8980 - Ecosei

Pretty easy to assemble, just employ common sense before you build it, and check you have the correct orientation of parts before you push them together. If you build it properly it is really sturdy. Hose connectors work as expected, and don't leak. Make sure the connectors on your hose are fitted properly, also if they are old / have had a lot of use then they could leak. Wheels turn free and smoothly. Nice and light to move around. Wound on 30+ metres of double wall Hozelock hose without breaking a sweat. Handy clip on the handle to keep the hose end tidy. Decent quality black plastic, with lightly textured finish. Makes a nice change from the various shades of green or yellow offered by usual big brands / diy stores. I would buy this again, but it is sturdy enough not to worry about it.

Easy to put together if you are quite strong as the pieces click into place however I needed some help as I have arthritis. The product is sturdy and works very smoothly and I would recommend as the price is so competitive

The good points: the quality of the parts and the assembled reel are very good and the pictures on the box that you have to follow to assemble the parts are fairly easy to follow. Having said that, it was not obvious that, when inserting the two straight metal handle bars and the `U' shaped metal stand bar into their respective slots, you have to ensure that the holes in these metal bars engage with plastic tabs inside the slots. This ensures that the metal bars become fixed and not easily withdrawn. The not so good points: the low weight of the hose reel makes it difficult to keep it steady while rewinding the fairly substantial weight of 20-30 metres of hose. Also, the vertical handle bars on the reel tend to get in the way when doing the re-winding. I found the best way to keep the reel steady when rewinding was by keeping my foot on the metal `U' shaped stand bar. However, this means putting one hand through the vertical handle bars to guide the hose onto the reel. To rewind from the other side of the reel means having to bend over the vertical handle bars, which is a bit of a pain. Since the winding handle can be installed on either the left or right hand side of the reel, you may want to consider which side of the reel you will stand when rewinding the hose before deciding which side to install the handle.

This is our second Caber hose kit. We were impressed by the quality of the first hose, does not kink so much like other, thinner versions. Care needed with assembly. It is click together plastic. Unfortunately, I chose a cold day to assembled it and the plastic was brittle. Luckily no damage done but tricky and slight worries. I suggest you keep the kit in a warm room overnight before you assemble. The wheel axle was the hardest to insert and I had to resort to silicone lubricant to locate it. Mine now complete with 50m of Caber hose and connections.

Solid Hose reel. However the plastic connectors supplied are very week, and blow off when pressure applied through hose. I had to buy new brass fittings to ensure water pressure didn't leak. The handle could be longer too, had to walk stooped as its so short.

Very robust when assembled. Should last a long time. Easy to wheel around. Takes a good length of hose. NB. Clearer assembly instructions would be a benefit. A step is omitted from miniscule diagram. If you assemble it wrongly it is almost impossible to take apart to rectify error. Take care.

Looked good for the money when it arrived today, assembly was very straight forward. I wound up my hose onto it and used it a couple of times this morning, after the rest of the day sat in the garden I went to pull out the hose again only to find the the plastic reel has warped in the sun and fell apart as it fell over due to the fact the reel wouldn't turn. Do not buy if you use you hose in the garden in the summer !!!

I bought a hose reel from a supermarket (which wasn't cheap) thinking it would last - it broke within about 4-5 uses. I then found this one which had good reviews and its obvious why. Firstly, the quality of the black plastic on this is good. Sturdy when assembled and will withstand a fair amount of use without snapping. The metal bars are aluminium so this won't leave rust marks all over the place. All the connections are push-fit so no tools are needed when assembling and takes less than 10 minutes. I used a rubber mallet to knock the metal bars into the conncection clips. Follow the youtube video. You will need extra hose pipe connectors since they only include one with this. I'm very happy with this hose reel considering the price.