By CINDY LADAGE
Wrenching Tales 

Some collectors like farm items such as pumps or hit-and-miss engines, rather than tractors or implements. For Paul Behrends of Foosland, Ill., windmills are his passion.

His family has been fascinated with windmills since his uncle Wendell Dean was the vice president of Aermotor Windmill Co. in Chicago. "They were the largest windmill company in the world," Paul said, "The business was founded in 1888 in Chicago and still makes windmills in San Angelo, Texas.

"I grew up learning about windmills, then as an adult I realized traditional windmills were disappearing like old farmsteads, livestock barns and silos."

Windmills are beautiful against a farm landscape; however, the history of them is not as decoration, but as a workhorse to capture wind power. The website Windmill World indicates they have either a Persian or Northern European origin: "Once European millwrights became highly skilled craftsmen, developing the technology tremendously, and as Europeans set off colonizing the rest of the globe, windmills spread throughout the world.

"The pinnacles of windmill design include those built by the British, who developed many advanced ‘automatic control’ mechanisms over the centuries, and the Dutch (who used windmills extensively to pump water and for industrial uses, as well as to grind grain)."

Pumping water was one of the main uses on American farms. Paul hated seeing these beautiful workhorses disappear, so he decided to restore some windmills.

To get started, "I thought it would be kind of neat to find and rebuild a working windmill and put it in my yard, years and years ago, so I ran an ad in a Pennysaver magazine looking for parts. That’s how I got started, and it went from there."

Today he does full-service well pump and pipe work installation along with platforms. "I am a one-call service," he explained. Besides the windmill service, he also offers crane services for all types of windmill and construction needs.

The website for Paul’s Windmill and Crane Service states: "We are in the business of old-fashioned, water-pumping windmills. Once seen all across our country on nearly every farmstead pumping tirelessly to provide life-giving water to livestock, plants and people … These time-proven, heavy duty workhorses were designed to pump water from wells, but even if you don’t need to pump water, they make great landmarks to any farmstead.

"They are not designed to generate electricity, but they can reliably pump water to fill ponds, water livestock, irrigate or aerate ponds. The fact that they look great is an added bonus."

Before making a call, Paul said customers often send pictures to him so he can "get a mental picture of what I am getting into." The more unusual the windmill, the more work may be required.

"If it is an oddball, it has to come down and go back to the shop. I specialize in large-diameter windmills for high-volume pumping like pond filling and agricultural field drainage … I travel around mostly Illinois and the surrounding states."

He went from being in just the business to being a collector. "It didn’t take too long to get into collecting odd and early wooden windmills dating back to the 1870s or 1880s," he added. At home he had several, but his favorite he said is an 1895 Flint & Walling Model "Steel Star" direct stroke windmill.

Paul’s Windmill and Crane Service is located at 3413 County Road 625 E, Foosland, IL 61845. Questions can be directed to millfixr1@aol.com or his business phone at 217-897-6699 or mobile, 217-369-4406. To check out his website, log onto http://paulswindmillservice.com

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.