Liberty Garden Products 703-2 Multi-Purpose Steel Garden Wall/Floor Mount Hose Reel, Tan Poly

If you're even Remotely handy, you can turn this reel into a quality product. It's great value for the money. I have one in my back yard, and am going to buy two more soon.Mine had zero issues it's first year. It was a game changer. Going into my second year, after leaving it exposed in a harsh winter, it had significant leaks.For about $20 I replaced the swivel piece with a Hourleey Garden Hose Swivel Adapter, added some fresh rubber hose washers, added a few wraps of thread tape, a few squirts of WD40 silicone lube to hydrate the rubber o rings in the swivel, and I have had zero leaks all day long. I left the hose pressurized all year last year, I'll do it again this year.I expect to replace all the rubber next year as well, but that's expected for anything with rubber seals being stored outside in the sun being abused.As far as the rust goes.... It's metal. It's going to rust. Buy something that's plastic or fork over for a reel that's six times the price made of high grade metals and finishes if you're concerned about rust.

For the past few years, every spring I'd buy one of these suncast 175' mobile garden hose reel pos' and every year after a couple of months of light use the thing would start coming apart like the death star in empire strikes back. I live in texas so that's only about a 1/3 of the summer.So this year I ordered this guy and it's great. Solid, smooth, made of metal. Really, comparatively, a nice thing. I followed a couple of tips I found in the review here. I added a 16x16x2 cement paver from HD for about $4 and the hose attachment extension for a few bucks more.Also people on here were complaining about rust. I don't care. Rust away, as long as it doesn't disintegrate into a pile of worthless plastic pieces. Plus, cars have been rusting in this country for 100 years. Sand it paint it get over. Jeez. Anyway, I had some left over caulk from a bathroom job so I filled some of the seems that were not so tight.Here's how the cement block went. I gathered the following ingredients1) 16x16x2 cement paver1) 3/16" cement drill bit ( I don't have a hammer drill and you don't really need one for this ) the one I got was called Bosh Multi-Purpose Tungsten Carbide Drill Bit for Drilling Tile, Masonry, Wood, Metal and Concrete4) 1/4" X 1-1/4" concrete anchors. The ones I got were Tapcon 1/4 in. x 1-1/4 in. Hex-Washer-Head Concrete Anchors4) washersa can of air1/4 in driverNotice the blue tape on the drill bit. Mark the depth of the screw so you don't drill all the way through the paver. When you are done drilling blow out the holes. Move your face or you'll end up with eyeballs full of cement dust. You must blow out the holes or the screws wont sink to the correct depth. Use the driver to drive the screw and washer in and you're done.For the hose extension,1) pipe wrench1) thing of plumbers silicone tape1) 1/2" x 3" galvanized pipe nipple1) 1/2" "street elbow" just means it's a 90 with one male end and one female end1) 1/2" 90 female femaleRemove the brass fitting from between the wheel and the housing. Wrap all threads in plumbers silicone tape. Screw in the pipe nipple first, tighten with pipe wrench. Then add one the 90's, then the other ( order kind of matters but you'll figure it out ). Add the brass fitting and your done.The only WARNING is this, because of a kind of crappy design flaw, the thing only works wrapping the hose in one direction. The handle just screws in so when you try winding it up the wrong way, the handle just unscrews and comes off. :). So make sure and point your hose extension in the correct direction so you can reel it in the correct direction.

So after reading quite a few reviews on this I ordered it. The reel is a pretty stout and I am happy with how it works. Ordered on Saturday received on Tuesday. Shipped from NC.Some reviewers complained of the way the hose comes over the rail from the feed but I did not have any issues with this. I spiraled the hose about half way around the spool to the outer edge and then came through the spokes under the outer rail then made at least two turns to descend to the center drum level and fastened it with tie wraps to the outer ring and the spokes where needed. A new hose works best for this.I read other older reviews of water getting in the outer tubing and the center of the drum through holes left by the manufacturer. They listened to this and my reel did not have any holes in the rings or drum and all welds on the spokes are wrapped 100% around. I hade some 3M 5200 adhesive sealant in my box of tricks and sealed the center drum to the wheels on each end and the seam of the drum with the 5200. These areas were about 90% filled with paint but I could see some areas that looked like water could seep in.The reel took 145 ft. of hose and there is room for at least 55 more ft. so the 200 ft. advertised is plausible.I had a drip every two minutes leak on the drum end of the T but it looks like I may have loosened this connection when assembling the hose and it stopped when I firmly tightened it by hand. The instructions with my unit show how to replace the "O" rings in the swivel connector.My only issue was that when assembled the handle nut hit the side support arm stopping the rotation . It is hard to tell if the handle may have been bent a little in shipping but it looks like it may have been welded a little crooked. After mounting it to the wall I slid a rag and a piece of pipe over it and gave it a tweak that resolved the issue.The reel turns true when taking in hose and dispenses hose without much if any runaway, that I had anticipated it would have, when you stop pulling hose off.I would have given this 5 stars if not for the bent handle and the sealing (not sure what the manufacturer could do for this as 100% weld is probably not an option) I am not anticipating having rust issues from water entrapment now. BTW I could hear debris inside the drum that may be metal filings and they would add to rusty water draining pretty soon after they got wet.Most posts from those that don't want it made in China are 2 or more years old and all I can say is better get used to it. This reel would be way more expensive IF you could find one made in the US.I would purchase from Liberty again.Happy REELING