Having a senior moment here with regards to water butt fittings.

[gardening_gal]

I fancied changing the standard tap on my water butt to one of those that has a screw end so you can simply screw on a timer with no faffing or adding extra bits in between.

Like this...Water Butt Tap Threaded

(That was just an example, other threaded taps are similar.)

Now as far as I can make out, these have a back nut fixing rather than the type of fixing that screws on from the front on a standard tap.

So, given that my water butt is at least a metre high and my arms are not a metre long, how the heck do I fix the nut if I can't reach there?

Do people have seriously long spanners in their toolbags?

[Bill HH]

I got a young lad to crawl into mine, I made sure he came out again. Another way is to glue the edge of the nut to a cane and then hover it over the thread while you turn the tap, you have to tighten it by turning the tap, its fiddly and hard to get it tight, then you break off the cane from the nut. I have also used a socket on an extension bar but there is little room to turn it so you still have to turn the tap.Beware you dont cross thread it, these cheap plastic fitting seem to enjoy causing problems.

[gardening_gal]

I have a very petite and very slender teenage daughter but given that my butts are of the 'slim jim' type and they have a small lid, I doubt I'd get her in there, even with copious amounts of shoving.

There's definitely a spot here for someone to invent a tool to make this job easier.

*goes off to look up patent information*

Thanks Bill.

[bretty666]

Sort of same idea as bill but if you do need a spanner to tighten the inside just heavily tape the correct spanner to a peice of wood?

[gardening_gal]

I have a spare broom handle in the garage I kept in case it would come in handy one day. I guess today is the day.

Off to the garden centre now I think. Sod's law says they don't even stock them.