mother of all hose wheels

 In the design usage of the barn, I planned for one of the four bays to have a floor drain should I ever want to wash down a vehicle in the mid of winter. I don't plan to use it that much. Also it would be very convenient to be able to wash down the floor and squeege the water down the drain. I routed a 3/4" cold water line to that bay, which also allows the filling of fresh water into my compact motorhomes. When the chance presented itself for a 115 feet retractable hose wheel I jumped on one.

When reviewing the product detail before making the purchase decision it didn't really sink into the mind how big a 115 feet hose wheel really is until you see and handling it in person. 115 feet of hose filled with water weighs considerable amount, and being retractable requires a fair amount of spring force and windings. It is naturally by Gardena as I learnt not to buy anything else.

due to the weight and size the packaging is very beat up

as it has a return window and I am far from ready to mount it at the intended location I need to check the recoiling mechanism

I rigged up this bench test

stretched out across three bays; it takes some force to pull out the hose

all pulled out except the last 3 turns

This hose wheel should not be operate in the hands of idiots. If you pulled out the hose considerable and let it go without ensuring the locking mechanism kicks in it will destroy itself. Likewise I never cease to be amazed with people whole bought Gardena's product and complain they are all made of plastic and they break them during the first few times of use.

Speaking of water, it is so nice to have water supply into the barn to do some cleanup.  This is bay 2 with the floor drain near the garage door end; bay 1 to the left is intended for Brunnhilde with the race car trailer in tow without the need to unload the car. All these were planned out in the beginning of the barn project.