Our New Wind Turbine Mast

[Every Miles A Memory]

After a few months of talking back and forth with Dave from Aluminess Products, you know the guys that make those sought after bumbers and boxes you see on the Sportsmobile's, we finally came out with the first air actuated Turbine Mast

This thing as sweet as one could hope for, and it can be mounted on any truck or trailer with a square tube style bumper. Dave also made it so it can be mounted on square tube that would slide into a reciever hitch

I'll be bringing this to the Overland Expo if anyone wants to take a closer look at it and see how it works

 

[4x4mike]

Is it heavy? I'm wondering what the weight of the head and mast are. Looks like a really cool setup.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

The entire mast might weigh 25lbs

The turbine itself weighs about the same, maybe a little less

It's a pretty slick set up and would be easliy used with any Adventure Trailer or any small vehicle with a roof rack that it could be strapped to.

For our camper, it wont come down and be stored at all. The mast will be lowered, but the top of the cylinder sits at the same level as the top of the camper when it's in its lowered position, so it wont catch or get caught on anything.

 

[DontPanic42]

Much nicer setup than my cobbled together mast made from sections of an old aluminium flag pole. Am I correct in assuming that it deploys using air pressure? Nice touch. What is the estimated cost?

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Hey Bruce, it's air actuated so you need to have a small compressor to lift it, but nothing special. I've been using a simple $15 compressor I bought at the local auto store a few years ago.

You can read my full review here

I'm not sure of street price. Dave, from Aluminess and I have been working on this for some time. He's building them, but mine was sort of a prototype to see how it would hold up to daily life and see what sort of abuse I could put it through

I had to get up and take the blades off the turbine the other day because we had a wind advisor for our area of the coast and had 50mph winds blowing through

The mast itself held up fine and it's not even hooked up right:Wow1: I only have a velcro strap holding the top of the mast to the camper. I just got the straps I talk about in the Review Link and plan on putting it on tomorrow. I needed to get some stainless steel screws to mount it correctly so I plan on having it put on tomorrow, I'll post up some more pics and update the review after I'm done.

Back to your question of how much does it cost? You'll have to call Dave at Aluminess and see what he has it priced out at. If you're going to the EXPO in Arizona, I plan on having it there so you can look at it and see how it works

 

[DontPanic42]

Pat,
Thanks for the info. I have several questions but I'll read through your blog to see if you have already covered them. I also have an AMSolar 100 W panel (4 years) and am contemplating adding another. As strange as it sounds I have not done anymore work on the wind turbine as it is too windy for me to be up on a ladder. Here in West Texas we are in the wind season. It has been blowing nearly every day up to 30 - 40 mph since the first of March.
I noticed your battery powered mower on your blog. I looked at a battery powered Lawn/Garden tractor that GE made when I had a small farm back in Western PA in the early '70's. It just wouldn't handle the 2-4 acres of mowing I did so ended up with an International Cub Cadet.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Hey Bruce, sounds like we almost have the same set-up.

Only difference is we have 3 AM Solar panels. The battery mower works great for us, but we only have about .6 acres to mow, and that little Neuton Mower mows it all and still has battery to spare, but I try and do it at least once per week to keep the grass pretty low so it doesnt have too much to do

I never even knew they made riding mowers:Wow1:

I'm thinking that you must have the same weather we do here on the West Coast of Florida because we've had the wind blowing for the last few months

 

[DontPanic42]

During the fuel shortage in the early '70's and we were sitting in line to get gas, there was a push for alternate sources of energy. GE looked at the lawn and garden tractor market. Neat idea for the suburbinite with a half acre of lawn but for those of us with several acres, the batteries just didn't last that long. Same problem as with the new Nissan Leaf that is limited to 100 miles per charge. Fine for in town but you still need another vehicle to travel out of town. For example, the closest large airport is 120 miles from here. DFW is about 250.
My wind generator is also different than yours. I have I gone with a vertical generator. Less power but easier for me to setup and tear down. Thought there might be less torque on the mast than from a standard design. You have more experience there and would appreciate the input. As I said earlier, my mast is an old aluminium flag pole in 3 - 4 ft. sections and is attached to the square bumper. I need to get the truck back to the shop and have better supports attached to the bumper and frame. I also added outriggers to the back of the truck for additional stability. My plan was to only use the wind generator when I would be in one place for an extend time.
Must say I am impressed with your setup.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Hey Bruce, I just got some of these, 3" Stainless Steel Cushion Straps and I'm headed out to strap down the top of the mast to the top of the Camper.

I bought a Stainless Steel Pan Screw and some 3M 5200 Marine Sealant to put on the screw where I screw through the camper and into the stud

I'll let you know how it goes once I get it installed. I'm hoping this will take any sort of wobble out of the pole and really tighten the whole mast up. Although as it is, its amazing how sturdy the entire thing is with the strong winds we've been having. The Cushion Strap is just a bit of mental security

 

[adventureduo]

That's awesome. Dave and crew do amazing work down there. What is the price on this mast?

 

[DontPanic42]

Pat,
Thanks for the tip about the cushion clamps. I used smaller ones to mount the conduit for the wire from my solar panel. Locally, I have only seen the small ones so never gave them a thought in the 3 inch range. I'll use one per section to give me a place for a tie down. I figure that if I use a tie down to each outrigger and one to a ground stake they will keep it plumb. I plan to use ratch tie down straps through a rubber bunge cord. The pole should stay plumb but still have a little give if the wind picks up.
That's what I like about this forum. One person's solution for their project leads to a solution for someone elses project.
A Happy Easter weekend to you and your family.

 

[spencyg]

I did up the full design and CNC programming a couple years ago for a quick disconnect hub for a Air-X wind generator (I think it is the generator type in the sprinter picture). I never got around to making any, but the design is finished. This was the only part of the system which seemed to be necessary for our unique application. If you don't have quick disconnect capabilities, you'd need to figure out how to store a 36" disc safely, or take each blade off every time you break down camp. I'll see if I can find those files...

The idea of a wind generator in Expedition applications is superb.

Spence

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Hey Spence, I agree 100% that the turbine makes good sense for Expedition Travel.

Since most of us really enjoy remote locations, and especially those in the desert or along the coast, the winds are usually a good friend for us

For our application, I'm trying to work out a system that I can unbolt the turbine from the Mast and store it in a roof top box already mounted on the roof of the camper.

This obviously wouldnt work for everyone, but I'm trying to fine tune it for us to work pretty seamless

 

[nbleak21]

I'll be the first to admit, i know nothing when it comes to wind turbines, but out of curiosity, what kind of power output do you generally see out of turbines of such a small scale?

and I presume on of the advantages over solar is that they produce electricity as long as the wind is blowing (storms, night, etc...) but is there anything else? less cost or maintenance?

Thanks, -Nick

 

[alosix]

Thanks for posting this up.. I think you've given me an idea.. I've been looking to solar/wind power my 725 project for a while now. Solar was easy, but figuring out how to make the wind work just wasn't there yet.

Now i'm thinking that I can incorporate this into the body build. I think I should be able to get the tube in the body on it around 6-7 feet long. This should allow a good mast height and be completely hidden when not in use.

Thanks for the idea. Now I just need to add it to my camper box design

Jason