{"id":10114,"date":"2024-06-24T13:12:33","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T18:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/richard.rathe.org\/?p=10114"},"modified":"2024-08-23T18:49:32","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T23:49:32","slug":"motor-mill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/2024\/motor-mill","title":{"rendered":"The Motor Mill"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Motor
Motor Mill and Bridge<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Town of Motor<\/em> with a large gristmill took shape in the 1870s along the Turkey River<\/em> in Clayton County Iowa<\/em>. Nothing remains of the town itself, but the mill and associated buildings survive. The Mill<\/em> is situated at a narrow bend in the Turkey River. It was built of limestone quarried from the nearby cliff top and oak from the surrounding forest. [Full Gallery<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that time the major crop grown locally was Wheat<\/em> (almost none today)–and wheat must be ground into flour in order to sell it. With this in mind, the partners built a state-of-the-art mill and the infrastructure to support it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Motor Mill site is picturesque to say the least. This drone photograph from motormill.org<\/a> shows the five remaining stone buildings. From left to right they are: The Stable, The Inn, The Smokehouse, The Mill, and the Cooperage. The town itself was to the right and part of that area is now a public campground. The Inn<\/em> has recently been reopened with a gift shop and overnight accommodations.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Site
Site Overview from motormill.org<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\nFarmers would come in horse-drawn wagons<\/em> with their crop. After unloading the farmer would stable his horses and take a room at the inn. Bulk flour was typically shipped in wooden barrels<\/em> and these were produced locally by the cooperage.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After the business failed, the property was sold and the mill became a barn. As such, much of the internal machinery was sold off. One notable exception are the four grindstones<\/em>. These are embedded in a raised platform that is structurally isolated<\/em> from the rest of the building. When the mill was operating, four companion stones weighing hundreds of pounds each would spin at 90rpm<\/em> on top of these fixed stones to do the grinding. Apparently this generated lots of noise and vibration!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"One
One of Four Grindstones<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Operationally the mill relied on gravity<\/em> to do much of the work moving product around. This schematic captures most of the complexity (click to enlarge).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Operational<\/a>
Operational Schematic of the Mill<\/em> \u2197<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There were a series of “elevators” (similar to the belt shown below) that would bring materials to the upper floors. (Also note the 12×12 inch solid oak beams used in construction!) <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Part
Part of Elevator Belt<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The grain or unfinished flour would then fall through a series of separator and cleaning machines<\/em>. The site has recently obtained antique equipment similar to that used in the original mill. The apparatus in the foreground is labeled “Flour Dresser”.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Typical
Typical Processing Equipment<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Recent Discoveries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Mill was derelict until very recently. A non-profit foundation<\/em> is now in charge of preserving and making it available to the public. Great progress has been made in the past two years. In particular, the huge vaulted basement was mostly unexplored due to twenty feet of river mud<\/em> deposited there by frequent floods. Volunteer excavators and archeologists “dug in” to find out what lay below all that mud.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Basement
Basement After Excavation<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the photo above the mud has already returned to a level above the outlets to the river. The rectangular openings on the left are overflow ports<\/em>. The power for the mill came from vertical water turbines<\/em>. This is a more efficient design than the classic waterwheel. On the lower right is one of the vertical shafts<\/em> transmitting power from the turbine below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was thought, and some illustrations still show, that there were three turbines. However, it became clear during the excavation that there were four. Not only that, these were not made out of steel, but crafted from the local oak!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Wooden<\/a>
Wooden Turbine Discovery<\/em> \u2197<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\nOne of the turbines has been preserved and is on display!\n<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Wooden
Wooden Turbine Blades<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\nTogether these four hand-crafted wood turbines developed about 250 horsepower<\/em> to run all the machinery in the mill!\n<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Dam<\/a>
Dam & Water Flow Details<\/em> \u2197<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

360 Panoramas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I recently had a chance to walk through the entire Mill with my 360 camera.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a>
Mill Stone 360 Panorama<\/em> \u2197<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The above “little planet” projection shows one of four mill wheels<\/strong>. Power came from below, turning the top stone<\/strong> (now removed) on the base stone<\/strong> seen here. The grain was fed in from top and the milled product left thru the small opening on the right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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