Table of Contents
- View The Best Hose Reel Below
- 1. DeWalt Manual Hose Reel
- 2. Giraffe Metal Hose Reel
- 3. Woods E103 Wheel
- 4. Eley Wall-Mount Garden Hose Reel
- 5. 80720 Auto Rewind Retractable Reel
- 6. TACKLIFE Hybrid Hose Reel
- 7. Eley Portable Garden Hose Reel Cart
- 8. Strongway Parallel or Perpendicular Wall-Mount Garden Hose Reel
- 9. Expandable Garden Hose with Hose Reel
- 10. Liberty Garden 710 Navigator Rotating Garden Hose Reel
- Hose Reel Buyer’s Guide
Hose reels are the best way to keep a garden hose contained and out of the way while still keeping it ready to use at a moment’s notice, compacting its length into a single area without the risk of tangles, snags or harsh angles that can damage any of the material.
However, you might think that choosing a hose reel is easy: in reality, there are just as many hose reels as there are hoses, each with their own specifications, features, and designs that can alter how they are supposed to work. Even a small difference in the size of the reel can make it suitable for different situations, and protecting your garden hose becomes much easier when you are using a garden hose reel that can support it properly.
Here are ten of the best hose reel options available at the moment, as well as details on why they are worth picking up and what makes them so good.
View The Best Hose Reel Below
1. DeWalt Manual Hose Reel
This manual garden hose reel uses a quick-release pin lock system to let you quickly attach it to any work surface, wall, or another solid object as needed, either permanently or temporarily. The design allows for excellent bend restriction and tangle prevention while still being simple enough to make unwinding the hose easy, with a side handle that turns the entire upper body for easier handling.
Not only that, but it is resistant to oil, medium-cold temperatures, and kinks as well as minor forms of physical damage, keeping your garden hose much safer while also making sure that the components inside function as they are supposed to regardless of the weather.
Pros:
+ Damage-resistant design.
+ Very easy to use.
+ Smooth turning operation.
+ Includes its own hose.
+ Versatile and easy to mount.
Why We Liked It – This reel combines portability and effectiveness to give you a tool that is perfect for indoor workshops, holding your hose on whatever surface it is attached to with no significant issues.
2. Giraffe Metal Hose Reel
The metal, box-like design of this hose reel gives it plenty of extra durability and protection, offering enough weight to stay stable while also focusing on performance. The automatic tracking system helps distribute the hose evenly, and the double sealed aluminum construction prevents water leakages from both inside and outside the reel.
It can hold up to 130 feet of a regular 5/8-inch hose and resists cold temperatures much more effectively than plastic models, with an extremely low chance of corrosion, cracking, or rust. As an added bonus, it is also incredibly stylish, looking more like an ornament than a piece of gardening equipment.
Pros:
+ Extremely nice visual design.
+ Durable, tough metal outer construction.
+ Water-sealed with aluminum.
+ Resists cold weather well.
+ Rust, crack, freeze and corrosion-resistant.
Why We Liked It – If you want a reliable garden hose reel that doesn’t stick out in your otherwise ornate and carefully planned garden, this might be one of the best options on the market for you.
3. Woods E103 Wheel
This simple hose reel doesn’t need to be mounted anywhere to work, acting as a portable method of carrying or storing a hose in various places with no risk of tangling. It can hold up to 150 feet of 16/3 gauge hose cord and allows for quick unwinding whenever you need it, allowing you to have your hose ready to use at a moment’s notice.
It also works with other cables, meaning that it comes fully equipped to hold power cables, rope, and other extension cords. This general-purpose design means that it is also very user-friendly, with the winding and unwinding process using nothing more than a side-mounted handle.
Pros:
+ Extremely easy to use.
+ Perfect for hose lengths, cables, etc.
+ Works well both indoors and outdoors.
+ Prevents hose tangling.
+ Very lightweight.
