Hole for rotary airer clothes drier.

[Michael Chare]

I need to replace a rotary airer clothes drier. The old one fell down probably in a strong wind because the bottom of the post had corroded.

The drier is in the middle of a tiled patio. There is a hole in the middle of the patio which must be about 30cm deep. The old airer had a metal spike which was about 40cm long, so the top was about 10cm above ground level. The shaft diameter was about 35mm

I propose to buy a Brabantia Rotary Topspinner 40m. The shaft diameter is 45mm. There is a metal spike for this drier which is 45cm long, but if I bought one, how would I make the hole deep enough and maybe a little larger in diameter? I don't want much of the spike about ground level. Maybe just enough to be able to pull it out of the ground should there be a need.

Michael Chare

[PeterC]

SDS drill.

[Michael Chare]

How would I get the swarf out of the hole?

[PeterC]

Bit of tube (32mm might just go in) on the vac.

[tabbypurr]

and would allow near zero airflow. Try a tube about half the xsa of the hole.

NT

[Graeme]

In message , Michael Chare writes

I have found a hose usually works. When the water overflows, most of the mud and general detritus comes with it. There is then a delay whilst the water in the hole drains away.

[newshound]

Sounds like the OP may not be very experienced, so might not have one.

Does the "spike" of the current one come out? If it is just earth at the bottom (check with a stick or suitable metal poker), you can probably hammer the new one to a suitable depth, once you have enlarged the hole in the "tiles".

Depending on exactly what the "tiles" are, it might be easy enough to enlarge the hole using a cold chisel, provided they are not laid on thick (or strong) concrete.

[Johnny B Good]

====snip Ghod knows whose quotage is what to trim this follow up====

A metre of one inch plastic hosepipe temporarily sealed by hand to the end of a vacuum cleaner hose should do the trick. :-)

[GB]

I have done that, but I found it was hard to get a good seal with my hand. Gaffer tape does a nice job.

[Michael Chare]

I failed to mention that the bottom of the hole is very likely rock. I have been wondering about using a diamond tipped core drill and then trying to smash the core using a long chisel. There are some youtube videos about drilling rocks with diamond tipped drills. Maybe my Parkside battery drill might manage.

[GB]

You said in your OP:

"The drier is in the middle of a tiled patio. There is a hole in the middle of the patio "

Where else could you site the drier that doesn't involve drilling half metre holes into rock? That avoids the issue of trying to enlarge the existing hole, etc.

[Robin]

I am left wondering why you have set your mind against a Brabantia (or other maker's) dryer with a 35mm diameter again.

[Michael Chare]

The Brabantia brand appears to be well thought of. A larger diameter is presumably that much less likely to fail. I just want to be sure I could make a suitable hole. The other option is a tumble drier, but that leads to the problem of where to put it.

[Robin]

Brabantia's Rotary Essential range is 35 mm diameter.

[Michael Chare]

Thank you. That might be easier to try.

[PeterC]

When I put mine in I used the Postcrete sort of stuff. I found that the flimsy plastic tube supplied was a nice fit in 0mm waste pipe, so put in a decent length. The hole didn't drain as it was solid at the bottom, but a lump hammer and chisel fixed that. As I always put the line in the shed I needed to plug the hole. A plastic back-nut from a tap, with a 'kept because it might be useful' plastic cap in it, does that job and is low and tight enough to mow over.

[Tim Lamb]

No help to the OP but for the brief interval my wife tried a rotary clothes line, I hammered a short length of scaffold pole into the lawn.

Tumble drier has reigned ever since!