AGP with Safety fence, but solar reel issues

[Silhyboy]

Hi all, figured I would pop this out to this give mind and see what people can come up with.

We put in a 27' AGP at the end of last year and got about 2 weeks with it before it got too cold to run or work with. In that 2 week period, I found the solar cover to be a needed pain to help keep whatever heat there was in the pool, but because of our situation, the local building codes needed us to add height to the sidewalls for safety. The pool supplier sold us this super (ahem) high quality add on fencing which added 20" to the sidewalls. This turned into a pain in the behind to deal with the cover, obviously.

Now, I can not find any suppliers of reels that have products I can use for this. I attached pics of all 4 sides of my situation and a pic from above. Anyone have any ideas or McGyverisms that would help me out? Please, and thank-you...

 

[cowboycasey]

If you already have a fence around your property why did they require this addon?

You can build a mount for a solar cover roller, I did for my above ground pool using 2 x 4 boards

The problem your going to have is the height of the roller, you will need to build some kind of platform to stand on to roll it up... you will also need much bracing on your stand to keep it from falling over...

2016-06-05 08.53.13.jpg

• cowboycasey
• Sep 12, 2020

2016-06-05 08.52.48.jpg

• cowboycasey
• Sep 12, 2020

2016-06-05 08.52.19.jpg

• cowboycasey
• Sep 12, 2020

Amazon.com : GLI Pool Products Whirlwind Above Ground Aluminum Solar Reel |4-Inch by 28-Feet | with End Pack : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : GLI Pool Products Whirlwind Above Ground Aluminum Solar Reel |4-Inch by 28-Feet | with End Pack : Garden & Outdoor

smile.amazon.com

 

[Newdude]

What about a beefed up and taller version of the above to span over the pool and fence ? Longer straps could dangle down to the cover and then roll it up to the 6.5ft tall (?) beam. Basically this but with enough clearance to swim/walk under

 

[kellyfair]

Looks like the entire yard isn’t fenced.

Will a solar cover even be useful if it is raised that much above the water surface?

 

[Teald024]

Hello and Welcome to TFP!!

How high above the ground is the top rails of the pool? Is your yard fully enclosed behind the house?

Could you remove 2 sections of rail for (ahem) maintenance (ahem). But that maintenance happens every day and you haven’t had a chance to reinstall the rails? such as adding chlorine, brushing the pool, putting the solar cover on and off, etc. That was a joke about leaving the sections off but it is true that you have to do those actions and those actions are real pain with the fence sections attached to your pool.
Could you MacGyver it so that the sections come off pretty easy when you need to do maintenance? Probably.

 

[Silhyboy]

If you already have a fence around your property why did they require this addon?

You can build a mount for a solar cover roller, I did for my above ground pool using 2 x 4 boards

The problem your going to have is the height of the roller, you will need to build some kind of platform to stand on to roll it up... you will also need much bracing on your stand to keep it from falling over...

2016-06-05 08.53.13.jpg

• cowboycasey
• Sep 12, 2020

2016-06-05 08.52.48.jpg

• cowboycasey
• Sep 12, 2020

2016-06-05 08.52.19.jpg

• cowboycasey
• Sep 12, 2020

https://smile.amazon.com/GLI-Pool-Produc

http://

If you already have a fence around your property why did they require this addon?

You can build a mount for a solar cover roller, I did for my above ground pool using 2 x 4 boards

The problem your going to have is the height of the roller, you will need to build some kind of platform to stand on to roll it up... you will also need much bracing on your stand to keep it from falling over...

2016-06-05 08.53.13.jpg

• cowboycasey
• Sep 12, 2020

2016-06-05 08.52.48.jpg

• cowboycasey
• Sep 12, 2020

2016-06-05 08.52.19.jpg

• cowboycasey
• Sep 12, 2020

Amazon.com : GLI Pool Products Whirlwind Above Ground Aluminum Solar Reel |4-Inch by 28-Feet | with End Pack : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : GLI Pool Products Whirlwind Above Ground Aluminum Solar Reel |4-Inch by 28-Feet | with End Pack : Garden & Outdoor

smile.amazon.com

Nice custom stand.

Our Municipality has their own additional guidelines that said there has to be a 48" high barricade with a lockable entrance to the water surface. With our situation, the high side of the pool is 32 inches off the ground and the low side is 56 inches. This rail sits 20 inches above that. And was the only option we had when pricing it all out.

 

[Silhyboy]

What about a beefed up and taller version of the above to span over the pool and fence ? Longer straps could dangle down to the cover and then roll it up to the 6.5ft tall (?) beam. Basically this but with enough clearance to swim/walk under View attachment 320326

This is kinda what I was thinking, but with a custom a frame bracket that would put the reel itself above the fence so I could wind and unwind. If I did a 24' version at 1/3 instead of a 28 in the middle, I could almost do it on the left side (when looking from the deck, 5th picture) and be able to swing it off to a yet to be determined pole storage in the pump area. It would still slightly cover that end a touch but would be mostly out of the way.

 

[Silhyboy]

Looks like the entire yard isn’t fenced.

Will a solar cover even be useful if it is raised that much above the water surface?

Yeah. All fencing is actually neighbour fencing. There is a gap the neighborhood kids use while walking back and forth to houses/games/whatever so I am always cognicent of keeping safe for everyone.

As I can tell, the cover itself just unrolls and sits on the water... It's the reel placement I'm having an issue with... LoL

 

[Silhyboy]

Hello and Welcome to TFP!!

How high above the ground is the top rails of the pool? Is your yard fully enclosed behind the house?

