When the Cows Escaped: A day in the life of a wind energy parts sales engineer

Many people believe the life of a traveling salesperson is glamorous: jet-setting around, seeing the sights, and dining at fancy restaurants. While that might be true in some industries, wind energy tends to deliver more of a “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”experience. Most days are spent navigating dirt roads, mountain switchbacks, or some combination of both — usually with questionable directions and little to no GPS signal. Looking forward to a good lunch? You're lucky if you find it at a truck stop or travel plaza as your car runs on fumes.

The goal for a wind energy parts seller is simple in theory: locate the O&M building, talk with the site manager, identify a problem, and offer the right parts to fix it. In reality, that ideal scenario doesn’t happen so the days can drag on. Once in a while, though, you stumble upon something strange or memorable … something worth calling home about.

One particular day started like any other. I was cruising down a highway in western Minnesota on my way to a wind site. When the wind farm came into view in the distance, something caught my eye. It didn’t look quite right, so I veered off the highway to get a better look.

As I got closer, I saw that a blade on one of the turbines had a missing tip and was bent about 30 degrees. Even more alarming, the entire hub was dangling from the nacelle. I couldn’t spot any damage to the tower itself but kept my distance for safety. 

I’ve seen a lot in my career — turbines burned to a crisp, broken blades, grease leaks — but this was unlike anything I’d encountered. My best guess? The turbine suffered a main shaft failure, leaving the hub and blades hanging by a thread. The danger this posed to the crews tasked with addressing it was unimaginable and added a real sense of urgency to my visit.

Still processing what I’d just witnessed, I hopped back into my rental car, put it in drive, and crested a rolling hill. And that’s when the phrase “Holy cow” took on a whole new meaning:

Roughly a hundred yards ahead, a herd of cows was making its way up the road, directly blocking my path. After a few stunned seconds, I began to wonder just how much damage they could do to a rental car and tried to remember if I purchased collision insurance. Thinking quickly (and knowing no one would believe me otherwise) I began snapping photos.

The cows eventually moseyed on by, leaving only a few slobbery streaks and licks on the windows. I’ve been on these backroads long enough to know how inattentive drivers can be, and realized those wandering cows posed a real hazard. When I stopped at the local repair facility near the broken turbine, I shared my photos with the service center manager and asked him to alert his technicians.

Well, the old saying holds true: everyone in rural communities really does know each other. After a few seconds of squinting at the photos, the manager asked me to zoom in, so he check the cows’ ear tags. “Those are Fred’s cows!” he said. (Okay, I admit, I forgot the owner’s actual name, so let’s just call him Fred.) 

The service manager opened Facebook Messenger and shot Fred a quick note to let him know his cows were on the loose. Problem solved. 

As for the damaged turbine, I followed up with the service manager a few weeks later and was told that in such catastrophic failures, the turbine must sit idle for an entire wind cycle. This precaution helps ensure the hub doesn’t come crashing to the ground before a crew can safely approach it.

This unusual chain of events turned out to be the highlight of my week. Naturally, I wanted to share it with my wife. I looked down at my phone to send a text.

No service. Go figure.

Bud Frabell is Sales Engineer at Midpoint Bearing, an EIS Company, which has one of the largest inventories of ball and roller bearings in the United States. Midpoint Bearing specializes in in-field analysis and adaptive engineering capabilities to help lower cost of energy and extend component life in wind turbine gearboxes, generators, main shafts, pitch and yaw bearings and drives, and asymmetric bearings.

Midpoint Bearing | midpoint.eis-inc.com