Hose reels,whats good, whats bad

[MudDuck 20]

I'm in the process of engineering a rig set up. Think I want 200' reel. Should I go longer or is that just over kill? ( house wash, roofs, decks) Are the stainless really that much better? Do I need the 360 swivel, electric rewind? I know there are pro's and con's to anything but what is a good set up, size, brands, models to stay away from etc.. (pm if you don't want to bad mouth anything in public) I don't need the super duper last forever highest end model because I'm sure I'll upgrade rig set ups in a few years anyway. Or do I? I've been researching but I want to get what works well in front of the, "wished I'd know that", learning curve. Are they bad to rust out? Set up will be in the back of truck or on trailor.

Thanks for any imput or ideas in advace. Pics would be nice too for set up ideas.

[Apple Roof Cleaning 202]

WHAT are ya gonna run through it, water or chemicakls, and what kind, and how strong the chems ?

[Greg R 82]

Rapid Reels have long been my favorite. I used to buy the trees to stack them but they discontinued them. Now we weld up our own :)

Cox reels are probably the worst that we've encountered. We're constantly replacing the seals and they get bent up easily. I have a Titan stainless but I would sooner buy a Rapid Reel 4000 series. Just My 2 Cents

We've been running the same chem reel (a RR 4000 series) for 4 years with stripper and brighter running through it numerous times DAILY and it's still cranking out the work. They are just awesome IMO.

Edited June 11, 2008 by Greg R

[Greg R 82]

Here's one set of reels in one of our E250 Cargos. We welded up the tree as I said but it saves alot of space and they easily coil on 200' of hose.

[Scott Stone 604]

That is funny, I had terrible luck with Rapid Reels and great luck with Cox reels. You just cannot buy the bottom line cox reel and you need to specify what you are using them for, because they will sell you a different swivel. I prefer Cox.

[MudDuck 20]

WHAT are ya gonna run through it, water or chemicakls, and what kind, and how strong the chems ?

Im ordering a Delavan systm to do roofs ( would you recomend the 1/2" or the 3/8"? ) but I'm x jetting now and think Im going to set up a down streamer on the rig so it will have chems running. 12.5 sh with simple cherry. Could be stronger stuff too. I'm doing house washing and roofs as well as deck work so stripper could be in the mix, up to F18. Probly continue to x jet the stripper though. Need one for Water hose.

Edited June 11, 2008 by MudDuck

[Douglas Hicks 128]

I have purchased 4 reels. The first 2 were Cox, about 9 years ago. One failed last year, the other is still going strong. Next reel will be a Cox.

I find the swivels leak, no matter what brand of swivel. the Cox has a better reel hold feature than others.

[Joe Ortiz 14]

Cox rees are killer,cant go wrong have 3 ofem

[MudDuck 20]

Thanks guys for all the imput. Should have set this up as a poll I guess. Would like to have more imput than 4 post with 135 views. Hmmm...

Joe you might want to fill out your signature that shows who you are, ie what is at the bottom of everyones post, Company name and all. I think it's required.

Edited June 12, 2008 by MudDuck

[Greg R 82]

As they say... opinions are like .. well.... anyway everyone has one :). For me personally I've never rebuilt our Rapid Reel Swivels from day one as they've never leaked and some are 4 years old. I've rebuilt my 1 year Cox reels (2 of three) twice now since last fall. They were spec'd for well beyond what we use them for.

Appearantly I just got the sh*tty reels :)