What to Know about Garden Hose Reels before You Buy

Hose reels are a simple tool, so they shouldn't be hard to shop for. They aren't.  You only need to know two things to buy yourself a good garden hose reel.

• What do you want?
• Which garden hose reel fits the bill?

The hardest question to answer is the first one.  Would you like to mount your hose reel on the back wall of your house?  Do you want to cart your hose reel across the lawn?  Could you use a rack to carry your gardening tools, or do you want to keep things down to the bare essentials?  How do you know what you need? 

Think about your garden or lawn, and ask yourself these questions:

Do you have a limited amount of space?  Then you might want a wall mount reel, to bring the hose completely out of the way and off the ground.  If you are interested in a wall mount reel, then you need to think how long you need your hose to be. How far away from the wall mount is your farthest stretch of garden? You also need to decide whether you want a perpendicular reel (the hose pulls straight out from the reel or wall) or parallel reel (the hose pulls out from the side of the reel). If you're going to put your reel on the back of your house, you may want a perpendicular reel. If you'll mount your hose reel on the side of the house, a parallel reel could be handier.

Do you have flowers all around your lawn?If you have to take your hose to different parts of your lawn in order to reach all your plants, then you may find the cart reels especially helpful.  Cart reels carry your hose, neatly wrapped around their reel, to the place you need to water.  You don't drag your hose on the ground, which is a safety hazard, and you keep the hose from getting tangled and knotted as you move around your lawn. 

Do you have a very large area to water?  If you have a very long hose and need a larger capacity than the cart reels can offer, try our wagon garden hose reels. The wagon reels are very stable and easy to maneuver.  They are preferred by farmers, ranchers, and people with very large gardens.

 How long and wide is your hose?  When you look at any particular hose reel, think about whether it will fit your hose, or whether you'll need to buy another hose to fit the hose reel.  Measure the hose before you buy your hose reel and make sure you purchase the appropriate size.

Do you need multiple functions?  For instance: do you have limited space AND you have flowers all around your garden?  Or can you not decide what you need?  Then you may want to consider a multiple function hose reel, such as our 4-in-1, 200' Multi-purpose Hose Reel and Two-Wheel Cart.

Is attractiveness important to you?  Which hose reel will look best in your garden?  We have very simple hose reels, and we have more decorative hose reels.  For an example of a very simple hose reel, look at our Suncast Sidetracker Wall Mount Hose Reel.  For an example of a decorative hose reel, look at our Decorative Wall Mount or Free Standing Hose Reel.  What fits your style?

Is sturdiness important to you?  This one we can answer for you: yes.  Regardless of the type of hose reel you buy, you need your tool to be sturdy and dependable.  Fortunately, all the hose reels on our site are well-made and designed for variable conditions.

Once you've determined what you're looking for, choosing the hose reel is easy.  You just have to find the one that fits you.