Washling line pulleys - help

[mo]

Hi All

I have a concrete fence post and I have a house.

I need to put up a washing line between these 2. I am going to use a pulley system so that the line can be made to go higher once the washign line has been made taut.

Just need soem help.

Presumably I need one end to be fixed and then the pulley on the other side.

So if I buy one of these

fix it to the wall using one of these and the hook on the above thing

have one of the above fixing the line at the other end.

Is that it? Then all I need is maybe one of these to hold the line in place when its taut

Which side would you put the pulley on? The house or fence post? I will have the highest poitn of the line level on both ends. I spose its easier to fix things to the post than the house but it would mean walking to the end of the garden to control the pulley.

Also when there is nothing on the line and you loosen the line, presumably it has to be quite a weightly wahsing line to come down of its own accord. presumably a light washing liek will still just hang up?

Thanks

[Cicero]

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I think this would be a better combination:

the pulley with a good strong plug to the house wall with the cleat somewhere below it.

The brass eye hook at 17mm would be unlikely to take the strain of a washing line. If you're a bit tight-fisted you can buy the pulley as a single at other places, such as a high street Ironmongers if you can find one, or possibly B&Q.

Cic.

[James Salisbury]

Alternatively just use a clothes prop...

[TMC]

A full line of washing say 15 metres long would be very difficult to pull up partly because of the weight of the washing and partly becaues of the small diameter of the line that you are pulling on.

Also as most washing lines stretch to varying degrees starting with it slack you are likely to have washing touching the floor by the time time line is full

Far better to set the line taut to start with and use a prop

And of course do not forget to get a selection of different colour pegs as they apparently have to co-ordinate with the washing!!!

[Dave]

Your links were broken for me, but I have one word of advice, go to a yacht chandlers for any fittings that will be permanently outside. I am a radio amateur and that is what I have to raise and lower aerials.

Dave

[mo]

"TMC" wrote in news:C7ednTMc [e-mail]:

Our last washing line was not the traditional flimsy stuff but actually some some of metal wire that was twsited. this would sag less than normal wahsing line but it would be quite a bit heavier I suppose.

[Bruce]

That was my first reaction.

But why use something cheap, simple and effective when there is an expensive and complex alternative available?

[Andy Champ]

we had a galvanised pulley on the line in the garden at our first house. It looked good as new when we left 7 years later.

That was one the council had fitted when they built the place. Yacht fittings tend to be expensive.

Mo, forget the weight of the line. A basket full of wet washing might be

25Kg (it's 9Kg _dry_ don't forget) and you may want two loads on there.

However, do not underestimate the tension you need on the line to hold it up. This is likely to be several times the weight of the washing - you need a _strong_ post.

Andy

[spamlet]

For efficiency you want two pulleys:

Fix one end of the line to your post.

Fix another pulley as high up the house wall as you like. Temporarily run the line from your post through this pulley and down the wall to a convenient cleat, and cut the line there so that you have established the 'up' height of your line.

Run the line back out of the wall pulley and through a second pulley; then tie the free end to the wall cleat.

Run a shorter piece of line through the wall pulley and down to tie it off at the eye of the pulley that carries the washing line. Then it is a simple matter to pull the line of washing up and down via the line through the wall pulley while the second travels along the line spreading the load.

Sounds pedantic but it really isn't - and it wasn't my idea. My last house came with the line set up like that, which puzzled me at first, but it really does work much more smoothly than one fixed pulley.

The advantage of this over a prop is your 'not in use' line position is up and away over your head, and you only lower it when you need it.

S

[The Medway Handyman]

Traditional way to fix a washing line is to have a pulley secured to the house & a pulley secured to the post. These don't take the washing line as such, but a loop of line/rope that has the ends tied to a ring. The line is attached to the rings so it can be raised parrallel.

Nowhere near big enough.

The benefit of the 2 loop system is that the line can be deliberately lowered.

