I am starting to plan/design a covered/screened-in outdoor living space. The area is 33’ deep X 44’ wide along the back of the house. The center piece will be a round limestone fireplace open on four sides in the center of the room.


As you enter the room from the back of the house there will be an outdoor kitchen in the far left corner and a sunken hot tub in the far right corner. The top edge of the hot tub will be about 4”-6” above floor height. I am planning limestone walls to about 4’ then screened between stone pillars. Wall height is 10’ with a vaulted ceiling.

Now for my question: I "wanted" to have belt-driven ceiling fans...




Until I saw this….



Now I want belt-driven windmill ceiling fans! I need a reversible, variable speed motor to drive three to four 6’ fans.

What hp motor do I need? What rpm do I need?

Thoughts and ideas please…

damn thats cool

might steal this for later

no idea here, all the motors I can think of would be to many RPMs

you might be able to control the voltage going to them for different speed settings, but electronics arent my expertise

good luck

Thanks! I'll have you over for a cold beer and some smoked pig when it's done!

Yep. I'm with you- I have a 6' windmill sitting on a trailer that's going up sometime. Mine lacks a spindle that I have to find.

Find an industrial sewing machine motor, not the clutch type, but a DC motor that has a separate box with the controller. You will probably have to find someone that repairs/works on the motor to wire it in for you, but it is 120 volt ac plug motor that is DC. It will go from zero to about 3000 RPM an dis reversible.

Now for the possible problem, the lower speeds have less torque, so I don't know if t will work. That is for you to find out.

Consew is the brand that I have use as motor for my lathe, for my use it works great except the torque issue at slow speeds.

What about controlling speeds based off pulley size on top of fan

Or off motor

Call a Grainger store near you and explain your needs. They can guide you in the right direction.

Radius over RPM. Lower radius on higher RPM geared up to larger wheel. Solves your problems. Compare the two radii, set equal and go.

I am planning to use a 3-way switch for: 1) blow down, 2) off, and 3)blow up. Then thru a variable switch to adjust speed motor speed. I have to figure the pulley size for the motor and on the fans. Planning to use leather belts to drive the fans. Just need to figure out HP size and max RPM for a motor to run four of these fans. Found these but still don't have a clue what I need.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/category_electrical+electric-motors

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/category_electrical+electric-motors+4294940888

I figure it's better to have a little more motor than you need so it doesn't have to work so hard.

Also, I don't figure they will need to turn much faster than a normal ceiling fan on low speed. Four of those fans 6' in diameter is a lot of blade surface so it should create a nice breeze at a fairly slow rpm.

I would bypass Grainger and go to a bearing house, Purvis, Motion Industries, Applied Industrial technologies. They know controls, can help with pulleys, belts and sheaves, mounted bearings and required ratios. Unless you are only planning to go for low speed aesthetics, you are going to have some issues to consider with balancing the blades. It sure will look great I bet!

Neat idea and I think an exposed wheel gear/pulley system would add to the "decor". I don't have a clue what motor to help you there, but I'd think a strong, low rpm would be the obvious choice. As mentioned, should'nt take much spin to move allot of air using a windmill blade!

i knew some people that had one and it wasnt secured like it should have been i guess and it came crashing down during a party one night and i think 300 stitches ended up being sewn on 4 or 5 of them

This morning I was thinking about using an old drill press to run it. Thoughts?



300 stiches? WOW! Why I was thinking of heavy duty mounts (indusrtial) and operate at low rmp.

You need a variable DC drive motor and a controller box. I'm running a 3 H.P.motor and controller for my primary knife making 2"X72" belt sander. All the torque you'd ever need. From a crawl to 3000 rpm you can't bog it down.
Bought my motor and controller off of ebay in like new condition for less than $300 shipped to the house.

SnakeWrangler, did you ever get this working?

Sewing machine motor would work...not like Nana's Singer...but a biggun. The old Nacona Boot factory in Nacona TX still has all of the machines in the back. It is closed down and there is an antique mall there in half of it. Not sure of the name...track them down I'll bet those massive motors could be had if you get the right name. They are already belt driven...will have to get leather belts custom made I'm guessing...exposure may be an issue with them if you don't oil the heck out of the leather.

Not yet....Got the house last Oct. Gutted it and started updating…should be finished with the remodeling of the house next month, then move in and start on the addition. I will post pics over the next year+ as the project proceeds.

