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I have acquired a galvanised iron rotary clothesline. Unfortunately, if I follow the guidelines to concrete the post in the minimum 650mm depth, not only is the winder at knee height, but the horizontals are too low (about 1600mm). Lots of head bumping and eye poking would ensue. With the current post length, I could manage around 400mm underground to produce the appropriate above-ground heights, but I don't think this will be enough to stabilise it.

Is there a way I could add cross bars to the post (like a Christmas tree base) to further stabilise it in the concrete. Or would it be better to somehow extend the underground post length (I don't have a welder, but could probably get hold of one if that was the way to go)? Or could I wedge a very tight fitting gal post inside the existing one to lengthen it before concreting in?

Ideas and advice much appreciated!

Gary Browne
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  • Inside or outside new post/pipe, can be bolted together if a bit on loose side. Concrete is stronger the thicker it is. Thinner concrete might crack. – crip659 Oct 01 '21 at 12:15

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I would suggest that you find another galvanized steel post of the same diameter as your clothes line post. Put a snug fitting sleeve of a slightly larger diameter around one end of the new post - you can attach it by welding or by drilling 2 holes and bolting it together.

Bury the new post in the ground and concrete it in to at least your 650mm depth. Once the concrete has set, place the post from the clothes line into the top of the sleeve to hold it in place. You can bolt the clothes line post to the sleeve for security.

It would look something like this fine bit of ASCII art:

  |  |
  |  |  clothes line pole
  |  |
+||--||+  The + and - indicate a bolt
 ||  ||   The end of the clothes line pole there doesn't need to be a gap
 |    |   This is just the sleeve - gap is for illustration purposes only
 ||  ||   This is the top of the new pole inside the sleeve
+||--||+  This is where the sleeve is bolted/welded to the pole in the ground
  |  |
  |  |    This is the new pipe continuing into the ground/concrete

Notes:

  • The sketch is not to any sort of scale. The more overlap there is in the sleeve, the more sturdy your mount will be.
    • How much overlap depends on what sort of materials you can find, what the pricing is, and what your "feel" for the situation is. I'd go with 100mm (4") overlap on each pipe at a minimum, probably more
  • Use galvanized or stainless steel (pricey) hardware to connect so it lasts a while
FreeMan
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