Replacement Backyard Hose Reel - ELEY 2-Wheel Hose Reel Cart
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
- Originally recorded May 11, 2024.
In an earlier video, "VINTAGE 1960s/1970s Weather-Matic Pop-Up Inground Sprinkler Head" (link below), my hose reel called it quits. The stub that was left to control the rewind feature broke off, the center popped out, and that was it.
That hose reel was Made In USA, all parts Made In USA as well. So many tout American-made as top quality, especially compared to China Pride. While that is true in some circumstances, the state of this country has gotten so bad that the USA "badge of honor" is basically meaningless. This hose reel lasted only 6 years. When the handle broke, I called up the company, they told me the product has been discontinued, and no parts are available. They also told me there is no successor, the entire line of water-powered automatic hose reels has been discontinued, citing environmental concerns. Now, they offer a battery-powered automatic hose reel. This USA-based company is now using CHINESE LITHIUM BATTERIES, and likely a Chinese motor to drive the new product. In case you weren't aware, Lithium batteries are a very dirty process to mine, with a huge impact to the environment, way way more than a gallon or so of water, clean, fresh water, dumped on the ground, where it might help vegetation to grow.
I am SORELY disappointed in this USA-made product, and this did it in for me. No more Made In USA products, because the marque is absolutely meaningless. Vintage products, however, are excepted.
Friend and fellow UA-camr@RollingTardis had told me that he has an ELEY brand hose reel, which happens to also be USA-made, and is pushing over 10 years old with absolutely no problems whatsoever. I had never heard of this company. Like many others, most of what you find in the big box stores is the typical plastic one you often find thrown out in the early spring, broken or leaking out of control.
Now I had purchased a Chinese hose reel cart for the front yard, and while great in the beginning, it started leaking profusely, and is turning into a rust bucket, with 4 flat tires. You might consider the dead one in the back to be a better deal since it lasted longer. However, obsoleting the product without any chance of repair simply isn't good business practice, nor does it retain customers. They have lost a customer for life. They also couldn't care LESS.
I needed to know more about this ELEY hose reel and did some research a few years ago. I found that the product was too expensive for its function, and my needs. I put it on the back burner.
It's time. I purchased the ELEY 2-Wheel hose cart. Since the time RollingTardis bought his, even those good old Midwestern boys shipped out to China. However, they do give a 10-year no-break, no-rust, no-leak guarantee. MY guarantee is they will indeed be making good on that warranty.
The hose reel requires assembly. Now I feel this company is very stuck up, charging the prices they do, and also exclaiming on their website that "assembly shouldn't stop you from buying". Well, actually, it should. For someone mechanically inclined like me, this wasn't a big deal. The instructions were TERRIBLE. It started with baby steps and immediately went into "full engine rebuild". I could see the average (especially Midwestern) homeowner, not mechanically inclined, start having a lot of trouble with this assembly, and having to call in reinforcements, and make a whole day out of it. FOR A HOSE REEL??? Come on! The instructions definitely need to be rewritten. For the price, they could include some high quality color pictures.
I got it together and complete. Hooked it up, only to find that my hoses leaked! I cannot blame that on the product. I can blame it on the previous hose reel, which kept the hose neatly in a box, with an open floor, so any leaks could go unnoticed and directly into the ground. The action of the hose reel and operation of it is very good. Not even close to being worth its price. At 2/3s the price, it's too much, but perhaps reasonable for what you get. I'd proceed with caution on this, and really consider your needs to see if it would be fully worth it for you.
The whole process left me in a very sour disposition. First the old one breaking, then having to spend an inordinate amount of money for an American product that is made in China from a stuck-up company, horrific assembly, and then my hoses leak anyway.
Since the time of this recording, I have fixed the leak on one hose, and also purchased a mend kit. I've rewound the hose the other way. We'll see who wins on this warranty.
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It'll probably leak after 1 to 2 years. I like to go over when rolling things up.
If it doesm that warranty department is going to be getting a call so fast! Yep, agreed. Too much that day; I've since rewound it the other way, which I'll touch upon in a later video after the pool series.
If you are really concerned about the handle grips when i was racing bikes we would use hairspray when we replaced are handle grips to keep them from twisting off good luck on the new hose reel! I still have a wall unit that i have to manual coil up the hose!
Thanks for that--I remember now that you say it about the hairspray! The handles are just kind of there, I don't need to move it anywhere. You'd think for the price they could have included a spritz or two of hairspray!
Definitely an upgrade from what you previously had. The leak could just be from that hose you have connected. Time will tell.
I've gotten things worked out, will be seen after the pool series, or maybe, just maybe, you'll see it in person before then.
So, I bid best of longitivtiy to the China Pride Eley. It has a long road to match my USA made one.
Not as great as they once were. Really a shame when they cheap out that bad. And they still are priced out of the market as it is. They shipped out to China and are pocketing the difference. Hopefully their warranty won't make them go bankrupt.
@@jaykay18 One thing for sure, I got the better deal!
@@RollingTardis There's no question about that. I just bought a few items from Wally World that were refills for what I already had. In a year's time, one product increased in price 18%, another about 20%. That's great considering they said inflation slowed down to 4% last year. Sure. SURE it did.
