MC retires buys old mill on river fixes it up. Saves a family from bullies and a cottage industry is the result. My be British. Thanks in Advance
MC retires buys old mill on river fixes it up. Saves a family from bullies and a cottage industry is the result. My be British. Thanks in Advance
Years ago I read a similar story that may or may not have been completed. A small city had grown up around an old stone mill that was partly collapsed. I can't remember if it was a grinding mill or sawmill. A new owner was clearing the overgrowth away and rebuilding the 2-3 story mill including the exterior and replacing the wooden floors. I think he just intended to make it a home but it's been 10-15 years since I read it but never finished.
A new owner was clearing the overgrowth away and rebuilding the 2-3 story mill including the exterior and replacing the wooden floors. I think he just intended to make it a home but it's been 10-15 years since I read it but never finished.
That sort of thing has happened in real life, at least with grain mills. I haven't specifically heard a real story about someone doing that with an old saw mill.
I an aware of two locations within fifty miles of me that did just that. My property has an old grain mill on the creek, but I've done nothing with it so far, and hadn't really looked at it much. I think I'll give it a look see tomorrow.
Remus, you do know you can repurpose those to create hydro-electric from the water wheels, right?
Yes I do know. But at the moment I've no idea what condition everything there is in. To date, we've focused on wind and solar. Hydro would be a nice addition, but we've got our energy needs covered for now, so it hasn't been a priority.
Yes I do know. But at the moment I've no idea what condition everything there is in. To date, we've focused on wind and solar. Hydro would be a nice addition, but we've got our energy needs covered for now, so it hasn't been a priority.
At least make a start on it by documenting whatever is left and making some repairs. If you wait until it is gone, the government will never let you rebuild.
At least make a start on it by documenting whatever is left and making some repairs. If you wait until it is gone, the government will never let you rebuild.
I went down and had a look at it this morning. The wheel and tail races were in surprisingly good condition. The Wheel needs a lot of work. The foundation and rock walls up to the wood are solid, but the rest of the building is trash.
Sparky does have a point though. FERC and TVA are the federal powers in play for this area. Both were a royal pain in the ass when we were setting up the wind and solar. My wife is the E.E. of the family, who set up that end of it. She didn't react very well to the prospect of adding it in when I mentioned it this morning, based on the hassle we got over the wind and solar.
As suggested, you might be better off in setting up the mill to generate power on a separate circuit for your own use while only having the existing system to produce power for sale.
Be careful of doing that. If you plan on re-selling excesspower to the grid FERC can get....pissy. A former employer built a plant to pump raw water into a raw water distribution system. At certain times of the year the system had excess raw water so they included a means of running the extra though a pelton wheel at the pump station and into the lake. It was all installed when they applied for a FERC license. The last line on the app stated to apply for and secure the license before purchasing or installing any generation equipment. We had to yank out everything and start from scratch. It's been almost 30 years and it still isn't reinstalled.
I wouldn't worry about trying to sell power, unless it is a really huge mill/stream.
It's just possible that the building and dam can be "grandfathered in" as long as a certain amount remains. If you don't do this, it's certain that someone will claim you're killing endangered pollywogs or something, and prevent you from making any improvements.
Better if you can document its history and apply to restore and operate it as a historic site.
One interesting use of water power I saw some years ago was a water wheel used to drive a large air compressor, from which air was piped to various shop machinery for woodworking, etc. It filled air storage tanks 24/7, and was used mostly during the day.
The magazine Mother Earth News built this in their "Eco-Village" somewhere in North Carolina (1970's?)
I'm pretty sure this could be made to operate air conditioning, refrigeration, fans and other useful machinery. With no permits needed.
It opened in 1979 in Hendersonville NC on 600 acres.
I guess it's gone now, can't find any recent info, just references to older Mother Earth News magazines.
I guess it's gone now, can't find any recent info, just references to older Mother Earth News magazines.
