People always tell me how lucky I am that we have a hot tub and a pool. I suppose it's true that a little luck was involved, but it certainly doesn't have anything to do with money. It's no secret that we got both our pool and hot tub from people who didn't want them. We found them under the "free" listings on craigslist.
It's the hot tub that I really want to talk about, today, because I have a little secret for you if you should decide that you would like one in your yard. Unless you're buying a new one and having it delivered and set up, you're going to need a strategy for getting it out of it's current location and into your yard and that's where the secret comes into play.
If you find a hot tub on craigslist that is calling your name, you're probably thinking that you need a big truck or trailer and half a dozen big, strong people to help you move it. The truck/trailer thing, that's true, but you don't need a large group of friends to help. You can do it with one or two friends and the help of six (or more if you've got them) pieces of six foot long PVC pipe. At one time, we had multiple hot tubs (long story) and Mr. W used this method to move one from our yard to our neighbors yard by himself. It's a long, bumpy, grass covered distance and he did it in less than 15 minutes.
Start by lifting the edge of the hot tub just enough to push one piece of PVC pipe underneath with your foot. Push it back as far as you can, about a foot or so, then set the hot tub down on it. Repeat with each of the remaining pipes, pulling the hot tub toward you each time to distribute the pipes approximately a foot or so apart. You will now have "rollers" to move the hot tub to your truck/trailer. Every few feet you push it, you will need to pick up pipes and move them in front to continue. Try to keep two or three pipes under the hot tub at all times and you will be able to follow your path fairly effortlessly. You will need one or two strong people to help you lift it (or tip it, if possible) into your truck or trailer. When you get home, reverse the process.
One more thing I'd like to add. We don't find it to be a lot of work to keep our hot tub clean, but you do need to use a test kit (or strips, if you prefer) to monitor the chemical levels of your hot tub. Some people use bromine, but we prefer liquid chlorine for sanitation. Not only because we use it for our pool, but it works much faster than bromine tablets. A skimmer works well to get out bits of grass and other debris, but for anything that sinks to the bottom (dirt, sand) a suction type water shooter (from the dollar store) is useful and fun!
Willoughby
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