Homestead Hack: Replacing An Ugly Laundry Pole

by Texas Homesteader ~

When we lived in the city I bought a *2-line extractable laundry line.  I loved that thing – it gave me up to 98 feet of drying!  RancherMan put a nail in a fence post so when I was doing laundry I’d bring out that extractable line & hang it on that nail.  The lines pulled all the way to a nearby tree where I’d hook the two lines on the branches.

But when we moved here to our piece of paradise there were no privacy fences, nor any trees in our back yard.  So we used a tether-ball pole as the anchor, and placed two decorative cast iron plant hooks on either side of the garage window.

But the tether-ball pole was…  I dunno – UGLY!  It served the purpose for several years but I wanted something a little more in step with our natural surroundings.  It was replaced recently and you know my battle cry:  Use Whatcha Got(Almost all our Homestead Hacks use that battle cry.)  Come see what we did.

We replaced our ugly laundry pole something more in step with our natural surroundings. You know my battle cry: Use Whatcha Got! #TexasHomesteader

And here’s our ugly clothesline pole… See, I told ya – UGLY!  Just a metal pole cemented into an old tire.  Not exactly fitting in with the whole natural-beauty view I was hoping for.

We replaced our ugly laundry pole something more in step with our natural surroundings. You know my battle cry: Use Whatcha Got! #TexasHomesteader

Cedar Tree Casualty

But now I’m excited to be getting rid of the ugly albatross.  First a little background: Recently we had to pull down a mammoth cedar tree in the barn pasture.  It was a sad day, that tree was so old and absolutely beautiful!  But the many consecutive years of drought we’ve been burdened with here in NE Texas has killed off many cedars.  This beautiful giant was one of the casualties.

But maybe there’s still a way it can serve us well.  RancherMan used a chainsaw to cut one of the huge limbs to a length of about 10-11 feet.  Then he rolled away the ugly tether-ball pole and dug a hole in its place that was 2-3 feet deep.

Installing Our New Laundry Pole

He placed our cedar pole into the hole and leveled it.  There was a bag of cement in the shed that was leftover from another project so he used about 1/2 the bag in this hole to further anchor the pole.  All that’s left to do is to let the cement cure for several days.

He installed the *retractable clothesline bracket on the front of the pole and a metal anchor cleat on the side.  Our clothesline originally had a place to wrap the line on the unit itself but we’ve had this one so long that it broke off years ago.  We typically wrap the line around this cleat to keep the heavy wet denim from allowing extra line to be pulled out.  After installing these pieces of hardware voila!

We replaced our ugly laundry pole something more in step with our natural surroundings. You know my battle cry: Use Whatcha Got! #TexasHomesteaderI love that we’ve finally lost the ugly cement-filled tire and steel tether-ball pole and replaced it with natural wood.  My new laundry pole has graceful curvy character and fits in quite nicely with our natural surroundings.

We replaced our ugly laundry pole something more in step with our natural surroundings. You know my battle cry: Use Whatcha Got! #TexasHomesteader

He even left a small stub on the side for me to hang my clothespin bag.  Thank you RancherMan – I love it!  By using materials we already had this clothesline cost us NOTHING!

~TxH~

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14 thoughts on “Homestead Hack: Replacing An Ugly Laundry Pole

  1. Danielle McCoy

    So creative and more in line with the natura side of things. I love it! Thanks for sharing with us at the homestead blog hop. Hope to see you again this week!

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      I love the way it looks out in our back yard now Danielle with that old tire gone. 🙂 ~TxH~

      Reply
  2. Katy SkipTheBag

    I love it! It looks like it fits right in there. Thanks for posting on the #WasteLessWednesday blog hop!

    Reply
  3. Michelle

    Awesomeness!!!! That’s such an improvement and that retractable thingy is great. I need to get me one of those.

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      Loving the retractable thingy, Michelle. Although I love hanging my clothes outside, the site of a clothesline when it’s not being used has never floated my boat. This one comes & goes with the laundry, all that remains in the pole and those pretty hooks anchored to the wall by the garage. And now even the pole isn’t an eyesore, LOL! ~TxH~

      Reply
  4. Katrin

    Very clever and it looks natural and lovely, way better than the pole and I’m glad you were able to use part of the old cedar tree! I love drying my clothes outside, they smell so great after, don’t they?

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      Yes Katrin – there’s no substitute for the smell of sunshine on clean clothes. The laundry moguls have tried for decades without success to duplicate it! ~TxH~

      Reply
  5. Jamie Marie

    Cool beans, Now you’ll be drying laundry in style!
    Thanks so much for sharing with us on the Homesteader hop!

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      LOL Jamie. Well at least when the laundry’s not out I get a more natural view instead of an old tire! ~TxH~

      Reply
  6. ColleenB.~Texas

    Oh, I like your new and improved clothesline pole.
    I did have to grin a bit about your clothesline ‘head’ First thing I thought of when I seen that green ‘monster’ was a head of an alien stuck up there on your line post :}
    Pat on the back to you Rancherman for doing a Great job.

    Reply
  7. Cecilia

    Very cool! I like it. :o) I am fortunate to have trees to hook my line on. Aren’t retractable lines the best? And now you have a pole with character and charm!

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      I love it Cecilia. It looks so much more natural, especially when there’s no laundry line on it. That old tire just wasn’t doing it for me. LOL ~TxH~

      Reply

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