Wind turbine will power a Fountain Prairie beef cattle operation
From an article by Lyn Jerde in the Portage Daily Register:
Town of Fountain Prairie – John and Dorothy Priske kept their eyes on the sky.
The town of Fountain Prairie farmers had waited four months to see a three-blade wind turbine on their skyline, and on Friday afternoon, their wait was over – almost.
The 140-foot tower went up Friday morning, a project that had been delayed since May, when workers from Madison-based Seventh Generation Energy Systems discovered that the base for the tower didn’t fit its footing.
The base was rebuilt, and the tower went up. Then, a crane was affixed to the 9,000-pound apparatus, which includes the turbine, three blades and a cone. . . .
Workers debated on Friday whether the gusts from the south were too strong to risk hoisting the turbine to the top of the tower and sent a worker up the tower’s ladder to affix the turbine.
“When we try to get this thing on top of the tower, it’ll get really windy,” said Seventh Generation worker Andrew Herr. Hopefully, it’s windy up there, because that’s why we’re putting up a turbine.”
The turbine went up successfully on Friday afternoon, partly with the help of guests from the Priskes’ Fountain Prairie Inn bed and breakfast, who held the blades steady while the turbine was being raised.
