Garden hose

I have two of the home depot variety "kink free" garden hoses. They are far from kink free, in fact they kink all the time when you stretch them out. When you roll them back up you have to keep flipping the hose the right way so it won't kink.

However, I have a very old hose probably more than 15 years I found in this garage and it never kinks. It does not kink because it does not flatten not even a little bit. I think it's made of rubber. Are those better hoses than the modern day vinyl hoses?

MC

Reply to
MiamiCuse
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Hi, You bet. Heavy duty industrial/commercial one. I have one and it is so heavy and kink free but hard to handle.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Same here. If you have them on a good reel they work great. It is just a pain if you are trying to coil them up loose.

Reply to
gfretwell

You never have any trouble coiling up a length of hose when you use a six foot diameter coilform. Keeps the hose a lot happier, and it makes it a lot handier when it comes time to use the hose, too.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Danniken

IMO, yes, it is better, but after 15 years it may be deteriorating. If you want the best possible hose reel, go to

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After curing every other type for years, I spent the money and have never been happier using the hoses and being able to re-wind it easily. .

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Good hoses are still available. They just cost more. Most people do not understand the principles behind coiling. Hose is like wire rope. It will coil, but it doesn't twist very much. Lay out a stretch of steel wire, and you notice that if you turn one end, the other end turns the same amount. Weaker things will spin a couple of times before the other end starts to move. Over time, this bending develops a memory in the tube, and then it becomes harder to straighten it out.

Figure eight'ing hose will allow storage without twisting. A coil method of one coil one way, and the next reversed works great, but few can master it. You can properly coil wire rope using this technique, then pull it all out straight without a spiral in it. Same for hose.

As for using reels ............ lots of variables. Hoses go onto reels much differently if they are pressurized than if not pressurized. Some hoses are weak, and will flatten when rolled up on a reel, and others won't. Then there's unreeling. Have you left it full of water, and now it has frozen? Did you reel it up right and even? Reels work pretty good, and there's all grades, some even with level wind mechanisms.

But knowing the principles of the whole thing help to gain predictable results.

HTH

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

I recently replaced two old plastic 50' hoses with two 50' rubber hoses I bought at Lowes. These new hoses have not kinked, so far.

I found if I coiled the old plastic hoses while they were filled with water, they coiled much easier and never kinked. Once I had them coiled, I drained the water off.

My main complaint with the plastic hoses was that they deteriorated very fast in the hot Texas sun. The rubber hoses, so far, do not seem to be damaged by the sun.

Freckles

Reply to
Freckles

All brand new hose is prone to kinking. Hose needs to be broken in, so that it loses it's factory "memory" (from being tightly wound in its sale mode), with use it will become softer and more flexible (lower quality hose may never become soft and flexible, and in fact over time tends to harden). And when you say "roll them back up" do you mean on the ground or on a hose reel? Winding hose on the grond automatically causes hose to twist, whech will caue it to kink in use. It's best to use a hose reel, and still there is a proper way to wind hose on a reel.

Rubber hoses are not better, they're different... they're more abrasion resistant and can better withstand being constantly driven over... but they are less flexible and are much heavier to drag around than vinyl hose. Were I going to be using a hose mostly over a paved area and/or where there are sharp protruding objects like inside a factory building, and over reletively short distances I'd choose rubber... for garden and lawn areas I'd choose vinyl. Generally for home use vinyl hose is a better choice. For commercial use rubber hose is generally a better choice; rubber hose costs more but can withstand the rigors of hard use and abuse much better than vinyl.

Reply to
brooklyn1

Same thing I have said before. Sears sells a life time warranted rubber hose. If anything ever goes wrong with it you take it back and they give you a new one. They are heavier, but it is worth it for the fact that when you pull a kink in one all you have to do is untwist it and the kink goes away. They cost more, I paid about $35 for my 70 foot one, but since I won't ever have to buy a replacement for it it is well worth the price.

Bill

Reply to
BillGill

I agree. I bought a heavy duty 100' rubber hose from sears many years ago and it still kink-free and in great shape. I use on of those free standing reels with a big crank from one of the big home improvement stores. It works pretty well winding neatly and the hose is enclosed which helps it's lifespan.

I bought a few more 50' rubber hoses for the front yard and they are pretty good, but will kink on occasion. I attribute this to the crappy wall-mounted reel they are on more than the hose themselves. Once we get the furniture we are holding for my daughter out of the garage later this summer, I''' be able to put a better reel in the garage for these hoses.

Jon

Reply to
Zeppo

By far the best method to use.

One note though is that once a cable / hose / wire has been abused and kinked, it won't coil well no matter what technique you use.

Reply to
Pete C.

