Something you may not see close up

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skiprat

skiprat

Passed Away Mar 22, 2022
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In a Skip in Wales
Just for fun I thought you may like to see something that you only normally ever see in the far distance. I'm back in wonderful Scotland ( near Oban ) working on some of our switchgear on a windfarm.
These are far from being the biggest turbines, there are many that are much bigger. But even these babies dwarf my pickup truck !!
The view is stunning from the top of the mountains, which is just one of hundreds of the reasons I love Scotland so much !!
I had to stop and ask some of the pretty local lassies for directions !!! ( they are soooooooo much prettier than our Welsh sheep!!! :biggrin: )

Hope you enjoy the pics !!:biggrin:
 

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very much so, Skip Thanks. Does the big crane pick up the small one to put the propellers in place?:biggrin:
 
Holy cow. When you see these without something to reference the size it's hard to tell how big they really are. I'm guessing if you are working on it and the blades start to spin you just don't put out a hand to stop it. The countryside looks beautiful.
 
They bring those through here and stop right at the edge of town. They are not allowed to cross the bridge over the dam until night time because they have to shut it down. That is a big crane.
 
no pic it didn't happen:biggrin:

I had to stop and ask some of the pretty local lassies for directions !!! ( they are soooooooo much prettier than our Welsh sheep!!!
 
dalecamino said:
Nice pictures Steve. Beautiful country. It's amazing how all those anchors line up with all the holes in the base plate.
Click to expand...

Chuck, don't forget where these are.....Scotland!!!. Without a doubt, the most inventive and ingenious nation on the planet!!! If they can't make a few big bolts line up with some holes then no-one can!!:biggrin:

maxwell_smart007 said:
i see these driving down the highway often - there are a lot of big windfarms in the area....

neat to see the fields of giant propellors!
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I'm glad to see someone else that likes these. I think they are majestic and very pleaseing to look at. I know that the anti-brigade argues about their inafficiency, but once they are up the fuel is free and safe.
Everyone wants to switch on their lights when they get home, but nobody wants to see a nuclear or coal fire power station in their area.
The newest of these even have silencers on the edges of the blades. You used to hear a wooosh- wooosh as the blades passed the tower but now they are virtually silent. I'll post a pic of the silencers tomorrow. They look very scary...like saw blades!!

firewhatfire said:
no pic it didn't happen:biggrin:

I had to stop and ask some of the pretty local lassies for directions !!! ( they are soooooooo much prettier than our Welsh sheep!!!
Click to expand...

LOL, the beautiful fluffy Highland Cows are the local talent!!! The only problem is, is that you need a much bigger pair of wellies!!! ( figure that one out !!:wink: )
 
Fantastic pictures Steven. You just don't realise how big some of these things are. I really like them and think they add something to a landscape. I do feel a bit skeptical though when I see them stood idle. You seem to have a great job, in the good weather anyway:smile:

Eric...
 
and a stump.:wink: Of course now I understand no pics:rotfl:

firewhatfire said:
no pic it didn't happen:biggrin:

I had to stop and ask some of the pretty local lassies for directions !!! ( they are soooooooo much prettier than our Welsh sheep!!!
Click to expand...

LOL, the beautiful fluffy Highland Cows are the local talent!!! The only problem is, is that you need a much bigger pair of wellies!!! ( figure that one out !!:wink: )[/quote]
 
ericofpendom said:
Fantastic pictures Steven. You just don't realise how big some of these things are. I really like them and think they add something to a landscape. I do feel a bit skeptical though when I see them stood idle. You seem to have a great job, in the good weather anyway:smile:

Eric...
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Yep, standing idle is a problem, but they aren't costing much when there's no wind. They currently can't operate with winds above 55mph but the Spanish are coming out with a version that they claim will work upto 80mph.
I don't work for the windfarm manufacturers, our company supplies the switchgear that takes their electricity and switches it onto the grid.
I do have a great job though !! I love it and have been doing it with the same company for over 30 years !! :biggrin:
My job has taken me to some cool places though, like in the bowels of a nuclear powered Trident Submarine in a loch in Scotland to an scientific oil exploration ship in Pascagoula USA to the deepest gold mines in the world in South Africa.
I've been to some not so cool places too, unfortunately. I've been chased from construction sites in various countries in Africa by children with home made shotguns ( during riots ) In one instance we were all told to leave or be shot. They then kept two Indian guys that had been supervising another group of local laboureres. The kids made them continue digging a cable trench until they were exhausted and then shot them in the trench.
Our company and many others then stopped doing developement work in these countries.

