BRISTOL - Joe Mello had just a fourth-grade education, but his ingenuity and engineering skills gave him and his family free electricity for years.

His windmill, nicknamed “Mello’s Wind System,” was erected April 23, 1983, and became a local landmark near the intersection of Wood and Hope streets. The wind turbine stood atop a 110-foot-tall tower, made of pieces of steel he bolted together by himself.

The system generated between 400 to 500 kW hours per month — enough to supply his home and the elaborate workshop in his backyard for two decades — but it has sat idle since Mr. Mello moved back to his home in the Açores in 2004. His children decided it was time for his creation to come down as they try to sell the house.

Jessica Sousa, Mr. Mello’s daughter, watched as her brother, Paul, and his friend, Mark Grey, took apart pieces of the tower and hauled the turbine down with a massive crane Wednesday morning.

Ms. Sousa, who now lives at the family home with her husband, Paul, said it was difficult to witness her father’s work being dismantled because it was something he watched over every day.

“It’s hard because it’s something my dad worked so hard building and working on and maintaining daily,” Ms. Sousa said. “It’s hard to have to cut this steel now — something that he built with his bare hands.”

Mr. Mello came to the United States in 1960 with a passion for building boats. He worked for Pearson and Alden Yachts for several decades. His daughters said he was a “magical” woodworker with an eye for detail, even though he had “big fat fingers.”

It was after the energy crisis in the 1970s that Mr. Mello started thinking about ways to save and create energy. He remembered the windmills near his home on the island of Pico in the Açores and decided to see if he could make electricity with one.

Mr. Mello designed his system from a scale wooden model that still sits in his shed. His daughter, Lucy Scott, pulled it out of the shed Wednesday morning, placing it next to its big brother. Ms. Scott said she can still remember when her father dragged the model into Town Hall for the zoning board of review to see. She said they asked questions such as “Are the blades going to fall off?” or “Can I bring my blow dryer and plug it in?”

He got the go-ahead and started experimenting with designs for the turbine, blades and other pieces he fabricated.

Ms. Scott said her father had a half dozen sets of blades that he carved out of Sitka spruce and took out in the family’s Ford station wagon on Metacom Avenue to test the aerodynamics. He eventually covered them in carbon fiber, and they were still there until Wednesday morning.

“(Dad) needed to verify and validate everything before it went out,” Ms. Scott said. “That’s how he would always think. He was a man before his time and always a little bit ahead of the curve.”

A tinkerer his whole life

Growing up, the Mello children watched their father constantly experimenting with ideas for new inventions or better designs. They said their mother used to yell, “Give your father some paper,” when he would start drawing on the white Formica table tops. Tablets and notebooks were stored all over the house.

Ms. Sousa said her father sampled everything. He built scale models and would double- and triple-test prototypes. He also would make a duplicate of everything created, including the wind turbine.

The second turbine he built now stands on a 75-foot tower beside his workshop and museum, where he and his father created massive ferry boats in the Açores. He shipped it over in a massive cargo container, along with their other possessions, in 2004.

Ms. Sousa said the other windmill has become a landmark in the Açores, with people turning their heads as they drive by.

“When the people in the village saw that thing going up, they were like ‘All right, what’s Joe Mello doing now?’” Ms. Sousa said.

A small group gathered Wednesday to lend a hand and to see the turbine come safely to the ground.

The penthouse view

Family friend Tony Furtado said he will always remember the annual tradition of climbing to the top of the tower on the Fourth of July, sometimes with a cigarette or can of beer in hand, to enjoy the view.

Bruce Gavin, who helped design the system in the 1980s, said the tower Mr. Mello constructed is better than any commercial tower that can be bought today.

Mr. Gavin said he helped install 30 windmill systems since 1979, enjoying the idea of being self-reliant and not beholden to the electric company. He is now going to use Mr. Mello’s turbine at his own home in Little Compton, giving it a second life.

And, although Mr. Gavin said he had a difficult time explaining aerodynamic concepts to Mr. Mello in words, all he had to do was draw a picture and he would instantly grasp the concept.

“(Joe) took the empirical and made it work on a scale level and proved his concepts,” Mr. Gavin said.

Ms. Sousa was 8 years old when she first went up the tower, riding in an electrified bucket elevator her father created to transport tools.

Wednesday saw the end of an era.

“Joe Mello’s creation will still live on,” Ms. Sousa said. “It’s just sad to see it come down.”