WATERWHEELS

Overshot Waterwheels in Ohio

Ohio has five excellent examples of the overshot waterwheel. Pine Run Grist Mill in Ashland County has a 16' diameter waterwheel with a 2' face. The face is the width of the buckets. The wooden troughs are the buckets. When the water fills the buckets, the water's weight moves the wheel. An overshot waterwheel receives its water above the wheel. An overshot waterwheel is the most efficient method of powering a mill when there is a limited amount of water supply because the overshot produces the greatest amount of head for the water to turn the wheel. Head is the force that the water has when it drops vertically from the millrace onto the wheel to the tailrace. The greater the distance is between the headrace and the tailrace, the greater the head. The overshot waterwheel was used when there was a dependable flow of water but when there wasn't a high rate of flow. The overshot waterwheel maximized the amount of accessible water-power.

The location of the mill determined whether a millrace was necessary. A millrace, also known as a headrace, was the channel that directed water from the stream to the waterwheel. The millrace was often several miles long. The reason the race would have to be so long was to build up the head of water so that the drop would produce enough power to move the wheel. The millrace would begin upstream and if the drop was significant over a short distance, it wasn't necessary to have a long millrace. If the land was relatively flat, the miller had to dig a millrace that was miles long. Often there wasn't an easy way to transfer the water from the millrace to the waterwheel and a wooden flume had to be built to make the final connection. An example of this type of wooden flume can be seen at Pine Run Grist Mill in Ashland County.

Once the water flows into the buckets and moves the wheel, the water is spent and must then be channeled back to the stream. The channel that it flows back to the stream in is called a tailrace. Usually the tailrace is not very long. It usually takes the shortest route back to the stream.

Additional functioning overshot waterwheels that are found in Ohio are at Gaston's Mill in Columbiana County, Lanterman's Mill in Mahoning County, Hopkins Old Water Mill in Portage County, Pioneer Mill in Seneca County, and Kister's Mill in Wayne County. The Hoover Mill in Miami County is the largest in diameter of the waterwheels in Ohio at 27'. It has a two foot face and has the water directed to it from the millrace through a wooden flume. The Hoover Mill has not been in operation for many years, but the large waterwheel makes the structure appealing. Carillon Park Mill in Montgomery County, Magnolia Mill in Stark County, and Chidester Mill in Wayne County have wooden waterwheels but they are not functioning. A 12' diameter steel, overshot waterwheel is functioning at the Bazore Mill in Pickaway County. Ye Old Mill in Licking County, and the Peerless Mill in Montgomery County display steel waterwheels but they are not functioning.

Turbines

The turbine was introduced in the late 1890's. It operates on a similar principle as the tub wheel. The turbine is made of iron and the wooden round tub is replaced with iron and is composed of numerous doors on hinges that allows the miller to open the doors at varying degrees allowing as much water as he wants to pass through the turbine. The more water he releases into the turbine the faster the shaft will turn. The less water he releases into the turbine the slower the shaft will turn. With the advent of the turbine, many mills switched from wooden waterwheels to the iron turbines. Wooden waterwheels consistently had to be repaired. Rotten wood had to be replaced and the wooden wheel always had to be maintained in order for it to keep its balance. When the waterwheel became unbalanced the waterwheel would shake and the mill building would vibrate. The turbine required virtually no maintenance. Grease would have to be applied to the hinges every 2 or 3 years but otherwise, the turbine would last for 60 to 70 years before it would rust through and have to be replaced. The turbine also was an excellent conductor for energy, transposing it from the water flow to the power train. The water turbine was efficient and powerful. Consequently, the turbine experienced a positive response from millers throughout the United States, including Ohio.

There are four functioning mills in Ohio that use a turbine to power their mill today. Tritts Mill that operates as the Higy Cider Mill in Summit County runs an 1898 cider press powered by a turbine. Bear's Mill in Darke County operates an authentic flour mill powered by a water-turbine. Clifton Mill in Greene County is water-powered with a turbine. Isaac Ludwig Mill in Lucas County powers their flour mill, gristmill, and sawmill with two turbines. The turbines are dependable and powerful. However, the turbines are susceptible to one of the same problems that faced millers who used the wooden waterwheels. When the water in the stream rises during a flood, the head drops significantly and consequently, the drop between the millrace and the tailrace is reduced substantially to the point where the turbine won't function. Whenever possible, the miller would try to have an alternative power source. The steam engine became available in the late 1800's and the millers who could afford such a luxury, purchased one. Today, a steam engine has been restored and is used as an alternative power source in the Isaac Ludwig Mill in Lucas County. Their steam engine can supply the power necessary to run their flour mill, gristmill and sawmill when there is not enough head to power the turbines.

ADDITIONAL TYPE OF WATERWHEELS

There are several other types of waterwheels that are not presently in use in Ohio today but are found in other parts of the United States. Many of the old mills in Ohio once used one of the following types.

Breast Waterwheel

The breast waterwheel uses the same design as the overshot waterwheel with the buckets. The water hits the waterwheel in the middle, propelling the wheel down. The water can be directed to hit high, middle or low on the waterwheel and still be classified as a breast waterwheel. This type of wheel was used when the flow of water wasn't swift enough to power an undershot wheel but the flow had enough velocity so that an overshot was not required. The overshot waterwheel and the breast waterwheel were often located in a wheel pit. The wheel pit is an enclosure for the wheel that was lined with stone. You can see a wheel pit at Shuster's Mill in Brown County.

Undershot Waterwheel

An undershot waterwheel was placed in such a manner so that when the headgate was open, the water flowed under the waterwheel propelling it to turn from the movement of the water striking three to four of the paddles at a time on the wheel. The undershot waterwheel was constructed with blades instead of buckets. Headgate is a term used for the gate that opened and closed allowing the water from the millrace to flow to the waterwheel. The headgate is also known as the sluice gate. What was referred to earlier as the wooden flume is also known as the sluice. This type of waterwheel could only be used where the flow of water was extremely high. It takes a great deal of velocity to turn a large wooden waterwheel. The undershot waterwheel was not as popular as the overshot but was used wherever there was an ample water supply and a rapid flow.

Flutter Wheel

The flutter wheel was a much smaller waterwheel. It functions just like the undershot waterwheel. It has seven or eight blades attached to the shaft and the water flows under the flutter wheel rapidly. This type of waterwheel was used in a stream or millrace that had an extremely high rate of flow and the wheel would turn rapidly. The flutter wheel was not a substantial type of wheel and therefore required consistent maintenance and had to be replaced often.

Tub Wheel

The tub wheel was another type of waterwheel. Like the flutter wheel and undershot waterwheel it had blades rather than buckets but its blades were attached to a vertical shaft at a 30° angle and was enclosed by a wooden round tub. The water would drop down on the blades forcing the blades to turn the vertical shaft. This type of waterwheel was often used in high velocity mountain streams.

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