I am wanting to put in a clothesline and thus a post to support it. I have a hole dug 5 feet down by about 2 feet across. I have a 4”x4”x12’ cedar post and want to install this. I plan on putting the post into cement. Is cement a good idea? How much cement should be around the post? I bought a sono tube 10” round but if I stick this in the hole and go up to 2 feet above ground this is a lot of cement. Do I need this? Is it acceptable to just put two feet in the bottom of the whole and then dirt the rest of the way? I had considered cement the whole length to reduce rotting. If I ever want to remove the post this would be a lot of work to get out. As well when the sono tube is in the ground should I fill in the sides to hold it in place?
Answer:
The 4X4 post will probably snap the first time a good wind finds a sheet on the clothes line so you might consider a 4X4 and at 12' its not going to keep things very high off the ground so I made mine 16' (I think) with ten feet above the ground. A clothes line elevator 4' long puts things within reach - almost.
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