A windmill thief is on the loose in Parker County, and Sheriff Jay Brown and others believe the heists might be Y2K-related.
A windmill–with 8-foot metal blades and a 24-foot tower–was stolen last week from a ranch near Millsap. The week before, a windmill head was stolen.
“With this Y2K thing coming on, everybody wants a windmill,” Brown said.
The owner of a Ft. Worth windmill company agrees.
“It’s a bumper year for windmills. I call it the Y2K crazies,” said Mark Welch, owner of the Second Wind Windmill Service Co., which sells 200 to 300 windmills yearly to ranches, and 10 or so more as “yard toys.”
Welch said that along with stocking up on food, ammunition, batteries and hand pumps, some people are scrambling for windmills.
“They’re fearful that electricity will fail and they won’t have a way to get water,” Welch said.
George Conley of Springtown said about half the windmills he installs are just for looks. “We put in several a year that are not for pumping water. They’re just put up to look good and to look at.”
“I would think it would take somebody extra brave and bold to steal a windmill, but it wouldn’t be impossible,” he said. “It could be a popular thing to do today because some people put one up just for looks.”
Mack Dugan of Weatherford reported that the head of his windmill was stolen two weeks ago. He said thieves cut the lock off his gate and removed an 8-foot unit that weighed about 300 pounds.
He said truck tracks and identifying marks on the blades might help apprehend the crooks. He valued the blades at about $1,200.
