Clothes Rotary Install

[Nightfox]

I feel stupid even posting about this as they are so easy to fit, usually, but I have a strange problem with ours.

We bought a Clothes rotary dryer thingy from B&Q to hang the washing on to dry outside, I have put a couple up at previous houses with no issue, but something is really bugging me.

It came with a small black plastic tube, that is to be hammered into the soil, then this tube houses the main Rotary Dryer, and job done, or so it says in the manual, but it just keeps falling down, ends up really loose and wobbles like crazy, any wet washing thats hung on it just results in it tipping over and a lump of mud being taken from my lawn lol.

Is there a way to secure this bloody thing in the ground so it wont move at all? or certainly not fall over or wobble so much?

I placed it in the middle of the side garden, in the soil, I even put concrete in a hole surrounding it, but this concrete mass also was dragged out when it tipped over, any help appreciated.

 

[xerxes]

If you're having this trouble, then you'd be better to make a decent concrete base for it.

Dig out to about a spade depth, an area about one foot square. If you make up some wooden shuttering for the edges, you can temporarily fix a piece of wood across to keep the plastic tube central and plumb. Finish the top just below the level of the grass, to make mowing easier.

I've done something like this for my drier. Our garden is exposed to high winds, and I've had no trouble with the drier leaning over.

 

[roughcaster]

I put one of these in a while ago. I dug a hole in the ground,just slightly deeper than a "15 ltr" (big) bucket, put the bucket into the hole and filled it right up with a small concrete mix. Push the anchor tube down into the centre of the concrete, (put a small piece of wood into the tube so you can check it for plumb), backfill around the bucket, and leave it to set for a couple of days. Then, install the rotary drier, cover over the top of the concrete afterwards with soil, and you'll never know it's there. You could even use a good 4 to 1 gritty concrete sand and cement mix to fill the bucket with......Instead of using the tube supplied, see if you can get a similar sized piece of galvanised tubing, much stronger and it'll last for years.

Roughcaster.

 

[crazycanuck]

measure the outside diameter of your post going into the ground and the inside diameter of a chain link fence post upright .
drive post into ground 3 feet by putting a block of wood over top and hitting with a sledge hammer making sure dirt is not plugging post for the first 2 feet.
insert clothes post and use.
3feet deep even in loose soil I can't move it.
leave 10 inches out of ground to strenghten clothes post from bending.

 

[Symptoms]

Fox - drive a 1m length of scaffold pole into the ground (forget about breaking your back with holes & concrete); the depth will depend on firmness of earth but get it in as deep as possible. You'll find that the rotary line mast will drop into the scafffold pole. To avoid your eyes from being poked-out by the ends of the angled line supports get a longer bit of scaffold pole so that the rotary line stands taller when erected. The pole in the ground will be extremely firm and not 'blow' over - you'll need about 900mm in the ground. I've got the above arrangement and it's held firm for 25 years.

 

[xerxes]

Driving a length of scaffold tube into the ground is fine if the ground is suitable. Where I live, there is a layer of limestone under the soil (and clay beneath that).

If I'm to have a chance of hammering anything into that, it has to be small diameter and pointy, and find a gap between the stones.

 

[roughcaster]

Always be careful when hammering anything too deep into the ground near a house...... Think!!! pipes, cables etc !!!

Roughcaster.

 

[Bilioustrumpstaine]

If you go down the concrete base route make sure the edges are square so the concrete cannot move like a ball in a socket when it has set. If you can (soil permitting) try and make the bottom of the hole bigger than the top to eliminate the problem altogether.

 

[Hitachimad]

Sounds like its a bit or recently made up ground. New house by any chance?


A bucket sized concrete base will still pull out reasonably easy if this is the case.