Load up and Ship out

Thanks to Joe lending us his trailer, we were able to load up the turbine and head up to Nh. We built a nice skid for it so we can slide it on and off the trailer with ease. The idea was to winch it on, and other than almost breaking the cable on the winch I would say it worked pretty well. We also found some old plastic decking around which was made of polyethelene, and was nice and slippery.

With the turbine loaded up and rigging supplies in the bed, we headed north.

Click the video for audio. It ended up being one of the hottest days of the year the day we drove up. The truck was not super happy about it. The temperature gague went from C to H and the word NORMAL unbetween. It was sitting at the L on normal going up hills with the AC on. But it worked like a champ as it always does. Also with the truck being hot, we couldnt go that fast, but at one point the turbine propellor started to spin while we were driving. So we pulled over and stapped the prop so it wouldnt spin, as there was no lubrication so we feared damaging something.

Getting the turbine off the trailer was no big deal other than the blistering heat and baking sun. We used a come-along onto one of those vertical posts for the gantry and winched it off, when we were close enough I just drove the truck away and BAM.

I think without these plastic deck pieces, I am not sure this would have been possible. The pressure on the skids onto the sliding surface was really high and moving this thing around wood on wood was just not happening.

After a very hot day we headed back home. A crane, the Hydro Hooligans, the Ashland Electric Department, and myself in the next week will be back up at the dam for installation. When you are installing something like this you need to have all your supplies ready to go and organized. When the crane is there you are literally burning money. Having done rigs like this in the past being prepared is very important. Having the tools, hardware, and backups are critical. You can see these 16 beautiful stainless bolts with two washers, lock washer and nut and a couple spares. Cleaned, and put into the tumbler to make them look nice. This hardware was at the dam in a bucket of sitting water and was nasty and rusty crusty water. But as you can see the bolts cleaned up beautifully. Also a jar of antisieze was on hand before installation, gaulling these large bolts would be a bad time. Its almost go time.