My family roots go back to Ohio’s Muskingham River area in the mid 1800s. There are no raging cataracts or other major stream drops on the Muskingham. At least, not in the first twenty miles upstream from McConnellsville. Observing the river channel confirms this stretch at least, is subject to erratic, heavy flooding. Despite this my pioneer ancestors still used the river to grind their grain, and provide power for several other industries.
How did they do it? They had no metal to make pilings out of. Wood piling would have just washed away at each flood since most of the watercourse bottom is bedrock. Construction of a water retention dam with the water trapped in a pipe until sufficient ‘head’ is created to turn a turbine was not an option due to the very gentle fall. In the roughly twenty miles stretch from Philo and downstream to Stockport the Muskingham drops a total of approximately 23 feet.
What to do? What they did was build floating mills. Logs were gathered and shaped. At least two would be shaped similar to canoes. More logs would be fashioned for cross members often called stretchers. The two ‘canoe’ logs were held rigidly apart by the stretchers. Think of a catamaran sail boat. The raft is held against the current by a line from the barge that was led upstream and tied off to a convenient tree or rock. Poles then kept the raft pushed out into the current so the paddlewheel would not strike the bottom. Paddlewheel? What paddlewheel?
A paddlewheel was fashioned that would fit between the two canoe logs with its axle perpendicular to the current and parallel to the surface of the water. Many paddlewheels were fashioned with axles of wood, turning in wooden bearings. Once my ancestors had a rotating wheel they could perform many functions of ‘modern life. The raft, always floating on top of the water, would rise and fall with the river level. In times of major flooding many rafts were lost, but many others were floated over the normal banks and tied off as tight as possible. After the flood they were disassembled, the parts returned to the water where reassembly took place, renewing any parts damaged by the flooding or otherwise showing excessive wear.
Now, what do we care in our day and age, and, how can we apply this knowledge? The basic principles still stand today. Two uses that come immediately to mind are water pumping, and turning an alternator (hydro-electric power!). If you are ever in the vicinity of the beautiful Metolious River near Sisters, Oregon, stop by the store in Camp Sherman and feed the huge, wild rainbow trout pellets off the bridge. Look downstream toward the left or west bank. There are a string of quaint vacation cabins lining this bank. Many have two-pontoon rafts floating in the current pumping river water to sprinklers in their yards.
With but a small amount of imagination you could put a large pulley on the paddlewheel shaft, and a smaller pulley on an alternator. You may have to play with the ratio combination of the pulleys because your paddlewheel will probably have more, or less power that mine since there are many variables:
- Velocity of the current
- Length of each paddle
- Distance each paddle is submerged [maximum depth]
- Number of paddles
- Efficiency of your bearing system that will be supporting the paddlewheel shaft.
Why not get creative and put a water pump on one end of the shaft, and an alternator on the other? Shifting between utilities could be as simple as putting the v-belt on the desired utility and removing the v-belt from the other.
Our little brook out here in the Oregon High Desert has a drop of approximately 43 feet in ten miles. While I’ll not alert the neighbors by installing a floating mill right now rest assured I have all of the materials at hand to:
- Provide water to our wheat field;
- Provide battery recharging; and,
- Provide fire water tank filling.
My bill of materials list that we have stockpiled includes a:
- Length of 2 inch aluminum irrigation pipe for my main shaft;
- Block of 2 inch Teflon to cut my bearings from;
- Lot of 2 inch angle iron for my paddle arms; and,
- A large selection of stainless nuts, bolts, and lock washers.
I am currently looking into using a five or ten speed bicycle frame with the paddlewheel turning the peddle gear and the load placed in lieu of the rear wheel. Including the shifting mechanism allows me to vary the speed for various loads without any pulley or chain swapping.
There will need to be a bit of calculation performed to insure proper operation. The variables include:
A.) Normal speed of the current;
B.) Normal depth range of the water, that is, the minimum you can expect and the maximum;
C.) The type of load your water mill will be expected to operate; and,
D.) What is the type, size, and quantity of drift [debris] must you plan on that will be striking your wheels paddles?
All these, and more, factors come into play in designing your wheel to insure proper operation. Submersion depth is primarily influenced by variables B &D. While the width is influenced primarily variables A & C. If your float system has sufficient reserve buoyancy you can construct a small shed or building on it and have covered space. With covered space you could operate machines like your grain grinder right at the source of water power instead of muscle power in the kitchen. My wife really likes the idea of having sufficient capacity to operate the ringer washing machine that we picked up from somebody’s front yard (After seeking and gaining the owner’s permission. Their response to my request was, “Sure! Want any help loading it?)
Proper mooring of your floating structure is vitally important. The mooring system has to meet three needs:
- Hold your structure well away from the shallow water near the bank;
- Hold your structure steady in the current; and,
- Prevent your structure from sailing away during floods
There are at least two methods that I am familiar with for holding a raft away from the bank. You can cut two stout poles, their length the distance you wish to hold your raft from the bank. Lash the poles to the raft, one forward and one aft of the side you want facing the bank. Now run a line from the upstream, bank side corner of the raft to a stout object well up stream. A solid tree, a rock outcrop, etc. will work just fine. With the line tied off solidly on the bank and to the corner of your raft the moving water forces will cause the raft to push in, toward the bank. Your two stout poles will prevent this.
Another method is to use a stout line tied off well up stream and attached part way back on the side of the raft toward the bank. Sailors call this a breast line or spring line depending on its actual use. This line causes the raft to shear into the current. Now, instead of stout poles to hold the raft off the bank, you will be using a pair of lines (In place of the poles.) to keep the raft in position. Which system to use? That will depend on local factors such as the height and slope if the bank. A high clay bank would not hold the stout poles very well for very long. Whereas a nice wide gravel bar shore may leave you nothing to tie lines securely to.
In our situation I will end up using both systems. I guess I am a belt and suspenders guy. In fact, since our stream is about fifty feet wide where we will cite the mill, I will run lines to both banks. We picked this narrow spot since it is a bottle neck that creates a better velocity of the water than most of the pool stretches, etc.
I shun the idea of putting out anchors upstream, (sometimes called “kedging anchors”) , from the raft. There have been far too many instances of a log or large amount of brush hanging up on anchor line[s]. The only alternatives are then are the:
- Line must break, or
- Raft must submerge from the weight on the anchor line[s].
By choice I leave out, as an alternative, having someone watch for large debris and then removing or steering the log or debris around and off of the anchor lines as it would be a twenty-four/seven task at a time with much more important tasks to complete.
So, if your retreat has that pleasant little brook running through it, you may look at it in a whole new light now. What other uses can you think of to make use of this little thought of twenty-four/seven power supply? How about running a flour mill or washing clothes during the day, and filling a cistern at night so you have gravity water pressure to your home? This might qualify as one of the original Eco-Friendly machines. Nothing, except for velocity of the water, is removed from the Eco-system.
(CentOre is a loosely connected group of people in the Oregon High Desert interested in improving our existing skills, and learning new skills that will enhance our odds when it hits.)