BARKER, Alan J. - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

Wed. April 12, 1982

Perrysville

Across the Wabash River from Perrysville, and north a ways along the Towpath Road lies a 12-acres parcel of land inhabited by the Alan & Peggy Barker clan. When the breeze comes up, the pine trees sing a faint tune and tiny waves glimmer on the Wabash River, which has jumped its banks and formed a lake across from the Barker's front yard. Aside from singing pine needles, there is another faint tune at the Barker homestead the mechanical whirring of a bicycle chain and sprocket. It is the sound of the Barker's 31-feet tall windmill, churning merrily in the wind. It is a sound Alan Barker says he could do without. Originally conceived as a pet project and a way to cut down his electricity bill, Alan Barker built the thing three years ago out of sailcloth, plywood and aluminum. He says he got the idea out of a Mechanix Illus. magazine. Windmills, an old idea given new impetus these days by skyrocketing electricity rates and a growing back-to-nature movement are popping up everywhere. Some of them are advertised to cut power bills in half. Others are slightly less cose efficient. The Barker's windmill fits into the latter category. 'YOu want to buy it? " Barker asks an observer. It's for sale ... I'm asking $1,000." Although it looks, acts and sounds like a windmill, the device is not supplying power to anything but a car battery slowing recharging at the base of the tower. According to Barker, it'd take an additional $1,500 to hook it up to his house, and he doesn't think the potential savings is worth the expense. The project was begun at the urging of his wife, who felt her husband outght to have a pet project to work on. Enthusiastic at first, the machinist for Continental Can Co. gathered the materials and began putting it together. Months flew by before it was done. He and his son, David, hoisted the completed windmill and tower into positing using a tractor. The charm of home-generated electricity had, however, worn thin. "By the time I got it up, I was real tired of it." The blades, each six-feet long, were fashioned from aluminum conduit pop riveted together and covered with sailcloth. A steel cable along its length was a key element. "The trouble with most home designed windmills is they disintegrate if they don't shut down." His blades are designed to allow air to pass threw at high speeds and for that reason have never blown apart even in the highest winds. The blades turn a shaft which is connected to a sprocket with which turns a chain which turns another sprocket, which is connected to an old bus generator. Every time the blades turn around once the generator turns seven times. It's inner workings are protected by a cowling made from plywood and fiberglass. Painted red and white, the end product looks similar to commercial products advertised in Mother Earth News. But looks and performance are two different stories and the trouble with Barker's windmill is there is not enough wind in his yard. "You need a large open space for a windmill." The breeze, although unusually strong this week, is usually nonexistent, he pointed out. "Most of the time it just sits there." Another shortcoming is the conversion equipment needed to hook up a bus generator to the house. "Batteries and an inverter (a device for changing direct current into alternating current) would cost another $1,000 to $1,500. And moths might go by when the wind doesn't blow." Leading down from the windmill is a long, thick wire which connects with the generator. Sitting at the base of the tower is a car battery, which can be charged by hooking it to the wire. With the right conversion equipment and a strong wind, Barker said his wind-driven power plant could produce 1,000 watts, enough juice to light 10 100-watt bulbs. Currently, however, the large windmill is nothing more than a large yard decoration. And they already have one of those on a much smaller scale. So, the big one will have to go.

Alan J. Barker

July 12, 1930-May 4, 2004

Alan J. Barker, 73, Covington, died 6:45 a.m. Tuesday in his home, following an extended illness.

Mr. Barker was a life-resident of Fountain County and Kingman High School graduate. He was a machinist 25 years at U.S. Can, Danville, Ill., retiring in 1995.

He was born July 12, 1930, at Cates, to Wayne R. and Sylvia Duncan Barker. He married Peggy Allen on July 10, 1955. She died Sept. 6, 1992. He later married Artith Pritchard Beckelhymer on Dec. 9, 1995. She survives.

Also surviving are his mother, Sylvia Barker, Covington; three children, Lori (Kevin) Brumfield, and Lisa (Jeffrey) Goldstein., and David (Jennifer) Barker,.; three stepchildren Julie (Rex) Hutchinson,., Matthew (Mona) Beckelhymer, and Jody (Mary Jo) Beckelhymer,; a brother, George (Sharon); five grandchildren; six stepgrandchildren; and a step-great-grandson survive.

His father, a son Tony and a brother Dale are deceased.

Funeral services 11 a.m. Friday in Shelby Funeral Home, 622 Third St., Covington, with the Rev. Sewell Combs officiating. Burial will be in Lower Mound Cemetery, Covington. Friends may call 4-7 p.m. Thursday in the funeral home.

Memorials may be made to Serenity Hospice, 209 E. Fifth St., Fowler, IN. 47944.