My Head Is In The clouds!! Literally!!!!
 

Remember how I said I was gonna work on Wind Generators when I finished school? Well, I'm not waiting that long!! I started working for PGE on the Biglow Wind Farm in Wasco, Oregon last week!! Whoo Hoo!! I am so jazzed!!

Height ~ 396 feet to blade tip, 253 feet to center of hub
Weight ~ 246 tons
Blade diameter ~ 269 feet
Blade tip speed ~ 130 mph
Blade rotation ~ 14 rpm
Operational speed~

• Rotor blades start at a wind speed of 7 mph
• Power produced at a wind speed of 9 mph
• Maximum rated power (1.65 megawatts) reached at wind speeds of 27 mph and greater
• High-wind shutdown initiated when average speed reaches 55 mph for more than one minute

Here's a pic for size!! Notice the pick-up at the base and the black dot on the tower is an eight-foot door!!

https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f...s/Thisone2.jpg

This is just a nice pic of a bunch of them together!!

https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f...s/sheD0095.jpg

That look like fun! I wish I had one in my back yard...

We have 2 of those on located on a south 1/4 section of the family farm at Gull Lake Saskatchewan.

Bottom of page.

http://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/sask/windpower.html


I was simply amazed as I drove up to one.

So you have a cool job in lofty places, does this mean you are too good for us FTEers?

Looks like fun, but I am sure it is some real work.
It is good to be a part of a renewable power operation.

There are/will be 76 towers on this farm as some of them are still going up!! And no matter where I work I will never be too good for the FTE crowd!! Ha! Ha! Ha!!!

Climbing them is kicking my butt!! I'm not 20 anymore,, heck, I'm not even 30!! Ha! Ha!

There is something majestic about the way the blades sweep around, when you see them from the road. At night it can be suprising to suddenly see a windblade swoop past what you thought was just a utility tower off in a field.

Those things were a great idea!

how does one of those get installed?

i think if i am that high above the ground that rotor needs to be turned up and have a tail rotor and then throw a turbine in there and you have a helicopter.

Yeah - but the difference between the two is that if the transmission springs a leak you can always take the stairs...
(He observes)

i bet there isnt one of use that could aford one like she's workin on,ive heard they into millions to buy and install one

I bet your right wizzard. Those things are huge & very expensive. I'd be happy with half of my roof as a solar panel.
Congrats on the job Bunny.

With really BIG cranes!!! They build the foundation, install the computer equipment, set the four tower pieces, place the nacelle on top (the generator and housing), assemble the blades and the hub on the ground and "fly" it to the nacelle.

Setting the tower~

https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f...kos/photo7.jpg

Flying the hub~

https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f...s/0d91b1d1.jpg


https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f...deposition.jpg

I bet that Rigger on top of the nacelle is making a fortune...

Yeah, he gets between $60.00-$80.00 an hour, depending on the company! Not bad wages!! We get a little over half that to inspect them afterwards.

There's a company in Montana that wants to build a bunch of them, east of the mountains...but the enviro-nazis say "No, they'll detract from the pretty scenery". So, now the company is looking to build elsewhere. Oh..they might build a few "token" towers here, but even that's not completely likely.

Makes ya wonder when people gonna get their poop back in one sack, don't it?

Congrats on your new job. I'm envious. Wish to heck I could do anything, like I did when I was younger, but that isn't the way it is anymore. Sigh.