Why We Liked It – This hose reel is designed specifically for maximum portability and minimum weight, making it good for on-the-go uses or larger spaces where a hose might be needed almost anywhere.
4. Eley Wall-Mount Garden Hose Reel
This tough and durable diecast aluminum metal garden hose reel is painted with bronze powder for an improved finish, adding to its already excellent design. Its shape allows it to be mounted either parallel or perpendicular to the wall surface, and it can be set up to work either right-handed or left-handed with no need to change much about how it operates.
Once in place, it offers a heavy-duty and easy to use mount design that can help you store your hose for longer periods of time. Even better, since the entire body is metal, it is generally more durable than most plastic options while keeping the same level of versatility.
Pros:
+ Extremely durable design.
+ Easy to adjust for left/right-handed use.
+ Simple setup.
+ Heavy-duty construction.
+ Can be installed in multiple ways.
Why We Liked It – This garden hose reel gives you a mixture of simplicity and durability that makes it perfect for use in almost any location, even emergencies.
5. 80720 Auto Rewind Retractable Reel
This garden hose reel has an automatic rewind system that makes it much easier to return the hose to its storage position, holding up to fifty feet of hose at once and drawing it back in with very little effort from the user.
The reel itself can be mounted onto any surface, even ceilings, and uses a covered-up alloy steel spring that can last a lot longer than most. Thanks to the four separate non-snag rollers, it also puts less wear and tear on the hose itself, ensuring that it will still be ready to use at a moment’s notice no matter how often it is being rolled out.
Pros:
+ Long-lasting spring design.
+ Reduced hose wear.
+ Reliable, precision-machined design.
+ Can hold up to 50 feet of hose.
+ Auto-rewind feature.
Why We Liked It – The added convenience of this hose reel makes it an excellent option for anybody who doesn’t want to manually handle their garden hose every single time they need to wind it back up.
6. TACKLIFE Hybrid Hose Reel
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This lockable garden hose reel works really well as a tool for limiting how much hose you use, keeping it at a certain length until you need more of it. The auto-retraction system can be activated with a slight tug, pulling the hose right back into the reel without any risk of it getting jammed or snagging on itself.
Not only that, but you can also mount the reel onto walls or other angled surfaces without making this retraction system any less effective, giving you an easy way to water open spaces and still retain all the benefits of a good retractable hose reel design. The hose it comes with also has multiple nozzle options to quick-start your gardening experience.
Pros:
+ Great for first-time users.
+ Comes with extra nozzle options.
+ Lockable length system.
+ Easy-to-activate automatic retraction.
+ Versatile mounting design.
Why We Liked It – This retractable hose reel gives you a range of useful features that can come in handy for larger gardens, especially if you are new to using a hose reel in general.
7. Eley Portable Garden Hose Reel Cart
This portable hose cart is a wheel-mounted version of the original wall mount hose reel, offering the same high level of durability and effectiveness while also adding mobility features. Flat 10-inch tread tires give you good grip and stability on most surfaces while still offering enough grip to make rewinding easier, and the built-in braking system is good for locking it in place when needed. Thanks to the balanced spread of materials and comfortable pushing handles, moving it is very easy and doesn’t force you to lift it off the ground or put all the weight on one area of your body.
Pros:
+ Very easy to move.
+ Long-lasting construction.
+ Easy to rewind.
+ Stable wheels and frame.
+ Comfortable grip style.
Why We Liked It – The portable design of this garden hose reel makes it ideal for larger spaces where mobility and portability are key.
8. Strongway Parallel or Perpendicular Wall-Mount Garden Hose Reel
This wall-mounted hose reel can be attached to a surface at either parallel or perpendicular angles, giving you more control over how it is installed and how it can be used. The powder-coated design is much more durable than you might expect, letting the reel resist plenty of threats and sources of damage without issue.
