Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Standing 30 feet tall, the latest power source on the Steve Fisher Well Drilling property is visible from quite a distance.
Fisher has installed a windmill along CR 300N, at the corner of CR 150E, designed to pump water to the company's geothermal system.
With "Steve Fisher" painted on the fantail, there shouldn't be any question about where the business is located.
The fan is 10 feet in diameter with 18 blades.
"I worked on several windmill wells as a kid," said Fisher, 42, the son of Keith Fisher, who began the business. "Until about 10 years ago, a dairy farmer on CR 900N ran a windmill on his property."
Electrically operated jet pumps gradually replaced windmills and landowners took them down.
Fisher said the windmill is a good example of old and new technology, something he became interested in about a year and a half ago.
At first he considered refurbishing an old windmill head, deciding against it when he learned about repair costs.
Bruce Bibler, owner of B&B Woodworking, built the tower, referring to a manual that came with the head, dated 1909. The poplar wood used in construction took nine months to dry.
"The plans called for 30-foot timbers," Bibler said Saturday when the tower was set. "You don't come across them often anymore."
The sections are bolted together with specially ordered square bolts. The four legs converge at the top and Bibler said spreading them out took quite a bit of pressure.
The instructions recommended a team of horses be used to pull the tower to a standing position. Fisher used a crane.
Fisher and Bibler became acquainted about 2-1/2 years ago, when Fisher's stepdaughter, Erica Hudson, began to date Bibler's son, Brad. Brad works for Fisher.
The windmill's 1890 head design has withstood the test of time. Fisher ordered it new through Aermotor Windmills in Texas. Western states still use windmills to pump water on the vast ranches, and closer to home, in Iowa, for example, wind power is used to generate electricity.
The Fisher windmill well is 90 feet deep and is PVC cased.
Just under the top of the apparatus is a small platform that Fisher, or another brave individual, will use to stand on while oiling parts. A ladder will be installed along one side.
