On a small scale a powered hose reel has tempted me. The hand crank stuff is more trouble than just looping the hose over a wall hanger. Although a wall hanger is not always possible because of location. The trouble with hose reels is that you still have to un-reel the hose just to do anything. Usually when I go pulling on the hose the reel falls over and I get frustrated. That being said, if I didn't have 600 ft of hose like I now use, I think I would buy the one with the water motor and try it. Keep the receipt though for possible returns if it's not worth it.

I have two wheelbarrows. One is a metal one with one wheel up front. It is very old and I occasionally use it but not for loads that are heavy or awkward. The second, and most often used is a fibreglass(heavy duty) wheelbarrow with two wheels up front. It came from Sam's Club and I paid about $50 for it many years ago. It just keeps on working with no quality problems. If it ever fails, I will head for Sam's Club and hope they are not out of them. If they are, I will find another two wheeler somewhere else. Another option is one of the two wheeled, wooden garden carts. I bought mine 35 years ago and it has finally worn out. I learned too late that the bed can be easily lined with sheet metal which would extend the life of that bed for many extra years of service. This has been one of those few things in life that we buy and that are really worth the money. It will haul 400 lbs. and larger items than a wheelbarrow. Mine is the largest with 26' wheels and I intend to buy another to replace the one that is failing. The purchase of a new one is not urgent immediately because the Sam's Club wheelbarrow handles most of my needs but the wheelbarrow will not handle as many concrete blocks, multiple large bags of fertilizer etc. at one time as will the wooden garden cart. The best hoses for me have been the really well built and heavy ones. Mine have come from Sears and other places. They do not seem to fail and often have life time guaratees if you keep the paperwork (I do not).

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum, and I'm not sure if this is the right spot to post this, but I'd really love someone's help on the subject. I have an old Ames Reel Easy poly garden hose reel and I'm curious about the water pipe inside the reel. It has three outlets, and I don't understand why. One is a tube that goes out to the short connector hose. One I would assume connects to the hose that winds around the reel, but what is the third connection for? Here's a reference: http://www.homehardware.ca/products/300/50420361.jpg I ask because my reel has sat in my garage for a long time now, unused, because it leaks badly. I think it's because something on this piece broke. On the picture referenced above, the bottom right connection has a little piece missing from the plastic connector, but it doesn't seem enough to cause a leak. But why is this connection even there? What connects to it? It seems to me that if nothing connects to it, the water just pours out through it and that's what's happening in my case. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, -Dave Here is a link that might be useful:

I have two small and two large reel to reel tapes, unlabeled. I think they are audio. I think I know what they are but not sure. Has anyone here had a good experience with transferring reel to reel tape to a digital format? A company that you have used that has done a good job?