A simpler solution, for our situation...
a b c d o------------o--------------------o---------------- | | | | | | | | | e | | j
j = an heavy weight a + b + c = pulleys
a is fixed high on the house wall.
b to c are the movable looped section of the line so that washing can be hung/removed from one location.
e if pulled, brings the line down for access.
d is the support at the far end of the garden
Harry Bloomfield brought next idea :
That settled then - Simple and self adjusting. I just need to work out how heavy the weight needs to be to keep the fully loaded line reasonably taught - and whether SWMBO will be able to pull it down or may need a simple winch.
So long as by 'looped' you don't mean the line is actually a single length going jabcbcd!
If this is three pieces of line, ok ish, but your looped portion is still going to be a fair way down the garden by the time you have pulled it down, if you have made no allowance for it to get longer as you pull it down - which for leverage on the weight j, you should do by joining e to the eye in the b pulley. And then you need an anchor point on the floor, or you are heaving weights and hanging washing at the same time...
Of course, if your weight j was inside a scaffolding pole I mentioned might be handy at the *fence* end, instead of dragging up and down the wall, this might be quite a tidy solution, and the b pulley would pull as close to the house as you liked. With your e line through the eye of b and another pulley and cleat in the wall, for the bottom of the e line to work through if you are going to be pulling a counterbalance weight that is heavier than the washing, and want to be able to let go.
Sspamlet has brought this to us :
b around the a pulley and down to j is just a single line. c to d again single line. Only b to c is doubled up to form a loop, so it can be moved back and forth as the washing is un/loaded, around pulleys b and c.
a to j is around 8', which should be enough 'slack' to allow the line to be pulled down to chest height. With the counter weight at the house end, the line should rise up almost vertically when it is released.
I was thinking of using a 6 gallon water carrier as a test counter weight, filled with water - so that's around 60lb. Later, it could be replaced with an open at each end section of large plastic fall pipe, clipped to the wall - with some weights hidden inside it.
e will also be the right most bit of the hut and I could fix either a cleat on the hut, or a simple hand cranked winch instead. At the moment I do think it will need a winch, unless she takes up weight training :-)
Harry Bloomfield formulated on Tuesday :
As it happens, she managed to break the existing line today, so nowt else for it but to get on with it....
That pulley and weight system worked well, she was just about able to heave the empty line down against the pull of the counterweight - so it really does need some sort of winch, but there was a bit of a snag...
The line where it does a continuous loop, between pulleys b and c, wound itself up. Which makes the idea of being able to stand in one place to load and unload the line impossible for the moment. The reason the double line wound itself around was due to the poly ropes used at either end unwinding as the tension came on them. I'm not sure quite what to do about this at the moment.
The weight rises and falls about 2 1/2 feet, if the line is pulled down around 5 feet.
You could try rope of smaller width doubled back on itself so that the twist cancels itself out.
Or you could use swivel couplings but I expect that outdoors they would soon get stuck.
Or you could try with one through rope going through the eyes of both the b and c pulleys and on to the post. You'd also have to tie the eyes of b&c to the through rope or they would travel in when the weight of washing was on them.
SHarry Bloomfield wrote on 22/04/2010 :
Pretty much now resolved - by moving the twists down the line and past the counterweight, then modifying the b and c pulleys by including a rigidly fixed weight hanging below them, which biases the pulleys to hang straight and not allow the winding up.
The loop of line between b and c can be moved, but it takes some effort. I fancy I may need to modify one of the pulleys to include an handle to enable it to be cranked along, rather than pulling on the line.
I wonder if anyone could draw up a diagram of this, which would enable me to make it available on a web site as a free resource - along with some photographs, once it is complete?
S
spamlet explained on 24/04/2010 :
I don't do drawing, I do the H. Robinson bit :')
on 24/04/2010, Harry Bloomfield supposed :
I have made a bit of a better diagram, using Google Sketchup and uploaded it to
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.