Windrace Ranch     





They said it couldn't be done.
They said it wouldn't be done.
They were wrong!

We had searched high and low across the state of Arizona for someone
to build a welded structure that would hold our 2500 gallon water storage tank.
We had a well drilled, but being on a combination of wind, solar, and
gasoline generated power made us opt for a gravity fed water system.
What we needed was a tower strong enough to hold our tank when it was full, approximately 21,600 pounds. So it was not a project to be taken lightly!

After almost six months of talking to various companies and individuals, we realized we were on our own. We couldn't even get a quote! So, Glenn, being
the industrious fella that he is, sat down and designed a tower built out of
9 foot long railroad ties. It had to be structurally sound, we didn't want any accidents, and we didn't want to lose precious water either.

He first used a backhoe to dig nine holes about 1.5 feet deep, three across by three down, like a tic-tac-toe board. Into these holes we centered and cemented high psi concrete blocks, the type used long ago to set mobile homes on. Once they were dried and set we placed a railroad tie vertically on each of the blocks and cemented them in too. After all of the ties were set, we reinforced the pad with rebar and had a cement truck deliver about 2.5 yards of cement. We then did all of the concrete finish work. Next we built a platform out of more railroad ties for the tank to rest on. Glenn called a local crane operator who drove out
to our place and lifted our tank up to the platform.
Finally, we used angle iron to brace the ties and reinforce them.
The tower itself is on a hill about 200 feet behind our cabin. The top of
the tank is about 20 feet above the level of our cabin so the water
pressure isn't fantastic but it will do!