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Cutting windmill blades

KSSS

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Feb 27, 2005
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Idaho
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excavation
A mobile cutter would surely qualify as a niche. Hopefully very profitable. Travel to the site and cut the blades to a manageable size for transport and ultimate disposal.

View attachment 201097

I spoke with a concrete cutter guy that is known for his out of the box thinking. He thought a cable saw might work. He is going to look at it tomorrow. Tonight I will research the water cutter. A shear is out of the question unless I buy a smaller one, not sure I want to tie up 50K on that. The only machine Cat puts one on to rent is a 345. The price is not realistic. I appreciate the responses.
 

Ronsii

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Western Washington
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s/e Heavy equipment operator
The last time I cut through a tennis court that has a fiberglass overlay I went through 3 blades :(

My first thought was some sort of waterjet cutter and while I like the idea of a shear I don't think a tree shear will work because the wood fibers can move laterally unlike the fiberglass fibers... I think you would need a *lot* more energy than a tree would take.
 

KSSS

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excavation
yes you are correct. The OEM of the tree shear said as much, likely would not work with fiberglass.
 

Bumpsteer

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Front seat on the Struggle Bus
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Mechanical designer
I see those blades on railcars, passing 100ft from me as I sit on the patio drinking a beer...

They are freaking huge! The cross section size eliminates anything machine mounted that I can think of....has to be a way, these ain't the first ones to get scrapped.

Someone ain't doing it with a sawzall....

Ed
 

excavator

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Oct 16, 2006
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Pacific North West
The water jet would keep dust down. I will look into that. As these blades start to fatigue, I suspect this project will become more the norm. There are countless windmills here now and they are starting to be replaced. Wouldn't be a bad niche gig if a guy can come up with a way of doing this somewhat economically. I cant tell if its 4" all the way to the end, but it absolutely is where they bolt up to the turbine. Landfill sure was not interested in getting more of these (they have had one in the past) as they have a real problem dealing with them at the landfill, hence the 16' lengths and I have to separate the ring section where they bolt to the turbine. I was hoping for a way to do this mechanically, preferably excavator mounted, but that may not be possible.
A water jet cutter mounted on the end of an excavator stick could be pretty slick.
 

Birken Vogt

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Nov 30, 2003
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5,305
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Grass Valley, Ca
A wire saw was my thought as well here. A large excavator mounted shear maybe, but I don't think it could handle the root if it is as big as I think it is.
 

KSSS

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Idaho
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excavation
The "root" is big enough for me at 6' to walk inside. I think the wire saw holds the most promise. Although if a guy could fab the water jet and direct it with an excavator it would more economical and easy to do anywhere. Feed the jet out of a water truck and it wouldn't get much more slick. Concrete cutter guy said that the wire saw is very expensive and prone to damage. I will find out tomorrow what his thoughts are. As to the size, I see these things in the air as they populate the foothills around town, but until you stand next to them you don't realize how freakin huge they are.
 

Vetech63

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Aug 10, 2016
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6,362
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Oklahoma
Repurpose them into those tiny homes. Buy them on the cheap, cut it in half, use the big end for a bunker and the flat end for an approach or an awning. Sell the whole shebang for $ 25K installed to every prepper in the country........retire wealthy to some deserted island. Problem solved!!!!:D
 

Ronsii

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Repurpose them into those tiny homes. Buy them on the cheap, cut it in half, use the big end for a bunker and the flat end for an approach or an awning. Sell the whole shebang for $ 25K installed to every prepper in the country........retire wealthy to some deserted island. Problem solved!!!!:D

I guess it might work... for tiny people :)

As for repurposing them... as tough as there are going to be lots more I'll bet they make great security fences... you could build a wall with them ;)
 

aighead

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Apr 25, 2019
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Location
Dayton, OH
Maybe a dumb question but what about the ol' oxy-acetylene torch? I've never tried cutting through fiberglass and the fumes maybe rough, but that seems like something that could do it... What am I missing? For some of the $ amounts I'm seeing thrown around above a respirator and some gas tanks seem cheap.

I think this sounds like a neat job, though it also sounds like it could be a big pain!
 

Vetech63

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Messages
6,362
Location
Oklahoma
What is something EVERYONE is going to need at some point?
……….A coffin. Slice that thing up in sections, glue the sections together, and sell them for 2K each.
……….The blades kind of look like bones...……...so have some sculptor guy build a huge roadside T-Rex out of them, a national point of interest.
……….Cut it into planks and build a ship.
……….Guard rails along side the highways!
……….Quickie saw up small pieces and sell them as building blocks.
……….More coming, I have to sleep on this! :D
 

CM1995

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Jan 21, 2007
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13,250
Location
Alabama
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Running what I brung and taking what I win
Global Fiberglass Solutions in Sweetwater, Tx uses a thin wet wire blade with water mist to cut them. Waste is collected and filtered. There are several articles about it. Looks like a clean cut.

https://renews.biz/36644/ge-recycles-ny-wind/

As I was reading the thread, a wire saw like that is what I was thinking of to cut one of these up.

Probably better than my first thought of just using a 80K lb hoe with new teeth and just chop it into sections. :D
 

excavator

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Oct 16, 2006
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1,445
Location
Pacific North West
Just like solar panels and most every other "green" thing, the government gives millions of dollars in grants and then subsidizes them which is the only way they will work. Then when they're wore out there's been no thought on what or how to deal with them. Solar panels, lithium batteries for electric vehicles all the same. I can't imagine these blades are going into landfills. Where's the news now?
 
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