But in the main, I love my job !!:biggrin:

If anyone else enjoys their job too, then please feel free to say so here too!!:wink:
 
anectine said:
Hey Skip, How big is the footer for one of these?
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Adam, I'm not sure but I reckon around 5-6 metres diameter. I'll measure one in the morning for you, but it's 10 to 11 here now and I need to get my last order in at the bar !!! Priorities, you understand!!:biggrin: Bar closes at 11pm and I haven't had enough Tennants Lager yet!!:eek:
 
Right, I'm back in my room. :smile:
What more does a man need but a pint of the local golden nectar, some info on the local terrain and access to his favourite blogging site????:biggrin:


A woman, I hear you say??? :biggrin: LOL, my wife is a school teacher and last week was their half term break and she came up here with me and believe it or not we had the same room I'm in now!! She shopped, I worked !!
I called her earlier and told her that I found her knickers under the bed. !! LOL, she was NOT impressed!!!:eek::biggrin:

I'm in Columba Hotel in Oban and my room overlooks the quaunt harbour. Life is good!!:biggrin:
 

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We have ALOT of those turbines here in Texas. My one question is... Where is the picture taken from the top of one of those turbines????
 
Bigj51 said:
We have ALOT of those turbines here in Texas. My one question is... Where is the picture taken from the top of one of those turbines????
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Well Jeff, I'm actually working on that. Many of these towers have lifts ( elevators ) in them, but mostly only the really big ones. These small ones don't and the German company guys have to climb up steps to get to the top.:eek: The Spanish ones are the biggies.
Now, I love IAP but I'm not about to risk a heart attack for you lot just to take a picture or two. :wink: I only quit smoking 2 years ago and my lungs and heart just aren't ready for that kind of effort yet!!
The next time I'm on one of the big ones I'll see if they will let me go up. :biggrin:
 
What I don't like about these things is what they do to the scenery, there has been many a beautiful view ruined by these monsters. But they are good for the enviroment though, so I guess I can live with them.
Len
 
Those do look magnificent as they stand along a ridge and slowly spin in the wind... there's a place in California along the western edge of the Mojave that has hundreds of the turbines turning.... it's amazing how slowly they turn to generate the power.
 
Heheheh. Stephen, there is a large farm of these (over 400 I believe) all around my dad's place in west Texas. They are about 3/4 the size of the one you posted as far as I can tell.
 
Steve, nice pics, but Ireland is much more beautiful! Dont call me biased:biggrin::rolleyes:
just cuz im irish!

Hey, do you work for ABB? There used to a plant here in Wichita Falls, Tx but they closed it up. The owners must not like the hot flat land that we have out here:eek:. Looks like you are having fun out there, be safe!
 
Hey the company I work for has set some of those!
 

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You'll not believe it Steven, i was staying in the Columba last night too:eek:.
I saw that van in the car park. Would have been great to meet up again with you.

Where are the turbines going up??




skiprat said:
Just for fun I thought you may like to see something that you only normally ever see in the far distance. I'm back in wonderful Scotland ( near Oban ) working on some of our switchgear on a windfarm.
These are far from being the biggest turbines, there are many that are much bigger. But even these babies dwarf my pickup truck !!
The view is stunning from the top of the mountains, which is just one of hundreds of the reasons I love Scotland so much !!
I had to stop and ask some of the pretty local lassies for directions !!! ( they are soooooooo much prettier than our Welsh sheep!!! :biggrin: )

Hope you enjoy the pics !!:biggrin:
Click to expand...
 
Nothi. New to me. I seen a lot of these up close. I live in San Antonio and go to lubbock often and see many of them along the way seeing that Texas Tech university is leading in that field.
 
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A hundred thousand years ago when I was young and my fingers were loose, I used to compete playing Donald MacLean's Farewell to Oban. Great tune. (Maybe one in a million will understand)
Doug
 
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