You can set it up to work either left-handed or right-handed without the need for custom parts or extra tools, and the brass fittings mean that it will be attached to its mounting point very firmly. At 150 PSI, it is compatible with all standard garden hose types and can hold up to 150 feet of 5/8-inch hose.
Pros:
+ Very easy to set up.
+ Durable steel and powder-coated construction.
+ Uses tough and durable brass fittings.
+ Makes hose management much easier.
+ Allows for left or right-handed installation.
Why We Liked It – This is another garden hose reel that is perfect for its role, giving you plenty of control over where (and how) it is installed for maximum convenience.
9. Expandable Garden Hose with Hose Reel
The hassle-free design of this portable hose reel allows for quick and easy hose releases, helping you get the best garden hose coverage possible in very little time. The reel comes with strong brass fittings to help you fit it to any wall, and includes an expandable hose that is purpose-built for this particular reel design.
Not only that, but the design of the reel comes with a carrying handle, meaning that it can be used as a portable product if needed. It acts as a replacement for backpacks or bags, keeping the same level of weight and size while giving you a much more convenient and snag-free way to store your hose.
Pros:
+ Compact and portable.
+ Comes with a ready-to-use hose.
+ Mounts with strong brass fittings.
+ Rust-resistant design.
+ Very easy to handle.
Why We Liked It – This may be one of the best garden hose carrying options for people who are used to just using a backpack or carrying bag for their hose.
This stylish and classic-looking hose reel uses a well-made 18-gauge steel body that can provide much better durability and weather resistance, all while being more visually appealing than most other garden hose reel options.
The brass swivel system and easy-to-use crank handle mean that you can let the house out at any time, with effortless unwinding and four different locking positions for easier use in awkward areas. Even better, it comes fully assembled and can be mounted in almost no time, using a straightforward wall mount system that doesn’t require any extra tools or niche methods to handle correctly.
Pros:
+ Classic, stylish design and shape.
+ Simple mounting system.
+ Allows for very easy unwinding.
+ Comes fully assembled.
+ Can rotate and lock for extra adjustments.
Why We Liked It – Not only is this hose reel stylish, but it is much more convenient than many other hose reels, using its shape to its advantage and giving you more options to work with.
Hose Reel Buyer’s Guide
Every hose reel comes with different features and a unique design, even if the differences between it and another hose reel are so tiny that you barely notice them. Everything can make a difference, even something as small as a different set of materials used for the inner reel or the amount of hose that it can actually hold. Understanding what to look for, as well as what you might personally want or need, makes it a lot easier to figure out what the best hose reel options for you would be.
Mounted vs. Portable
For a lot of people, wall mounted garden hose reels are some of the most useful since they provide a stable and reliable place for you to hold your hose when it is not in use. However, other people prefer portable ones that don’t need to be wall mounted or attached to any surface. Both are useful in their own ways, but they also have their own flaws, so each person will have their own ideal option or preference depending on what they are actually expecting to deal with in the future.
Portable
In larger gardens, it might make more sense to have a portable option if your hose isn’t long. If a wall-mounted hose would only reach 50 feet into a garden that is 100 feet big, you obviously won’t be able to cover it all effectively, whereas having a portable reel (or hose reel cart) means that you can move the hose around freely and use it wherever it is needed. This is also really useful for gardens that might extend around the entire outside of a building since a hose mounted on a wall on one side might not reach around to the other side.
Wall Mounted
In their defense, though, wall mounted garden hose reels are also much more secure and stable. Using a wall mount can prevent your hose from being misplaced or lost, and they are much less likely to get left in places where they can be easily damaged since they are not getting moved around much.
The added strength of being wall mounted also means that you can usually support a larger hose: you might be able to fit 125 feet of 5/8 inch hose onto one wall mounted garden hose reel, whereas a portable one might struggle to hold that much while remaining lightweight.