You can seesome pics of the house here:

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/5039063/Re:_Rock_Star_-_pic_heavy#Post5039063

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/5049150/1

I like that, neat idea.

I had dinner in Tukwila, WA. several years ago at a place called Claim Jumpers. They had all their ceiling fans running on serpentine belts. These belts were turning 4 or 5 fans each. It was pretty cool. I couldn't find any pictures on their web site.

Update on this- my fan is on the way to Nebraska to get transformed into a ceiling fan. I'll update as progress happens.

OK the fan is complete and functional. It's being shipped down from the shop pretty soon, then GUTIT will get it mounted in the building. Went with a 29 RPM setup, no reverse or variable speed. The guy that built it did a good job- no vibration. It has some tensioner-type setup so that when it starts it doesn't snatch and then when turned off it spins down freely.

Thats awesome

yup; neat idea, but quite dangerous (that is a lot of MASS to be rotating- lots of rotational energy stored up in that thing even at low rpm if anything ever gets caught-up in it - think of small kiddo with several ballons with strings tied to wrist . . . .).
Most modern ceiling fans are required to be low mass (on the blade structure & armature) with low-HP/torque motors for just this reason.
Better think/plan on a safety cut-off switch and braking assembly.

I like it....looks great....can't wait to see it installed.

Got the fan mounted last week- yay! Drove up to Nebraska, picked it up, turned around and came back. Kent (GUTIT) and the crew got it mounted securely in the space. Works great, moves a good bit of air. The motor/bracket weighs right at 130 pounds and the fan weighs 60.


Kent in action:



Final product:

That's freaking awesome

Pretty cool in more than one way.

That's awesome....how loud is it? Variable or fixed RPM? Fan Speed?

I was thinking something similar but hanging down on a 3'-4' shaft vs. against the mounting bracket.

I can't wait to get the old house cleaned out and sold so I can start on the addition...oilfield slowdown and closing my yard really pushed back my project but I want it done so bad!

I seen one on a ranch in the Hill Country. It was a larger fan and it put out a good breeze when it was running. Only noise you could really here was the sound of the wind. The larger one was really heavy. Posts some pics of the finished room when done. Gonna look great I bet.

Single speed- 29 RPM. Very slight hum to the motor- not noticeable at all- especially to us "hard-of-hearing" folks.
The design has a reducer for the gearbox, then the windmill hub is attached to a truck hub. He installed tapered bearings so that if it ever wears the fan cannot fall out of the hub.

SnakeWrangler, there may be a problem with "snatch" or wobble trying to start up a longer shaft. The sheer weight of the fan probably requires a stout, immobile bracket. On this one he also installed a belt tensioner so that the start up and shut down has some "give" to it.

I really like the hub idea...I was planning on having a brace with a bearing closer to the fan and braced back to the ceiling with 3 rods for better stability. My ceiling will be close to 16' so will need some drop just for the pitch of the open beam roof.

I love the way yours turned out...I've watched the video bout 10 times looking at different details! Fantastic man!

That fan is a beast. Fabricating bracket, and mounting was a chore. I wired the building planning for this fan so finishing power was simple. It is on a switch.
I have built them in the past, there are many variables to making one work properly. The man that built this did a fine job. Very cool gear reduction snout on the motor.

I use variable speed motors on mine to allow for more/less fan speed. You never want to go to high as it doesn't take much speed to move air with the blade number and sheer size.

Truly enjoyed finishing this for David, just another part of the preservation project we are doing do for him. Old fan for an old building.

I'm surprised that dude on the ladder was strong enough to hold it up

You'll need to look a little closer- 4 of the lag bolts were already in!

That is outstanding

Touché

On a serious note that is awesome! We have a dream to build a lodge style home out at the wife's family ranch. If that ever comes to fruition there's a windmill laid over that will be repurposed for this. Thanks for sharing!

Great idea and work!

Says the guy standing on the ground just watching and taking pics.

Somebody had to document it in case that ladder gave way....

I was in a bar in OKC that has some fans running on a chain system, I always liked it, did you consider a chain driven system? I like the "ez" start and stop that you had built in...

Well.....after three years of delays the project will soon be started....I've started gathering bids and hope to have the slab done and structures done by the end of the year.....

cool fan, one with an airplane prop would be cool too.

Just so happens that I have one if you in need of one...

http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/6863721/Re:_Man_Cave,_office_or_home_d#Post6863721