Solar blanket reel questions

[barnyard]

We just bought a solar blanket for our 28' pool this year. We have quickly found out that if we don't have a reel or some other way to remove/put on this cover, we are just NOT going to use it. Too much of a pain.
Because of the physical location of our pool, it doesn't appear that we would be able to swing a 28' reel around and out of the way because of bushes and such if mounted in the middle of the pool. I'm not a fan of leaving it on the pool to have to swim around or under either. I would ideally like for it to be able to be taken off and put on by 1 person, but can live with it if it took 2.
Can I get one that is made for say 20-24' pools and place it off-center? I know I would have to fold and unfold a couple of feet on the sides for the cover to fit onto the reel. A shorter length might help although I haven't taken the time to actually measure to see.
Do all the reels require drilling into the top rails? I would prefer to not do that also, but all that I have looked at require that.
Could I get a smaller reel and mount it to posts on the outside of the pool? I'm not sure I like that either because of having to walk around it and vacuum around it, but that may be the only way.
I guess I am confused about what everyone that doesn't have a 10 acre field surround their pool does?
I have a perfectly good fence beside the pool that would be ideal to hang the cover on when off, but it is just confusing as to how I would get it over there.
Since I have never owned a solar reel, I am hoping that some of you experienced solar reel people will have some words of wisdom for me.
Thanks!

 

[crookm11]

Here is a quote from one of our members in reference a reel for a Solar Cover. Hope this will help.

Link to the topic. AG Cover Removal

Matt is the one that came up with this design I used - He has a round pool and I believe Huskerfan (Donya) on PF also has a round pool and used Matt's design as well, except I think she used a swing out design so it was moved out and away. Ours uses 1" black steel pipe for the uprights/posts which stand appx 1.5' above pools top rail - they are concreted into the ground appx 1'. The conduit is 2" -

Its funny I saw this thread again today as we were working on these this week anyways. I just ran out and snapped some pics. We are in the middle of replacing the straps so they are not re-attached perm to the conduit until tonight - DH originally attached them too short to start with and I have since then been unhappy with the 2" gap it left at the front of the pool so I cut them and replaced with new except to attach to the conduit. I have them wrapped and taped until he wakes up - he is on shift work so I am guessing just about sundown I will have them attached again at the length I LIKE! He rivets the straps. (excuse the long grass/weeds - its been raining for days and now teenagers need to get busy with weed whip today!)

black steel posts/pipe into the ground

from front of pool viewing the setup

[color=]View of the crank - bearings welded into large washers, welded onto post/pipe[/color]

 

[NWMNMom]

Hey, like that setup! This allows us to pull the cover on or reel off with just one person. Search the site for Matt4x4 and you will find pux of his 33' round pool and reel he put on 4x4 posts instead of steel. They both work really well

 

[barnyard]

Does dragging the cover over the edge cause any issues with the cover? I am thinking I would probably go for a smaller length than my 28' if I were to put it on the end off of the pool. Looks like it is great for oval pools, but I am still not quite sure how it would work on a round one, although Matt seemed to be able to manage pretty well.
Also, do the straps come off and go back on easily? I wouldn't want them on all the time so I could walk between the reel and pool wall and not strangle myself.

 

[NWMNMom]

So far I was the only one who used this design for an oval pool, every other was the 30' round or larger so it was originally designed for a round, not oval. pulling the cover over the edge does not damage it.

We have our straps permanently attached. I wouldn't begin to know how you would effectively have a removable strap system for any solar blanket and reel without the fasteners wearing out and failing. My guess is that you would need to choose having a reel which means straps or no straps and removing the blanket by hand

 

[Bama Rambler]

On our reel the straps are attached to the reel with self adhesive velcro pads. You could easily remove the straps from the reel if you wanted to. If you search my posts for reel, there are some pictures of it posted.

 

[NWMNMom]

Velcro, geesh, I never even thought of that. Great idea, there you go, that is your answer. Thx Dave

 

[harry5170]

We have a 16 by 32 AGP and use a solar cover. We cut the cover in half and remove only 1/2 most of the time. Lots easier to handle and can be done with only one person.