Do windmills have to be turned on manually?

Question

Is there something to stop it when someone doesnt want them on?

Why wouldnt they want them on, if thats the case?

Answer 1

Windmills are operated by wind. If there is no wind, the wheel doesn't turn.

Answer 2

Your standard windmill is used to grind grain, it's operated by slats on the arms which can be turned into the wind, causing them to rotate, this movement is transferred down by a set of gears to pair of mill stones that grind up the grain and produce flour.

at the end of the work day when you've finished grinding stuff up you change the orientation of the slats and the wind no longer acts upon the arms.

if you were talking about electricity generating windmills then these as far as i know have giant brakes in them that stop them from turning when electricity isn't required.

Answer 3

Conventional windmills self start. But by tethering the blades one can keep it idle up to reasonable speeds of wind. For repairs etc windmills may be kept idle.

Answer 4

They don't want it to be turned or someone to stop it. Okay, let me think.

I guess they don't want it to be turn because the wind is blowing in the direction perpendicular to the fan, I mean crosswind and crosswind will cause potential damage to the windmill so it should be stop before it starts spinning to the crosswind.