The Beaver Tail is a LongerArm Pool Wall Brushing Fulcrum model.

Ergonomically contoured platform feels comfortable and secure under your feet.

Shaped to be immobilized in many brushing positions accommodating pool deck design.

Strategically located recessed friction pad provides good contact with the pool deck.

UV protected textured top delivers grip for bare feet or shoes.

A high lubricity Rub Ring minimizes pole friction and chatter.

Buoyant, rigid, non-deck marring plastic platform.

It’s not just easier….it’s MUCH Easier!

You’ll find yourself saying…..”Why would anyone do it the ‘old way’ ever again.”

2 reasons:

Remember back in school when you were first taught about levers and leverage?

They showed you a rock (load) sitting on one end of a seesaw looking contraption while a guy pushed down on the other end to leverage the rock off the ground.

We learned that if the object (the fulcrum) under the seesaw between the rock and the guy could be moved closer to the rock – and therefore farther away from the guy – it was easier to lift the rock!

The section of seesaw between the fulcrum and the rock is called the load ARM; the section between the fulcrum and the guy is called the EFFORT ARM.  The longer the Effort Arm the easier it is to move a load…  “LongerArm!”

In our situation the seesaw is a pool pole, the rock is our brush, the hand positioned at the middle of the pole is the fulcrum, and the other hand at the top end is the guy.

One way to put more pressure on the brush with less effort is to move the hand in the middle (fulcrum) closer to the brush. My arm wasn’t long enough to move much closer so I needed a “LongerArm.” 🙂

Actually…..it’s MUCH better for your pool pole!

Brushing the wall the traditional way can double the bending pressure on the pole compared to brushing with a LongerArm.

I am 5’8” so for me to put ~3 pounds of brushing pressure on the bottom of an 8 foot wall brushing the traditional way I would put 22 lbs of bending force on the pole.

When using a Longerarm under the same conditions I exert 9.6 lbs of bending force on the pole.

http://www.engineersedge.com/calculators/levers/page_levers_1.htm

Note: to further reduce pole bending rotate the brush 180 degrees before each complete pool brushing.

Controlling brush pressure on a pool wall is vital to achieving a quality wall brushing result.  Many will say brushing force is paramount, but there is such a thing as too much force when the bristles are bent to an extreme degree where the bristle tips aren’t digging in.  Instead, the smooth sides of the extremely bent bristles slide over and passed the grime you are trying to remove mashing it into the wall instead of digging it out.  Conversely, pressure that is too light doesn’t push the bristles deep enough into the pores and irregularities of the wall to reach the goop.  Like Goldie Locks, we search for a pressure and bristle contact that is Just Right.

So why haven’t we heard about this bristle contact dilemma?  Because up to now no one has known how to solve it so why talk about it. Watch a person brush a pool wall and it’s easy to see that maintaining consistent brush contact is almost impossible.  There are just too many moving body parts to coordinate from your toes to your fingertips when brushing a wall.  And it doesn’t help that you have to gradually add pressure to the pool pole as you go deeper, sometimes putting more than 20lbs of bending force on the pole, then gradually decrease the pressure as you come up to maintain optimum bristle tip contact. Who can do that!?

Then there is the issue of having to continually reposition your hands on the pole as you brush deeper or shallower. Each time a hand leaves the pole the pressure drops to zero so you have to re-brush a portion of the wall to make sure you get the spot where you lost effective contact.

If contact pressure wasn’t a big enough issue there is the problem of the ‘upstroke’. Watch the same person perform an upstroke (Pull stroke) on a deep wall and see how effective it appears. Don’t waste your time; there is no upstroke.  It’s too HARD.  Pool wall brushing is almost always accomplished with a single down/push stroke ‘only,’ missing the opportunity to contact the up-side of the pore or irregularity in a wall only accessible to bristles in upstroke.  The wasted upstroke used in the old method only serves to bring the brush to the top where it will finally be engaged again in a down stroke.

Until recently there has been no specialty brush or pole that will cure our brushing issues.  The Wall Whale and SweepEase brushes make it much easier to apply adequate to good pressure during a down stroke because they are designed to push against the wall while moving through the water during a push stroke. Unfortunately, they have flaws: Pressure and contact are controlled by the speed of the stroke. If the speed varies the contact pressure and effectiveness varies. Once again, there is no upstroke to attack bumps and crevasses only accessible to bristles in a pull/up stroke.

So what’s the cure for our brushing issues?  How about a tool that allows you to apply the correct brushing pressure and contact regardless of how fast or slow the brush is moved; a tool that allows the brusher to perform an honest to gosh effective upstroke with full bristle contact and pressure and NO wasted upstrokes; a tool that allows the user to use just one hand at a time and never lose contact or pressure regardless of how deep or shallow they are brushing; a tool that cuts brushing effort by more than half with no back or knee bending, trunk twisting or extreme overhead reaches necessary; a tool that cuts the maximum bending pressure exerted on the pool pole by half.  This long awaited mythical tool has arrived and it is called LongerArm.

Sticky Pole + Bad Foot Position = Chatter

Happens when the pole and the rub ring catch and release in rapid pulses when brushing, especially during an upstroke.

Usually the cause is friction resulting from the pole surface not being clean or it is oxidized and gritty.  When you think about it, you clean your pole for the same reason you brush your walls, to keep crud from growing out of them. It’s Crud that slows the task and leads to chatter. So do a little maintenance by smoothing the pole with a fine scouring pad like those made by Scotch-Brite, aluminum wool or something appropriate and remove the dirt and oxidation exposing a smooth surface.  I Finish it off with some wax to protect it and make it slick upon the rub ring.  Wax? You pick and tell me how it works. Car wax or aluminum wheel wax has worked for me. Make sure it’s ok for pool water.  Once the pole is clean, chatter usually goes away.  It’s not maintenance you have to do often after the first time because the rub ring in the LongerArm method helps keep the pole clean and polished with use.

A second condition that magnifies chatter is when the ring is not securely held in place by a foot on the chevron   area close to the ring.  At least one foot ought to be within a few inches of the ring applying pressure.  Keeps it from flopping up and down.  The ring should normally be positioned very close to, or slightly on the edge of the deck.  All of this is a matter of learning foot positions on the BT that are comfortable for you and still hold it securely to the deck.