The Butler Company was established in 1888 as the Butler Manufacturing Company, a name which it retained for only about a half dozen years.  Its initial mills were solid wheel wooden models, to which solid wheel steel pumping mills were added in the 1890's.  About the turn of the century an open, single back geared steel pumping mill had become available, but was replaced about 1906 by the Butter Improved Single Gear mill.  It remained in production into the 1920's.  The company continued manufacturing windmills until conversion to war production about 1943 ended its career as a windmill maker.  The Butler Improved Single Gear mills was greatly praised by its maker.  Indeed it was a well designed and popular mill, but the maker may have overdone its praises, because large numbers of them have not survived.

Manufactured in a wide range of 6', 8', 9', 10', 12', 14', and 16' diameters, the Butler Improved Single Gear windmills remained in production into the late 1920's.  Introduced about the time World War began in Europe and manufactured into the 1920's, the Butler Double Gear open back geared steel pumping mill was the "top of the line" windmill from the Butler Company.  It was made in a wide range of sizes and was distributed throughout the Great Plains and Midwest as well as being distributed abroad.  Butler Double Gear mills in their early years were made with either babbitt bearings or oil-less bronze bearings.  They were manufactured in 6', 8', 10', 12', 14', 16', and 18' diameters.  During the 1920's the mills became available with Hyatt roller bearings in 6', 8', 9', 10', 11', 12', and 13' sizes.  All three styles of bearings remained on the mills until the end of production in the 1920.s  Lubrication on the Butler Double Gear with the babbitt bearings employs wick feed oil cups, which through capillary action supply oil from the cups to the shaft bearings.  It was recommended to fill these cups monthly.  The oil-less mills with the bronze bearings contain no opening for lubrication.  The mills with the Hyatt bearings are equipped with threaded plugs between the bearings which allow the small reservoirs to be filled periodically.

Manufactured over a half a century ago, a surprising number of Butler Double Gear mills have survived, although they  cannot by any means be considered common.  Examples of this sturdily built mill of the 1910's and 1920's still exist in the field, a legacy of a company which prided itself on the durability of its product.

Manufactured form the 1920's until the American entry into WWII caused the factory operation to be converted to war production, The Butler Oilomatic self oiling steel windmills were the last mills made by the Butler Company.  They are oil bath style back geared steel pumping mills which were made in a range of 8', 10', 12', 14', and 16' diameters.  From several distinctive characteristics they are quite easy to identify in the field and may be seen in most parts of the US especially on the great  Plains and the Midwest.

Butler Oilomatic windmills were available with either babbitt or Hyatt bearings. Lubrication on the Butler Oilomatic mills is accomplished through a variety of means which changed throughout the years.  On all mills the main casting serves as an oil reservoir from which the lubricant is elevated to the upper moving parts. The first of these methods used a circular coiled spring mounted over two grooved pulleys, one attached to each end of the forward pitman.  The other earlier method employs a chain lift similar to a lightweight bicycle chain moving on two sprockets mounted on the upper and lower ends of the forward pitman.  In both of these mechanisms, at each pump stroke the lower end of the spring or chain dips into the oil reservoir, the lubricant adhering to it being carried to the upper pulley or sprocket. From this point it flows to distributing troughs then to the bearings.

In the later style Butler Oilomatic mills, with the exception of the 14' and 16' models which retained the chain lift, a new lubrication system was introduced.  Instead of the springs or chains, these mills used a special pan attached to the crosshead which scrapes oil from the crosshead guide.  At the upper end of the stroke the lubricant discharges through an opening into a tube which carries it to the bearings.  The top of the head is fitted with a larger than average sheet steel hood to protect the working parts.  The hood, quite wide at its base, is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the mill.

Wheel construction on the mill must not have been of the best design, for today one seldom sees an intact Butter Oilomatic wind wheel.  The wheel consists of curved unannealed sheet steel blades which were attached with riveted steel wheel clips to curved bar steel rims.  The blades are mounted so that they are entirely on the front side of the rims, whereas on the earlier Butler steel mills the outer rim passes through the blade.  The vane on the mill is of the same design used on the earlier Butler Single Gear and Butler Double Gear mills, with a vane sheet made of two pieces of galvanized sheet steel with beaded wire reinforcement at upper and lower edges.  The sheet metal parts of the mill bear the typical Butler ornamentation of red blade tips and red band around the vane together with the black stenciled inscription of the name and model of the mill on the vane.

Governing on the Butler Oilomatic is on the same principal as on the Butler Improved Single Gear and the Butler Double Gear.  The wind wheel is set slightly to one side, so that when wind speeds increase it automatically tends to incline away from the wind and toward the vane, thus reducing its surface to the wind and lowering its speed.  As this action to reduce wheel speed occurs, linkage on the regulating system places increased tension on a coiled governing spring connecting the head to the vane.  When the wind speed decreases, this tension pulls the wheel back to its former position at a right angle to the vane and more directly facing the wind.  To turn off the mill, an operator at ground level pulls a cut off wire that is attached to a chain passing through the main ironwork of the mill which pulls the vane parallel with the wheel and engages a band friction brake encircling the hub to prevent the wheel from turning.  For a few years in the 1930's a Butler Direct Stroke Oilomatic steel mill was manufactured in an 8' size.  As the maker noted in trade literature, "it was especially designed for trade in the central States, where there are many light, easy pumping wells."  Its head is interchangeable with that on the older 8' Butler Improved Direct Stroke or Butler Texas Pattern mills.  So it was possible for customers to replace their old head with that of the self oiling Direct stroke mill and retain their old vane and wheel sections, giving them a "new" windmill at reduced cost.  Butler Oilomatic steel windmills remain to be observed in most parts of the US, but they seem to be most common in the Midwest.  Most often they are found with their wind wheels missing or severely wind damaged, but they are easily identified as the only oil bath mills with the distinctive Butler vane.