"The Eco-Village was disbanded after the magazine was sold in 1985."
https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/0207ecovillage-php/
"The Eco-Village was disbanded after the magazine was sold in 1985."
https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/0207ecovillage-php/
By now, I suppose a developer has bulldozed it flat, cut down all the trees, and built condominiums all over it.
By now, I suppose a developer has bulldozed it flat, cut down all the trees, and built condominiums all over it.
Nope. Mostly intact. The publisher that bought the magazine transferred the land back to the people that started the magazine, and it was preserved pretty well.
Nope. Mostly intact. The publisher that bought the magazine transferred the land back to the people that started the magazine, and it was preserved pretty well.
Well, I guess that is a real-life "rags to riches" story. The Shuttleworths started it "on a shoestring".
After spending part of the day documenting everything and another part in research, I've come to the conclusion I may well be better off tearing it all down. Not because it can't be fixed, but because of TVA's control of waterways and flood control mandates. Including in those power's are some broad eminent domain clauses. There is a distinct potential that if the permitting process goes south, we could lose a large chunk of land to eminent domain.
They were none too pleased that we won in court over the wind and solar debacle. After review, I don't think it wise to give them a second shot at us.
Thanks for the suggestions to all who gave them.
but because of TVA's control of waterways and flood control mandates.
Would they really have that much say if you restored it as a grain mill without adding electric generation?
That would suck.
The electric generation is secondary to the problem. Yes they do have that much control, and yes it does suck. It would not be the first, tenth, or more times that people have experienced it either.
Would they really have that much say
You'd be disturbed if you realized how much power resides in the hands of unaccountable bureaucrats.
You'd be disturbed if you realized how much power resides in the hands of unaccountable bureaucrats.
Disturbed, but not surprised.
At this point the only way to fix it is to burn it all down and start over from scratch.
At this point the only way to fix it is to burn it all down and start over from scratch.
True.
Probably gonna need to be soon.
Probably gonna need to be soon.
Probably gonna happen on its own soon. Our Federal government is NOT sustainable. Eventually it will crash and burn under its own weight.
government is NOT sustainable
We aren't supposed to discuss Politics. Maybe Cussing politics is alright? Politics is a compound word from the Greek poly meaning many and tics meaning blood sucking insects.
Instead lets discuss Economics at least economic history. I think when governments spend significantly more than they take in (mostly taxes, but there are other ways to get money like selling government assets (land) or charging to import things, although that is also probably a tax on the people who pay for the finished goods. Anyhow trillions of dollars of deficit will almost certainly lead to inflation. I don't know how much inflation, but history includes Germany after World War One where it took a wheel barrow full of currency to buy something and you needed to buy it this morning because in the afternoon it would cost more. Eventually this led to National Socialism (Hitler and party) but it might have led to Communism which is why the rich Germans (except the Jews) supported the Nazis rather than the Communists. If we have significant inflation and then depression there will be government changes, probably we won't like them. I don't see any reason to expect the next election will help reduce inflation. Republicans used to want balanced budgets and low inflation, so rich people's savings stayed valuable. I suggest people play Bridge and bid No-Trump. Maybe Biden will be better, but he may be somewhat damaged mentally. The Democraps are running, as usual on spending even more money than the Trillions already given away. They might find a new taxation system, maybe a VAT (Value added tax, like a federal sales tax) which once again would cost middle and lower class taxpayers and not hit the wealthy as hard. But the money most of us have in savings is not going to be worth as much next year and the years after that. The Federal Reserve can print and may large value bills as it wants, and the government can spend it. But when the currency grows faster than the economy the price of real objects gets higher. They may try price controls. We know how well that works out over time. Maybe there is a FDR to get elected to save the economy. He messed around but what got the economy going again was World War Two. Politics as usual is going toward crash and burn. I hope we don't have a Hitler in our future.
Republicans used to want balanced budgets and low inflation, so rich people's savings stayed valuable.
Their base may want those things. The candidates the party runs may say they want those things, but I no longer believe that was ever actually true.