Brabantia 311420 Metal Soil Spear Ground Spike for Essential Rotary Washing Line (35 mm) Solid Anchoring No Concrete, Plastic Lid Cap (Metal/Black)

To say this is difficult to install is an understatement. It took me 40minutes with a 12lb sledge hammer to bludgeon it into the lawn !!! Top tip for designers at Brabantia, if you want to make something to go into soil, give it a pointy end, this has the same soil piercing characteristics as a donkey's gentleman part. I would have typed this review earlier, but I've only just regained the feeling in my hands.

Fitted this today as I wanted to move the washing dryer as it was in a position I would always walk into it going to and from the garden.This seems sturdy enough and built to last, I have knocked a star off for the instructions. It claims you just make a cross shape with a spade then put this in the ground, put a bit of wood over it to not damage it then Gently tap it in with a hammer.Well.... I understand everyone’s ground is different but I had my pick out to loosen the soil and make a hole for it (it is a fair length so your way down past soil into hardcore or whatever you have) once in place I tried the gently tapping it with a hammer and it laughed at me.Eventually I had the sledge hammer out the garage to persuade this to go in, 2 broken bits of wood later and plenty of swinging and it’s in. Also no damage to it at all.If only it was as easy as the instructions!!Good holder though

This was to replace the existing ground spike that was fitted by the previous owners of our home, which has served its purpose for a long time so when it was time to replace the spike I wanted to use the same one.The old spike has had its plastic/rubber sleeve broken and it fell deeper inside the spike, which made it impossible for me to measure, and it was a bit confusing with 3 different sizes available, only 5 mm different from one another.The diameter advertised is the diameter of the centre pole of the rotary drier (Inner diameter of the spike), so if you are buying this as a replacement, you need to measure the diameter of the centre pole of your dryer and this will be size you need to order.As it was to replace an existing one, the trouble for me was taking the old one out of the ground not putting the new one in, a little bit of patience and wriggling the old spike did the trick, I was however left with a massive hole in the ground and had to borrow some compost from other areas in the garden to pack around the spike to make sure it’s solid in place to avoid movement.If you do buy this to install into solid ground (Not to replace an existing one) then I would advise to at least try and ensure that the spot where you’re intending to install it won’t be solid compact ground. I would personally use any weeding metal tools or a screw driver to ‘stab’ the soil and help it be less compact, and if possible, try to dig a 40/50 mm diameter, and 8 or nine inch deep hole in the ground before trying to hammer the spike down.

This is well made but ultimately a flawed design. All these ground spikes are. They just can't do what they're supposed to do.First issue is getting them into the ground. You will need a sledgehammer, or a lump hammer at least. A hammer used to hit nails just can't deliver the force required. You're instructed to put a piece of wood on top to stop the spike getting damaged from the blows, but the wood just splinters and disintegrates because of the force required to drive the spike into the ground.In short, getting the spike into the ground is a nightmare. It's a DIY hospital visit waiting to happen. Earth is soft, right? Nope.Second issue is that you will not get the spike into the ground at a perfect angle. Even a slight deviation from perfectly straight will mean your clothes airer lurches to one side. Look at my picture. I swear I got the spike in almost dead straight.The ONLY way for this spike to work is to dig a large hole, fill it with concrete, and set the spike in that concrete using a spirit level and set square to get it perfectly upright.If you just drive this spike into the ground it will. not. work. Don't waste your time and money.

I cut a cross shape with my edging tool (so only about 6 inches deep). Then I bashed this in under a plank of spare wood, which was bashed to pieces and served beautifully as kindling. It took about 20 mins and my heart rate went up like Body Attack so I didn’t have to go to the gym that day. It hasn’t moved in the 3 months it’s been in. The line’s been installed since then and we’ve had 3 storms. We are in clay so that probably helps.