Durability
Like any gardening product, your hose reel is usually going to spend a lot of time outdoors. Whether they are mounted on a wall or a free-standing product, you are eventually going to run into wear and tear issues, either from the weather or just because of frequent use – while there is no such thing as an invincible hose reel, you can find ones that are much more durable than others. A good set of materials can make any product move closer to the top of its market if it has been constructed properly, so don’t forget to look into the materials used by the garden hose reels you are considering purchasing.
Materials
Materials like steel, aluminum, and other metals or alloys are almost always more durable than plastic, with the downside of being heavier. This might not matter much in a small retractable hose reel, especially reels that are mounted onto a wall or don’t carry that much hose, but larger hose reels can start to get tedious to use if they weight too much. .
The more weight you are dealing with, the harder it gets to move a portable option around. This also matters for a wall mounted hose reel since they will need increasingly more stable mounting options if you want to stop them from falling off the surface they are connected to.
Situations
Remember that the best hose reel comes down to what you need, so durability isn’t always going to be the key. If you need something lightweight and easy to move that is fully assembled and ready to go straight away, then a product made of light plastic can still work in your favor. A good compromise can be powder coated designs: any material that is powder coated in the right way can be made more durable, and powder coated metal specifically is one of the best ways to get a durable hose reel that isn’t as heavy as you might expect.
Hose Length
Of course, the hose length matters too. All reel designs can only support a certain amount of hose, and this will vary depending on the thickness of the hose being used. A reel that supports 125 feet of 5/8 inch hose won’t necessarily also support 125 of another hose size so staying aware of what you are actually being shown and given matters a lot. If you already own a hose, link it back to the reels you are buying and try to figure out if they are compatible. If you don’t, you can often get hose reels that include related hose options too.
Buyers Guide Questions
What is the best garden hose on the market?
It is impossible to point to one of the hose reels or hose options on the market and say that it is the best in every situation. Each brand has its own type of hosereel designs and product options, and there is no guarantee that they will have the same set of features.
For example, the Liberty Garden hose reel mentioned in this list has options not seen in many other reels, including 18-gauge steel construction and lockable positions. However, the real draw of the Liberty Garden product is its visual style: many Liberty Garden products are meant to look as attractive and appealing as possible, so their reels boast this as a feature as well. You can break down any brand in a similar way to get an idea of what their “gimmick” or “unique selling point” will be, which can make it easier to find hose reels that offer features or changes you want.
How do I wind a hose onto a reel?
There are usually two ways to wind the hose into hose reels. The first is automatic rewind, activated with either a small tug or a button press depending on the system used: this pulls the hose back onto the reel slowly, automatically returning the hose reels to their ‘prepared to use’ state. The other is manual and usually involves turning a crank or other rotating handle to wind it back in through the rotation of the reels themselves.
Keep in mind that you often have to work around a leader hose too. These can sometimes come with the hose reels in place of a full-sized hose: a leader hose acts as a midpoint between the water source and the proper hose, so having a decent leader hose can be very important when you are choosing garden hose reels. After all, you want a leader hose that is compatible with not only the main hose but the winding system as well.
Expert Tip:
Most garden tools are going to be designed for specific weather types. The best hose reels for your situation will be whichever ones can work well in average weather, so don’t consider extreme weather to be ‘the standard’ unless it is very common in your area.
Did You Know?
Hose reels are also really important for anti-fire systems and firefighting purposes, keeping the kinks and bends out of emergency hose designs. Reels aren’t just useful in the garden!
Conclusion
If you are still looking for the top garden hose storage reel for your needs, don’t worry about taking your time and looking for something that will fit you better! The last thing you want is to pay top dollar for a garden hose accessory that doesn’t do its job properly, especially if it ends up making things less convenient for you.
The reviews above might not make it into your personal top ten garden reels, but they can be a good way to start your search off on the right food: Amazon.com has plenty of other options, so you can take a look at the related products or explore the pages of the companies that produced the reels shown in these reviews. Whatever you choose, make sure it is the best hose reel for you, because you never know when you might need to use it!
