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Picture Perfect Water Tower
When Cheryl Mishler and Ed Eiseman needed water for tree seedlings on their remote 10 acres, they did it the old fashioned way. They put up a windmill and built an old fashioned water tower for storage. They were inspired by an old TV show.
"We are both of an age where we remember Petticoat Junction and the old
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Picture Perfect Water Tower ENERGY Wind Power 30-2-20 When Cheryl Mishler and Ed Eiseman needed water for tree seedlings on their remote 10 acres, they did it the old fashioned way. They put up a windmill and built an old fashioned water tower for storage. They were inspired by an old TV show.
"We are both of an age where we remember Petticoat Junction and the old water tower on the show," says Mishler. "Ed came up with the plans, and we built it."
By the time they came up with the water tank concept, they had already decided to drill a well and put up a wind-powered water pump because the property didn't have electric service.
No water tank designs could be found in books or on the internet, so they studied old carpentry and building books to determine the correct footings, legs and spans to support the maximum weight. The tank had to be 16 ft. high to provide enough discharge pressure.
Hidden inside the wood framework is a poly tank that holds 1,500 gallons (6 tons) of water. Mishler and Eiseman, with help from Eiseman's sons, installed five metal-reinforced 2 by 2 by 1-ft. concrete footings. The tower's legs were made from 6 by 6-in. treated timbers with 2 by10-in. planks for cross ties. They put one leg in the center with four around it. The planks connect each upright to its neighboring upright and to the upright across from it (running from the bottom of one to the top of the other). Support planks also bolt to the center leg.
Whenever two planks cross each other, wood spacers were placed between them so spacer and planks could be bolted together, adding even more stability to the structure.
The toughest part of construction, says Mishler, was installing the board cladding around the poly tank. Although purely decorative, the boards provided the authentic look of a wooden water tower. They toe-nailed the boards to the tank platform and wrapped four aluminum bands around them like the bands on a barrel.
"It looks great. We have people stop by all the time to see it," says Mishler, noting that they plan to dig a pond downhill from the water tower to hold the overflow from the tank.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Cheryl Mishler, 1115E 025N, LaGrange, Ind. 46761 (ph 260 463-3122; texchik@kconline.com) or Raymond E. Eiseman, 4400E 250N, LaGrange, Ind. 46761 (ph 260 463-7907; zeebert@ligtel.com).
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