Heittola Farm Mill, Ruovesi

A wind-powered corn mill in Finland.

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This mill is at Ruovesi Parish Museum, moved from Heittola Farm, Kurjenkylä, Virrat. Its date of building, 1861, is written in charcoal on one of the beams inside the stone chamber. The very small mill body is 6 ft. wide, 11 ft. long and 11 ft. 6 in. high, plus the sheers which are 8 in. square. To turn the body there are twin tailpoles, held at the top inside the mill; a stretcher between them holds a small extension tailpole coming down to within reach from the ground. The hollow post, 26 in. diameter, is framed in four pieces and there is a framed crowntree under which the inclined tailpoles pass. The stone chamber is 14 ft. square and the mill is 23 ft. 4 in. high. It is built up of 6 in. square timbers adzed up with dove-tailed tenons at the corners. There are four crosstrees 11 in. square, in clasp-arm formation halved over each other, and there are eight quarterbars 9 in. square.

The six sails are permanently boarded, curved slightly at each side, and have a constant angle of weather. They are about 12 ft. long and, including the whip, are 15 in. wide on the leading side, 22 in. on the trailing side; the stock is 3 1/2 in. wide by 5 1/2 in. deep. The six stocks are held in place by two planked flanges about 4 ft. 6 in. diameter and are held to the windshaft by two wood cotters. The windshaft is octagonal, 14 in. across the flats, and carries a four-armed compass headwheel with 36 cogs at 4 in. pitch, 2 1/2 in. face, 3 in. deep. The lantern wallower has ten staves. There is a wood cap across the tail bearing, wedged into mortises in two upright timbers. Half way between the headwheel and the tail bearing, the octagon shaft is turned roughly circular and a tie beam above it is shaped more or less to form a keep or inverted bearing in case the shaft should lift. The single pair of stones 3 ft. 4 in. diameter is mounted on a plinth on top of a platform in the stone chamber. An octagon vat is combined with a hopper and bin. There is a horizontal shutter bar near the bottom of this and the shoe is hooked on. The rap is a loose stick pushed up the show and tied in place with string to the outside of the hopper bin. The hollow post is 26 in. diameter at the bottom. The upright shaft is, at the lower end, a wrought iron spindle in two pieces and with a two-piece grease wedge held in place with four interlocking wrought iron rods.

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References

• TIMS Mills GPS Database Mill ID 3027
• Wailes, Rex, & Auvo Hirsjärvi, "Finnish Mills Part III: Hollow Post Mills", (Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 44, 1971-1972, pp.99-118)

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