I can't ever remember bob vila actually ever doing any work, he just got in the way of real work going on.
That hose reel cost is crazy as I had to look it up. They could have shipped that mostly assembled. Too many places want the customer to do free labor.
I almost thought about getting a hose reel a few times but decided I didn't mind coiling it up nicely on the ground instead.
Made in USA might have mattered pre-1990s. Now a days its all shit, including customer disservice.
You are correct, he mainly got in the way. I was using his name in a pejorative sense.
Assembly was ridiculous, way way too many parts and steps, this is definitely something that average homeowner who can barely operate a screwdriver will have trouble with. Especially with the awful instructions. As far as I see it, the company, and the owners are stuck up. The 3 brothers that own the company are easily worth millions of dollars. They probably have a nice executive office where they get to sit around and drink coffee all day and discuss when to raise prices next. They got a real chip on their shoulders, I can definitely say that, charging what they do.
At 2/3 the price it might be worth it but you really have to be into it. That said I would buy another one when needed, provided this one lasts the 10 years without issue. Though by then I am sure the quality will have slipped even more. I got tired of coiling the hose up on the ground so now I'm in this mess. It does operate well, much more smoothly that I expected.
I'd even give made in USA up to the year 2000, but that's being generous. Still, that was almost 25 years ago. How far we've regressed.
Aww, China hasn't sent you a free hose reel "for review"?
I've bought my garden hose from Aldi when it was on super sale there (had been there for weeks and was marked down to stupid low, I think like 5 bucks for a whole long hose with quick connect and some other accessories - so I bought the three sets that were left :D ). I don't have a hose reel yet, don't really need one as I have one of those wall-mounted "hose holders" in the garage.
Two weeks after buying this, they contacted me for a review of one! I replied and was still willing to test it out, but they never replied back, I send three replies, and if they don't answer, I move on.
I had a hose I bought I think at Big Lots some time ago, that I thought was pretty good, but over time it just got worse and worse and was no better, and often worse, than other hoses I had. I have 2 of them. One developed a leak at the male end so it has been relagated as the pool pump hose since it doesn't matter. The other one I ran around the yard and over to the pool (with an additional hose as an extension), and that one is still in operation.
The "purple garlic hose" in the back was an impulse buy just based on the color because it was unique. I had no need for it then, but now it's like a staple. When I water the plants now, I generally end up unraveling almost all of that hose to do so. So I didn't need it need it, but glad I have it.
Aldi recently had a coiled garden hose. I wasn't really interested in it. But the other day I was at Aldi and they still had 2 of them. They were of such small diameter and poor quality, that I couldn't see any potential use for it.
I still swear by those as-seen-on-TV "pocket hoses" that everyone hates because they burst. And that's simply because they were trying to use those hoses in the same manner as a regular hose. They are not designed for that in any way. They are meant for extremely light duty. If there are sharp edges on pavement or thorns on plants, they are a no-go. But when used infrequently for light duty stuff (as I often do before charging up the hose reels if I need water before then), they are certainly acceptable.
I have one of those wall mount hose hangers, probably vintage, in the garage. Maybe they used to use it back in the day here, I'd imagine before the house got sided. My father always had those. I never cared for them.
That looks like a ok garden hose. Definitely accessible over others like your old suncast or the hose reel up front. I know the front one has rusted and leaks at the swivel. Do you think this would do the same?
I believe this one is made of aluminum. The swivel's action is very smooth. Will the sun kill it? Yeah it's possible, and if so, I will INDEED make sure to cash in on that warranty. Especially soon before it's up.
How long was your hose?
Well over 200 feet.
American components russian components, all made in Taiwan(from the movie Armageddon). No quality and no pride. 10 year warranty but by then the product won't exist and they will discontinue support for it cause they upgraded it but hey it doesn't waste water rewinding the hose. How long before they ban washing machines that use water and come out with disposable clothes
Funny you mention that. RollingTardis says that the swivel thing you connect the hose to looks totally different on his. Yesterday I decided to look at a video they had on adjusting the brake. The video was lackluster like the instructions, but even in that video, that swivel piece looked different from mine and from his! So you are likely correct that it will be discontinued and they won't have parts. Although, it's designed to come out in that I had to install it while putting it together. So if the mount is the same, theoretically it should "bolt up" and be just fine, but look different.
I still love that, during COVID it was important to wash your hands for 20 seconds. "Yes, please leave the water running while washing your hands, go right ahead, use hot water if you want. Keep it on, keep washing, we got plenty of water to go around for everybody, no worries whatsoever." A GLOBAL pandemic. Huh, how about that?
They say the average person uses 100 gallons per day. Around here, water is a penny a gallon, so that's a dollar a day in water, or easily 30 bucks a month. Two people here, so that would then be 60. Mine, in non-summer months, is roughly 20. Somebody's math is wrong somewhere, and it ain't mine. The hard truth of the matter is there is way more water to go around per day, per person, than we actually need. And let's not forget it's renewable through natural processes. Of course you don't want to use every last drop every single day, but being that we have more than enough to go around, it's a non-issue, at least for right now. Considering the fact that the population is actually declining, that leaves more water per person, per day. More than we'd ever know what to do with. But god forbid we waste one gallon of water on the ground, the planet will end!