Could you remove 2 sections of rail for (ahem) maintenance (ahem). But that maintenance happens every day and you haven’t had a chance to reinstall the rails? such as adding chlorine, brushing the pool, putting the solar cover on and off, etc. That was a joke about leaving the sections off but it is true that you have to do those actions and those actions are real pain with the fence sections attached to your pool.
Could you MacGyver it so that the sections come off pretty easy when you need to do maintenance? Probably.

I would LOVE to remove the stupid thing, but as long as we are open to the public on 4 sides, I have to stay in code. I did ask about what do I need to do if I have to remove a section for whatever, the response was, "don't get caught"... Sooooo... Yeah... Too much liability if some idiot kid decides to hop over the side rail and drowns under the cover... Yeah, I was raised by lawyers... Sorry.

Eventually we will remove the back half, when we pit in our own fence, but that is a ways away. With all the restrictions still in place with the virus about, I haven't worked since Feb, 2020... So money is starting to get a little tight...I was just hoping that a suggestion would magically pop up that I could buy a reel now and figure out the mount situation as it evolved. Was a shot in the dark since it appears I am the only person on this planet using this fence product AND wanting to use a reel... LoL...

Thankfully, we did get a Dolphin robot to help with the maintenance so I don't need to ladder around the outside (I hope) to scrub it...

 

[Silhyboy]

Update: today was 84 degrees... I can't wait (fecsesiously) to see what state my water is in... Probably have to drain, clean and start fresh since it never was balanced in the 3 weeks we ran last year before having to close it.... Thankfully, according to my municipality, it is only going to cost me 88.00 and 3 days to fill 18,000 gallons.

 

[Teald024]

Our Municipality has their own additional guidelines that said there has to be a 48" high barricade with a lockable entrance to the water surface. With our situation, the high side of the pool is 32 inches off the ground and the low side is 56 inches. This rail sits 20 inches above that. And was the only option we had when pricing it all out.

Could you only fence the portion that has less than 48" wall exposure? So the fence would only go 1/2 or 1/3 or whatever around the pool? That should still meet their Code. Still plays within the Code but gives you some wiggle room and then you could use the reel on the non fenced portion. Potentially having the 1/3 towards the swingset to hav no fence.

If I did a 24' version at 1/3 instead of a 28 in the middle, I could almost do it on the left side (when looking from the deck, 5th picture) and be able to swing it off to a yet to be determined pole storage in the pump area. It would still slightly cover that end a touch but would be mostly out of the way.

I had a 15x30 pool. I always kept the reel about 10 feet from one end and not in the middle. It worked better that way and there were times when the wife and I wanted to take a quick dip that I rolled up the cover, but never took the reel off the pool, I just left it there for convenience while we swam.

 

[Silhyboy]

It's an idea, but since I sunk half the pool in the hill, the fence would still go past the opening by 1 panel. I tried to explain that little idea to my wife and her response was "but it looks bad"... Soooo... Yeah

Worst case scenario, we continue to hand roll it in the pool and bungie to the fence.

Or... I build a 30' x 4inch, scudule 40 pvc and put up 2 4x6 A frame posts similar to cowboycasey. Set them up on the outside. Would still look like Crud, be heavy as heck but with a couple of rubber castors and a 5 inch ubolts, it would work. Might even find an old bike and mount a gear box with a half pedal handle to bring the crank down a few feet... lol. I don't know the easy answer...

Wish one of these reel companies had a prebuit 24" height extender for their systems.

Anyway... Work in progress...

 

[Teald024]

Or... I build a 30' x 4inch, scudule 40 pvc

I advise against PVC. 30' is very long and way to flexible. ALSO, look at the one I built that was 18' long. On a typical sunny June day in Ohio, I had taken the solor cover off and hung it on the fence. This gets full sun all day. I came home to a very permanent, very warped pvc reel pole. Temps need to exceed 150 degF to do this to pvc.

PVC solar reel bent2

• Teald024
• Apr 7, 2021

PVC solar reel bent1

• Teald024
• Apr 7, 2021

 

[Silhyboy]

Wow, good to know. Now to find an unbendable 30 foot pole... LoLbut really, I'll go through the forum. Someone must have had a similar idea in the past and found a solution. I don't want to use iron pipe for the weight issue. So a hunting we will go...

 

[Bosley]

What about getting an old RV awning tube? Made of aluminum and lightweight. Wont rust etc. I'm sure a dealer in your area has many laying around

 

[Newdude]

What about getting an old RV awning tube

Great thought !! But a wet solar cover is many times heavier than a fabric awning and would probably collapse the tube.

 

[Bosley]

I connected 2 awning tubes together and used this for 2 seasons. I bolted on a crank handle that didnt work so well. Still took 2 of us to roll up the solar cover. I ended up ordering a premade roller because I hated the handle. If I would have thought of the bicycle idea I would still be using it. It didnt sag anymore than this store bought roller sags.

 

[Silhyboy]

What about getting an old RV awning tube?

Great Idea, I will look into it. Thanks

 

[Newdude]

. It didnt sag anymore than this store bought roller sags

Trueeeeeeeeeeee !!! I forgot how much my actual reel sagged. It’s not like we are comparing the awning tube to something solid.

 

[Newdude]

Sihly, Would you be against having the stand alone homemade style reel on the outside of the pool ? You could cut just enough of a fence slat to feed the tube through (with a hair of wiggle room), therefore plugging the hole and keeping it up to code. Some careful touch ups with paint/primer/rustoleum/etc on the exposed cut pieces would help delay their rusting.