I have a black hose from Sears and it's way better than any of the green hoses I've owned. I also have a SideWinder hose reel. This combination works for me. You still have to make sure you don't kink the hose, but it's a small problem instead of a big problem.

Reply to
Ulysses

Keep the water pressure on when you coil it up.

Reply to
Hipupchuck

"BillGill" wrote in message news:M1m5m.45449$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe11.iad...

I find rubber hose much too heavy to drag around over lawns, especially with water in it... heavy rubber hose is meant for commercial applications, it will easily slide over paved areas but not lawn. I can buy 100' lengths of Swan brand 5/8" hose at Lowes at end of season for under $10. Since I live where winters are very cold I drain my hoses and store them reel and all in a barn. During warm weather my hoses are outdoors but the reels are set in a shaded area... sun is a killer of plastics and rubber. Always remember to close the bib valve and open the nozzle end before winding on the reel, leaving a hose under pressure greatly shortens its life... even with the supply turned off if the hose is filled and in the sun the water will expand and damage the hose, always leave the nozzle open while winding so that the hose drains... this also places much less stress on your hose reel, a filled hose is a lot heavier than one realizes. It's best to wind less hose than a reel's rating, by carring less weight the reel will last a lot longer, and so will the hose... the portion of hose at the core of the reel will crush, and if rarely used will be apt to harden and rot... for the rare times you need a longer hose it's better to simply screw on an extra length, then remove it when done. Most folks will have at least two lenghths of hose on a reel, it's a good idea to rotate the lengths each season. If you're short a hose bib it's better to connect a second reel with a "y" fitting and a length of rubber hose tucked into the foundation than to overload a reel with more hose. Never leave a hose lying stretched out in the sun, put it back on its reel directly after use... and wind neatly with no crossing, and wind loosely, if a hose is wound in a stretched mode it will be damaged, it will kink because stretching will give hose an oval cross section, and its life will be greatly shortened... bring your hose to the reel before winding rather than use the reel to drag the full length of hose across the ground; this will save your hose, your reel, and your arm. I like the heavy duty Swan brand hose, it's well made so it lasts a long time (and has a lifetime guarantee), and I especially like its solid machined brass couplings, formed brass is thinner and more prone to deform and therefore leak. Replace all hose gaskets each season, it's a lot cheaper to spend 10¢ on a new gasket than to over tighten and ruin the coupling... if you find yourself needing a pair of pliers to tighten hose couplings then you need new gaskets, hose couplings should only be hand tightened. Some people flip gaskets to use the other side but then they typically need tightening with pliers, false economy. Don't buy too many hose gaskets in advance, they will harden with age and become useless.

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I live near the world's leading reel company but I think their garden hose reels are just too pricey for home use.

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Reply to
brooklyn1

Never saw them before. Look good but pricey at $339. A couple of years ago I went with

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Not cheap either, but works great. Hose does not kink and unwinds and winds easily. The one I have was $179 but they do have less expensive models.

Don't waste your money on the $30 plastic jobs at the big box stores.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I'd rather use those plastic jobs. They last > 5 years. The cost of a $180 model will never be recouped. I have better places to put $150.

Reply to
AZ Nomad

Everything is being made cheaper except for prices. I bought three of those plastic hose reels at Lowes 7 years ago for $20 each and they're still going strong. I bought a similar one for my tenant a little over a year ago that cost $30 and it cracked after a year... it's still usable but it won't last much longer... the plastic is less than half the thickness of my older ones. $339 is way too much, but so is $179... I don't think a decent quality homeowner type hose reel should cost more than $50.

Reply to
brooklyn1

Good for you. IMO, the plastic jobs are crap, aggravating to use, and don't last more than a year or two. I'm willing to pay for convenience and quality. I can wind my hose up in seconds and smoothly, something a plastic reel never could achieve. We have choices, mine differs from yours.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Problem with the el-cheapo Wal-Mart/Home-Depot/Costco hoses (yes, even Costco sells these piece of crap hoses) is that it is so very easy to kink them. And as many here have pointed out, once it kinks, it will keep kinking in the same place. I have several of them that I keep on the ground in my garden - I don't coil them up when done, they stay in place where I need them and I just drag them around as needed. And the !@#$ things kink so easly I'm ready to throw the whole lot of them in the trash and go buy an industrial quality hose that I can use without kinking....

Reply to
Zootal

My epiphany came when I had a driveway put in. The company crushed my hose in front of the house. They bought me another. A Goodyear 1" black 75 footer with nice cast brass fittings. I tell you what, that hose was probably $50 or more. More than I would have ever spent. It's still going strong after five years, and doesn't look used. I've bought a couple since then, and there's just no comparison. With the money I've spent for shitty hoses, I could have good ones everywhere I have hoses. The end sprayers thread on so much better, and the hose bibb connectors don't leak, too.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

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