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Apart from very few parts like the inner axis and the bucket bands, a traditional waterwheel consists of wooden parts only. Oak and pine trees provide the raw material. The base is made of six thick oak stems with connecting planks between them. The wheel itself -being inserted in the base- is a construction of spokes hammered in the axis tree, outer rims cut from roundly-grown trees, water-driven planks connecting the two sides and water buckets (»Kümpfe«) affixed to the rims. In the river, a diagonal wooden plank assembly called »Flügel« (wing) directs the stream and its power to the wheel in the most efficient angle. |
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Connecting the parts with wooden bolts and bands is an ancient art which only two local carpenters still execute. Once erected, the finished wheel unites more than 600 single parts and is able to water up to 20 acres of farmland! Most wheels carry buckets on one side only: Having reached the upmost position in their circular motion, these buckets spill out their wet contents in sort of an aqueduct made from rough planks. From there, the water finds its way to the network of distributing channels... |