This page shows some of the more common Australian windmills to be seen without too much difficulty in the Australian countryside. As I live in Canberra, it will have some inherent bias towards windmills common in south-eastern Australia, but as I get to travel and find more mills it will become more and more comprehensive. Eventually you will be able to click on the picture of each type of windmill to be taken to a dedicated page about its history and identification, but for now, text is provided here.
Southern Cross Windmills
Southern Cross Windmills
Southern Cross Z pattern (6 to 14 foot windwheel, geared)
The Southern Cross Z pattern windmill is one of Australia's icons, but one with a somewhat dark history. Made under the name Southern Cross, it was made by the famous Toowoomba Foundry in Queensland from the early 1930s to the early 1950s, when it morphed into the more refined IZ or Improved Z pattern. It is basically a reverse engineered Aermotor 702. Its designer, Bill Boshammer, was a draftsman for Southern Cross who briefly worked with Aermotor during a study tour of the United States in the early 1930s. After his return to Australia, he designed the Z pattern mill with a very few and relatively minor modifications (Aermotor 702s have wheel arms that run at a tangent to the wheel hub, whereas Z patterns have wheel arms that run straight out from the hub). Legend also has it that Aermotor also refused access to Southern Cross staff in the future!
Controversy aside about its origin, the Z pattern can be identified by the narrow corrugated sheet-iron tail (usually with the marque Southern Cross printed in maroon), the clamped-on spokes that lack any cross-bracing between them and lack of a counterbalance. The windwheel has two variations - the 6, 8 and 10 foot sizes are as shown, while the 14 foot variation has a "tighter" appearance and the ratio of blade length to windwheel radius is different. All mills with a windwheel diameter of 10 feet or larger also have a ladder fixed to the gearbox for ease of maintenance.
Similar mills are the Southern Cross IZ pattern and the Metters K and M patterns, which also have fishtails, but are told apart from Southern Cross mills by the cross-bracing on their wheel arms. The mill shown above is a 6-foot version that can be seen on the grounds of the Four Winds winery at Murrumbateman, New South Wales.
Southern Cross IZ pattern (8 to 14 foot windwheels, geared)
The Southern Cross IZ pattern has the distinction of being the most common windmill in Australia, and it is still in production with Pentair Southern Cross. It is an evolution of the Z pattern with an improved gearbox and fish-tail style tail vane. In addition to the Z pattern, the IZ is similar to the Metters K and M pattern mills, which differ most obviously by having windwheel arms with cross-bracing and characteristic yellow tails.
Southern Cross AG-E and JA-E patterns (14 foot windwheel, direct acting)
The AG-E and JA-E patterns may look close to a Z-pattern mill, but this similarity masks a major difference. This mill is direct-acting, meaning that each revolution of the windwheel equals one up-and-down pump stroke. In contrast, the Z and IZ pattern mills are geared, with several revolutions of the windwheel needed for one up-down pump stroke. All direct action mills have some sort of counterbalance mechanism, which helps the windwheel balance out the unequal effort of drawing water up from the bore on the upstroke versus the easier downstroke which is aided by gravity. The counterbalance on these mills is mounted on an extra wheel arm, which is at about the 5 o'clock position in the first photo. The tower used by these mills is the same type used for the older-style Southern Cross mills and the larger Southern Cross R pattern mills, whereas the Z and IZ mills have a simpler tower. The tail of the AG-E mill is corrugated sheet metal like the Z pattern and R pattern mills, but has a different shape to the Z pattern. These mills are nowhere near as common as either the Z or IZ pattern mills and it took me a while to find one.
Southern Cross R pattern Seneschal (17 to 30 foot windwheel, direct acting)
The R pattern is a true giant among Australian windmills (but is not the largest). Its designers (G.H. Griffiths, W. Boshammer and A. Lindley) fitted it out to be the "Rolls-Royce" of windmills with a complete positive-pressure lubrication system and provisions for oil to be added at the base of the tower. This is opposed to the comparable C-pattern Comet mills that have a much less complicated lubrication and bearing system. The name Seneschal means "faithful servant" in Latin, and is a very fitting name for such a solidly engineered system. There are a few variations to the tail and windwheel of this mill. The earliest versions had a double-ringed windwheel with two sails per windwheel section - this is the low density windwheel. A later double-ringed windwheel variant had three sails per windwheel section - this is the so-called high-density windwheel. The final production model kept the high-density sails but just a single ringed windwheel, and was made to a maximum of 25 foot in windwheel diameter. Although no longer in production with Southern Cross Pentair in Australia, Southern Cross South Africa reportedly still produce R pattern windmills.
Comet Windmills
Comet C pattern (6-35 foot, direct acting)
The Comet C pattern is an easily seen mill, especially in more inland areas where most of the largest windwheel sizes are located. Comet C patterns are direct acting mills with a D-shaped main casting that is often (but not always) enclosed by a dust cover, and, for all windwheel sizes larger than six-foot, a large spring that regulates the tail furling mechanism. The native towers rise evenly along their entire length and are four posted, but the heads are sometimes mounted on other towers. There are at least three variations in windwheel pattern - the 6-foot (left), 8-14 foot (right) and the larger sizes (no photos yet!). The tail is a broad trapezoid and made of sheet metal with the marque "Comet" in capital letters. A 35-foot "plus" C-pattern is the largest Australian windmill and can be seen in the famous windmill town of Penong, South Australia.
Comet Windmills
Comet C pattern (6-35 foot, direct acting)
The Comet C pattern is an easily seen mill, especially in more inland areas where most of the largest windwheel sizes are located. Comet C patterns are direct acting mills with a D-shaped main casting that is often (but not always) enclosed by a dust cover, and, for all windwheel sizes larger than six-foot, a large spring that regulates the tail furling mechanism. The native towers rise evenly along their entire length and are four posted, but the heads are sometimes mounted on other towers. There are at least three variations in windwheel pattern - the 6-foot (left), 8-14 foot (right) and the larger sizes (no photos yet!). The tail is a broad trapezoid and made of sheet metal with the marque "Comet" in capital letters. A 35-foot "plus" C-pattern is the largest Australian windmill and can be seen in the famous windmill town of Penong, South Australia.
