Suncast 225 ft. Swivel Hideaway Hose Reel with Hose Guide and Crank Handle, Mocha/Taupe

this is a great addition to anyone who uses their hose often like we do, from washing vehicles to gardening. the selling feature for me was the swivel base design. I would offer this advice when setting this up, use plumbers tape and a wrench to make sure the fittings are extremely tight, this will avoid problems down the road with leaks and damage to hose connectors.

Ready to use. It was easy to set up the hose on this reel. Product worked as designed.

I'm fairly happy with this hose reel. I have a heavy 100' "contractor-grade" hose from one of the big-box stores and it fits easily. Winding is not hard but it does take a bit of elbow grease, especially for longer hoses. I have a few tips if you decide to buy it: 1. When mine arrived, one of the plastic hinges on the cover had become separated and the cover was flapping around. I noticed that there was a white plastic pin holding one side in, but this was missing on the other side. I called customer service... they must get this call a lot. The woman told me that the current design only uses a single pin, and if you force the other hinge back together, the pressure will hold it tight. Still she offered to send me out a second pin at no charge, just for peace of mind. I was happy with the response. 2. As some other reviewers have said, if you use it on a hard surface and are unable to stake or otherwise attach it, it will slide around as you're playing out the hose. The book recommends using masonry screws to attach it but I don't feel like drilling into my driveway. Just be ready for it to travel and keep an eye on the leader hose. One of the other reviews mentioned that you can lock the base so it doesn't swivel and this can help with positioning, but I haven't found any way to do this. 3. The washer that comes with the leader hose is not very good and mine dripped no matter how much I tightened it. I replaced the washer with a thicker rubber washer I had from an old hose and added a bit of teflon tape and now it's fine. I don't recommend disconnecting the leader hose except to bring the whole thing inside at the end of the season. If you want to use your spigot for other things, get a Y-style splitter so the leader hose can always be connected. 4. When rolling the hose for the first time, I recommend laying the hose out completely straight on the ground first and getting all of the kinks out. If the hose has no kinks when you start then it will roll without kinks. If you let the hose twist and kink as you're rolling it, then it will roll this way and your water pressure will be greatly reduced if there's a hidden kink somewhere on the roll. 5. When re-rolling the hose after use, make sure the end is open. If you have a sprayer attachment on your hose, either remove it or lock it in the open position. The hose will compress while rolling, forcing out a lot of the residual water, and this water needs someplace to go! Given that some of the other hose reels are three or four times the price, I don't regret this purchase at all; just remember that a few extra steps on your part will get it working at its best.

Neat and Practical Hose Reel for a Tidy Yard I’ve been using the Suncast 225 ft. Swivel Hideaway Hose Reel, and it has made keeping the yard organized much easier. The mocha/taupe color blends in nicely with the patio and doesn’t stand out like some bulkier hose reels. The swivel feature is very handy—it lets the reel pivot as I walk across the lawn with the hose, so it doesn’t tug or kink. The hose guide helps keep everything winding evenly on the reel, and the crank handle is smooth and easy to use. Assembly was straightforward, and once set up, it feels sturdy enough for regular use. I like that it holds up to 225 feet of hose, which is more than enough for my yard, and it keeps everything out of sight when not in use. One thing to note: make sure to anchor it on a flat surface because the weight of a full hose can shift it around if it’s not stable. Bottom line: A well-designed, easy-to-use hose reel that keeps the yard looking neat and makes watering more convenient.

We had been looking for some time for a hose reel which is practical, easy to use and blend in with the landscaping details and design outside our home. This was a fabulous find, especially as no assembly was required! We’ve now had it outside through the entire summer and love how easily it accommodates a long hose that’s used often without tangling. It’s both sturdy and attractive and doesn’t scream “utilitarian hose reel”. This is really well constructed and will last a long time…a terrific value we highly recommend.

This hose reel is NOT automatic, it is a manual reel that uses man power to rewind. The description states it was automatic which we were trying to replace. Automatic reeling requires the user to simply move a lever and the reel rewinds itself. We did keep this reel despite this disappointment and misrepresentation simply because of lack of communication between my spouse and I. He thought this was what I had wanted when he set it up and to return it would've been annoying. It does wind nicely, the guide moves the house smoothly to prevent overlaps and jams. The swivel is really non-existent. I had hoped it would swivel easily as needed when unraveling the house, but it does not. You just drag the whole box to turn. Technically, you can swivel it if you are right there to turn it forcefully. Bottom line is the swivel sounds nice but doesn't function like one would hope. Overall, stars removed because of the implied ease of functions verses the reality. It is sturdy though and not as ugly as others so 3 stars seems fair.

I am very disappointed in the design of this unit. There are several flaws that you ought to know about before purchasing this product. I really didn't think you could go wrong with a Suncast unit, but I am faced with buying something else and donating this to my local thrift store. 1 - The unit comes with stakes to hold it from falling forward when you pull the hose. Depending on the soil you have, these stakes pull right out of the ground when you pull on the hose to unwind the reel. The unit flops forward and then you have to stand it back up again - over and over and over - again. 2 - The hose is wet after you use it... you wind it back up and moisture gathers on the inside of this unit. There are certain types of animals that just love that moisture. Less than 10 days after purchasing this unit, I found a copper head on the inside of the unit. It's dark, moist, and protected from the elements. Great spot for frogs and lizards as well. 3 - I used to have a unit similar to the Suncast HRC200 Hosemobile. When I wound the hose, I could step on the bottom rung of the unit with my foot giving me some tight leverage to turn the well and wind up the hose. This unit has nothing to step on, so when you go to wind that wheel, good luck trying to get this thing from wiggling all over the place. 4 - The way it winds up... The wheel on the inside has grooves in it so that the hose is forced to wind up going back and forth in a pattern. Only sometimes does this actually work correctly, and I am finding myself constantly "stuck" trying to force the hose to unwind or trying to wiggle the hose back into the correct location. I was very disappointed with this purchase and would not recommend this unit for the above reasons.

Swivel bottom. Much larger than my other one, that I bought 20 years ago, and it stayed outside all that time! I covered it with a black bag every winter. And it lived under the deck. Very much worth the money. I love it!!