Niagara Heights Water Wheel

08/09/2024

For the last month or so, I have not been running the wheel, due to a mechanical problem that gets worse when it runs. One of the Taperlock hubs has started to wear, where it is supposed to be gripping the axle shaft tightly. I am considering running another go fund me to hire a mechanical engineering/repair company to fix it, as it is just too much for me to deal with by myself.

02/11/2024

Check it out!

(176 pieces jigsaw puzzle) Niagara, Oregon

01/31/2024

Guess what’s running again!!!!

06/24/2023

So, it has been awhile, my friends. We, my wife Diana and I, have moved an hour away to Lebanon, OR, and have also been moving many plants from our Niagara garden here. So many fire survivors! I want to get the wheel running again! We went up yesterday to get more plants and I was looking at the trees above the wheel. The person who was falling my trees, and I, decided at the time to leave these, as they seemed to have a chance of surviving as a group.

One has fallen on its own, another is dead, most have signs of beetle activity (white ooze). I now have to figure out what to do. Reaching out to the best local resources to deal with the steep slope, creek, and highway.

12/11/2022

Hi friends. It has been quite awhile since my last post, so I wanted to post some kind of an update. Firstly, I so appreciate all of you who have visited/followed this page. Secondly, the wheel is fine. She still needs a new 600' waterline, and I need to troubleshoot a minor mechanical problem that may have been caused by a tree falling on her after the fire, and can hopefully be remedied. These issues should be handled by spring '23.

I wanted to post a photo taken in 2012 and sent to me by some random passerby. This was when the wheel was in the middle of her 8-10 year hiatus. You may need to zoom in:)

We have decided not to rebuild a home at this property, and remain undecided about selling it.

12/15/2021

12 days of Christmas
12 spokes on the water wheel
12 letters in “Canyon Strong”.

The transformation will happen on Friday, Dec. 17!

12/07/2021

Here is something newsworthy... I lost a painting of the original wheel made of wood in the fire last year. I was brought together with Denise Sanders, a local artist, by Ken Cartwright to recreate the painting from a photo I sent her.

I am absolutely floored by the close detail! I can hardly tell one from the other!

11/19/2021

Here’s a little water wheel tidbit… last night and well into today, the east wind was fierce up here (common, with the lack of trees to block it). I’d say 40-45 mph.

So, back to the tidbit… the dent in the wheel threw it out of balance, a result of mass being moved toward center at one spot, so when the wheel came to a stop, the dent always ended up at the top.

This morning, I decided to try and balance the wheel by adding weight near the dent. I attached a piece of metal that weighed a little less than ten lbs., and the wheel is now balanced! Just lucky, I guess.

But that’s still not the tidbit! The wheel is now a windmill! With no water, it turned (in the right direction) until the wind decreased!

And that, folks, is why the wheel, when balanced, can be run with just a trickle from a garden hose! This is a testament to the quality of the replacement bearings.

11/16/2021

I haven't posted in awhile, so thought I would give an update. I recently had The Sherman Family, from Lyons, OR, clean up Niagara Creek, from the wheel, 600 feet up to where the water source is. They did an amazing job, and this makes it easier for me to replace the original plastic waterline, which melted in the fire. I have been running the wheel from a garden hose on my property above the wheel, but now that waterline has developed a problem, so the wheel has been in standby mode :(

Meanwhile, a painting of the original wheel, which was lost in the fire, has been duplicated by a local? artist, from a photo of the original painting (I posted that photo previously). This wheel was made of wood and was the same size as the current wheel. It still needs a coat of varnish, but here is the photo of it that I just recieved:

08/11/2021

Listen to Niagara Oregon Water Wheel survives the Beachie Creek Fire. Colby Lamb updates us. by Ken Cartwright