The Twins

In late winter 2022, Kevin from Rock Ridge Windmills introduced us to Todd Skinner of Hoosier Windmills in Indiana. Todd, a skilled machinist and expert in windmill restoration, was tasked with restoring two 20′ Samson Windmills—one dating back to before 1920 and the other slightly newer. Despite his expertise, Todd needed assistance with the foundation, structural engineering, and construction due to the deteriorating wooden tower structures.

One tower leaned about 10 degrees from foundation damage caused by an earthquake, and both towers, standing for over 80 years, had undergone numerous repairs. We assured Todd that we could handle the project and, in May, met on-site with Todd, his father Joe, and Connor. We carefully disassembled the windmills and transported them to Todd’s machine shop in Indiana for restoration.

During our visit, we documented and measured the existing towers, consulted with the owners, and returned to our workshop to begin design work. The client wanted the new towers to retain the appearance of the original towers, but they requested we improve the foundation design in case of future earthquakes. We designed a robust footing and pier system capable of withstanding seismic loads as well as the weight of the structures.

We then drafted a tower design matching the original’s dimensions but incorporating enhancements for increased rigidity, such as additional bracing, larger members, and double fasteners at each joint. To honor the history, we did our construction drawings the old way, with a pencil and scale ruler at a 1″=1′ scale and fabricated the towers in segments at our shop in Victor, Montana.

Project Highlights:

Towers: 44′ high, each with over 5,000 lbs of Douglas Fir lumber each
Foundations: Nearly 500′ of rebar and 8 yards of concrete under each tower.
Bracing: Standardized at 2 1/2″ x 10″ Douglas Fir, double-bolted with Grade 5 hardware
The new towers were shipped in segments to the ranch in the fall, where we later dismantled the old structures. The new foundations include a substantial footing system, with the base forming a 22′ square beneath the earth.

Restoring the 20′ Samson windmills has been challenging due to the scarcity of original parts, but thanks to Hoosier Windmills’ full-service machine shop, the windmills are now fully restored. The windmill heads will be installed in late fall or early winter, and we will update this page with final photos and additional details.