[Harry Bloomfield]

spamlet pretended :

That sounds good, but any chance of a drawing or diagram?

[mo]

I think the concrete post should be able to take the weight! I will buy some meaty closed hook things. My links before were mroe an example of the shape/item.

What is the poitn of a system liek this

surely you would only ever use one side?

[The Medway Handyman]

It means that the line can be lowered/raised parrallel. Not as good as the loop/loop system.

[mo]

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in news:PyMyn.273644$ [e-mail]:

Is that the system Andy mentioned?

I think i am going to find a picture of it to work it out!

[mo]

Is there a system that allows me to have a taut washing line conencted to the house and post and then a way of bringing the whole line down in one straint line from one location as oppsed to a pulley easy side so i have to do each side seperatley - it sounds like it would be complicated!

[Matty F]

There is a device called a rotary clothes line that holds a huge amount of clothes and can be wound up and down with a crank. You can also stand in one place while loading and unloading it, and wind it up out of the way.

[spamlet]

Yes: the two pulleys on one side system I mentioned. You have one end fixed to the top of the post. You have a pulley tied to an eye at similar or higher height at the wall end. Through the wall pulley you run another piece of line tied to a second pulley. It is through this second pulley that the washing line goes. You raise the washing line by pulling the line that goes through the wall pulley, so that the pulley through which the washing line runs is pulled up towards the wall pulley taking the washing up and out of the way. It is much more simple to do than to describe, and I don't know how to post a drawing here.

S

[spamlet]

pI / I I____________________d I I \ I I \ I I \Ic I I

The washing line goes through pulley d and down to cleat c. How long you tie it off at is up to you. I've drawn it so that it pulls up level, but if, like me, you wanted to use the space over tallish plants or even a conservatory, you can have a much longer line so that it slopes and clears things, when pulled up. Also, higher means windier and quicker drying (and occasional washing ending up next door - so do get good pegs!)

The pull up line goes through pulley p (which is attached to the wall through an eye so that it is fairly free to swivel) and down to the eye of pulley d where it is tied. In my case in the 'up' position pulley d was up against the bedroom window next to its fixed partner. No kids or I'm sure they would have used it as an aerial runway!

Put one loop in the 'c' end of the pull up line for you, and one for the missus, a bit further down, so you each have a convenient 'down' position for loading the line, which you can reach without the washing dangling on the floor. As you load the line the 'd' pulley will travel along 'frictionlessly', minimising wear on the line.

Once you get the idea you can see that the system is versatile; that the washing line does not have to be straight, and that the pull up line 'p' pulley could be at any third point, and is really the equivalent of the old prop. Your main line could, say, run along the middle of the garden, but be pulled up toward a tree or garage wall once loaded. Could thus give you three lines to hang on instead of one.

Hope the diag doesn't get scrambled when posted...

S

[Harry Bloomfield]

spamlet expressed precisely :

Well that has given me a few ideas, to help avoid props and neck height washing lines.

No, it was fine here, thanks...

[mo]

"spamlet" wrote in

Thanks for the reply. I understand what you are saying now. I think my old neighbour had that system. His P pulley was atatched right a the top of his house so his washing line went really high up into the air.

I think for my purposes the alternative is that my D pulley is fixed to the wall and I allow some slack in the line which means my wahsing line almost become a U shape and I put the wahsing onto it that way.

With your system when the line is down the line is almost diaganal to the ground right? So the fixed side always stays same height but its possible to take the side with 2 pulleys right onto the floor?

So when you want to raise the entire line you pull down the line which is connected to P. Do you attach that to cleat C as well. In which case there would never be a reason to mess about with the line on Pulley D as it would be set to one fixed length?

I have left a bit of your text below your diagram which I am not sure I understand. With the line on pulley D can you move the line across so you can stand in one place and load the line? Not sure I can see how if its effectivley tied/fixed at both ends. I supposed you would need another pulley at the other end and more washing line?