RL Flo-Master 65HR8 Retractable Hose Reel, 65 Feet, Brown

I've been struggling for years to get my mom the right combination of hose, wand, fittings, and most importantly a seemless way to store it all. I grew up with my mom using the cheapest wire hose hook money can buy. It was poorly hung with nails, rusting, and left bends in the hose when you went to use it. I sought to replace all that with my knowledge from working in home depot's garden center. On my first attempt I bought a 50ft neverkink heavy duty hose, orbit pro spray nozzle, a suncast hose real and a bunch of quick disconnects to make swapping the spray nozzle and sprinkler easier. Well the hose reel worked for a few months, but I was the only one who could reel it properly and the hose kept getting loose on the reel, which created a constant pool of water below it and killed the grass. We also could have used a longer hose, but we made it work. The suncast hose reel was all plastic and costed about $30, but there really wasn't any other affordable options out there that were any different, just dressed in storage boxes at a higher price. The lowest price metal hose reel I could find that was worth the extra cost was around $80 and a longer hose costed about $40-$50. At that point I started questioning if this really was the best way after I spent the same time and effort finding a good combination of hose and reel that ultimately failed. I remembered that we have this awesome self retracting hose reel at work that had been around for quite a long time, so I started researching it. Apparently this was the exact same one we had at work and it ended up being the most affordable and highly rated option with a standard 3/4" hose. Because I already had one at work, I already knew all the ways it could possibly break, so I decided to get one, and I was not disappointed. The box it arrived in was a bit sketchy, and the reel did have two black scratches on one side of it, but it ended up being perfect! I mounted it to my deck with some corrosion resistant hexcap bolts I bought at home depot and it couldn't have been easier. The hose reel has a handle and it comes off the mount just by removing a single pole, this way you can store it during the winter to increase it's lifespan. As soon as my mom saw the giant box, she looked at me like I just bought another ridiculous thing, but she ended up loving it. Finally I can get my mom to put the hose away properly and not leave massive pools of water in the lawn. I couldn't be happier with this product and though I know it's not indestructible, I know how it's put together and where all the points of failure are because of the one from work.

SO far so good. Definitely better than expected. At first I was little affraight that I would not be able to install this since I have an aluminum siding on the wall but with little thinking I came up with another method that made it look natural with the face of the home. Since finding a stud behind a siding can be a nightmare, I decided to mount this hose reel on the the wooden frame of my garage door. Even if I ever had to remove this bracket, it would be very easy to patch the screw holes in the frame of the garage. Different story if comes to patching holes in the siding and the external wall behind the siding. So here are the steps I did to hang the Hose Reel; 1. Purchased at Menards 2x6 treated piece of wood that would be appropriate for the outdoor usage. 2. 2 of 1/4x3" long galvanized deck screws and 4 of 1/4x2 1/2" screws for outdoor use. The nice thing about these screws is that they are torque style screws (T30) with collar so I didn't have need for additional washers. They went into the wood very easily and are rated for 1300 ibs of pull weight so in theory should hold the reel in place pretty securely.After cutting the 2x6 to a correct size, I attached the cut piece to the garage door frame with two of the 1/4x3" screws with one in the middle top and one in the middle bottom portion of the cut 2x6. Next I painted the 2x6 with spray can to match the color of the door frame. After the paint dried for a few minutes, I attached the reel bracket using the other four screws 1/4x2 1/2" . I finished everything by caulking the meeting surfaces with silicone.Last thing, that I wish it came with the reel would be some kind of locking mechanism that would protect the reel from high winds. As it rotates 180 degrees I would not want this whole thing to bounce left to right during high winds. To prevent this, I got a little hook from Menards for outdoor use and screwed in between the reel and the siding to lock the reel in place during the time when I am not using it. Total of extra $12 spent to make it work as good as I could imagine. I''ve also installed the quick connect so its easier to connect different nozzles and/or disconnect it from the water supply. Over all I am glad I bought it.I just wish the Amazon would upload all pictures the correct way and not upside down or sideway. No idea how to correct this. Sorry!!