showing the tower having just basically filled out to final shape.  At this point I was able to get a clear realization that ....I had a hell of a lot more work to do.  Quite.  That was summer 2008.

i got to hand it to ya, That project would have overwhelmed me a long time ago. And to think I have been procrastinating on removing the flywheel from my mower to replace the ring gear.

[vdubnut62]

I can't wait to see a YouTube video of that thing in action
Ron

[rcavictim]

The snow has finally frigged off (not a big fan of winter), and I am now seeing a few days of outdoor weather suitable for outdoor puttering.  So far I have managed to get the ribs welded onto one of the 21 foot long blade spars.  Hard to see in this busy picture but what is clear, these airfoils are gonna be huge!    I have some sheet steel which is in two long rolls, 4 feet wide from two dump salvaged above ground pool surrounds which will be held to these ribs with zillions of pop rivets.  I have much more reinforcement fabrication to do, this is just an early picture to help demonstrate the scale of the things.

What I see here reminds me of a rack or ribs, maybe the historical remains of a ship long ago floundered on the rocks in a storm or a beached whale with only the skeleton remaining.  None of these are particularly good images, except maybe the rack or ribs...mmmmm  .  I guess I'd better get this past the present 'look of the thing' in a hurry.

[mobile_bob]

RCA

are you sure you don't have some egyptian in your genetics?

the scale of your project is nothing short of amazing to me!

its one thing to build a stationary object big, but quite another to build one that is meant to not only move
but harness the power of nature and convert it into another form of power on this scale.

can't wait for the youtube clip!

what kind of pop rivets?  you might want to go with steel rivets or stainless and an air power tool to set them.

bob g

[rcavictim]

RCA

are you sure you don't have some egyptian in your genetics?

the scale of your project is nothing short of amazing to me!

its one thing to build a stationary object big, but quite another to build one that is meant to not only move
but harness the power of nature and convert it into another form of power on this scale.

can't wait for the youtube clip!

what kind of pop rivets?  you might want to go with steel rivets or stainless and an air power tool to set them.

bob g

Just edited my last post.  With my past experience with a hand operated pop riveter I knew that I needed something much better for this big job.  A while back Princess had a pneumatic pop riveter on sale and I bought one.  It is awesome!!!!!  First project I got to try it on was while making the radiator air box for my Changfa 1115 plant.  This is such a pleasure to use let me tell you!  Not often I get so emotionally happy with a new tool acquisition.      I am using 1/8" steel pop rivets, one every 4 or 5 inches. There will be more than a thousand I think in all. The 3/16" ones were prohibitively more expensive and I think 1/8" will not only do the job but also act as a safety device in a freak severe storm that could save the machine by allowing the sheet metal panels to separate, leaving the structure mostly undamaged and repairable.

I don't know if I have Egyptian in my genes.  Some Polish and Ukrainian yes.

[rcavictim]

We were discussing possible names for this beast earlier.  What think ye of.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadnaught

[cognos]

I like "Hippalectryon", if yer goin with a Greek Mythological Beast theme. Sorta like a horse crossed with a rooster.
It "flies", but has horsepower...the name suggests something that flies, and also something that converts horsepower to electricity...

But that's just me.

[rcavictim]

I like "Hippalectryon", if yer goin with a Greek Mythological Beast theme. Sorta like a horse crossed with a rooster.
It "flies", but has horsepower...the name suggests something that flies, and also something that converts horsepower to electricity...

But that's just me.

I'm certainly open to name suggestions along Greek or Latin, etc. ancient mythology themes.  Keep 'em coming.

[Henry W]

Hi RCA,

How about Victor.

Henry

[rcavictim]

Hi RCA,

How about Victor.

Henry

You suggested that already in post #45.  Sorry, doesn't work for me.

[mobile_bob]

JETFIRE

from the original transformers movie

he used to be a decepticon, big, massive and grouchy!

ya, that fits!

bob g