Gardena Roll-up 30 Retractable Hose Reel

Very poor quality product. Even replacement hose encasement have split. Company refusing to acknowledge issue even with photos as need original receipt of about 6 years ago. Show details

Poor bracket mounting method – Just installed the Gardena 30m retractable hose..Overall the product works well. Kink resistance is questionable. Mounting system needs to be redesigned.Either smaller plugs for the fastners supplied or larger fastners for the plugs supplied. Needed to insert blue plugs into plugs supplied to overcome bracket from detaching from wall.

Pipe twists – The Gardena pipe twists at first use. I also have an old product gv tools hose reel where the pipe is still firm. Why does this happen with gardena being a recommended product. I recently went to a plant nursery and noticed the quality of old Gardena hose reel with red pipe was way better to the current one. Attached pictures Show details

Convenient, Has Flaws, But Is Still Recommended – My mum purchased 4x of these for around the property because we love the retractable hose reels compared to hoses you have to manually wind up with your arm (saves time). We've had these for a few years now. I'll mention the pro's & con's objectively below. Pro's: 1) SAVES TIME - & is easy to pull out & retract. 2) HASN'T FALLEN APART AFTER 4… Read more

YEARS - of use so far in the hot NZ sun. We do use old towels on ours (strapped with heavy duty bungee cords) as a cover-alternative, so that could be why they've lasted so long so far. The colour of the hose reels have faded, but the plastic itself hasn't fallen apart or broken down yet.

3) DECENT KINK RESISTANCE - isn't perfect, but is good

Con's:

1) NO COVERS / SUN PROTECTION - Gardena does not make any covers for these hose reels, which can get very hot during Summer - & the sun's heat fades these hose reels over time. Ours haven't broken down yet after 4 years of use, but they are definitely fading, due to there being no covers available to protect them - I suggest using heavy duty bungee cords & an old towel or something that covers the main frame of the hose reel.

2) IT DOES KINK - Contrary to any claims of the hose not kinking, the hose reel definitely does kink, but you just have to find out where it is & give it a bit of a manual twist to unravel itself. It's certainly not as kink-prone compared to cheaper hoses.

3) NO RODENT PROTECTION - We have lost a couple Gardena 30m retractable hose reels due to mice/rats making a nest inside the hose reel & they love to chew on the hose reels, especially when thirsty. This has caused puncture holes in the hose reels due to mice & rats chewing on the hose reel. It would be nice for Gardena to provide a cover for the opening so that vermin cannot get inside the hose reel & destroy it, as $419 NZD (as of October 26/2024 from Mitre 10) EACH, this is very costly to replace!! (we got ours for $329 each at the time - obviously they've gone up in price since!).

4) EXPENSIVE - At $419 each, it's not something everyone can afford!

Despite there being a few cons, I would still recommend this product. It's just a shame that Gardena doesn't seem too interested in making covers both for sun protection, & rodent protection. If they could also make the hoses more kink resistant, & acted upon these 3 improvements for the product, it would be pretty much perfect.

From an objective stand point, it has both pro's & con's, & I'd still always go with a retractable hose because it's very convenient. I also like the Gardena hose attachments with the 3 spray options (a flood type, a shower type, & a triple blast/jet type).

As you'll see in the image provided, we used an old towel/mat, used a bungee cord (as a sun protection/cover when not in use), & tucked the mat inside (though this did not prevent some rats, as we discovered! They literally ate through one before just to get inside - so Gardena definitely needs to solve that problem, especially when rats get thirsty & desperate!). We also have a different spray nozzle attachment (bought separately).

Not even remotely anti kink – I am reviewing the 20m version of this hose reel. The hose on this reel is claimed to be anti kink with a 10/10 rating. Despite the claim, I am a reasonable person and I still expect some kinking. However this hose kinks literally at every opportunity more than my cheap generic hoses. Furthermore I happen to also own an older orange gardena hose… Read more

which I use on a manual reel and which has a 9/10 kink rating and has never given trouble or kinked over the years. This prior experience is partly why I bought this product. Go figure. Will be contacting gardena for a warranty claim as this product does not perform as stated even when compared against its own lesser rated products. This is very disappointing for a premium product that came highly recommended.

When is hose not a hose, when it's the Gardena Anti Kink hose – Made the mistake of buying this expensive hose due to the blurb stating that it is 10/10 rated Anti Kink, who makes up these ratings? As soon as I attempted to place it on the hose reel it curled it self into more kinks than a worm being placed on a fishing hook. Kinks more than my old cheap hose. What about the brass fittings you may say, well… Read more

apart that they don't fit properly. In fact so poor is this hose, that due to the fittings it fails to deliver its basic function, that is, deliver water from the fawcet to the garden location of your choice. So it is, let me think, rubbish. Why can't we give a zero star which this product deserves. Note picture is just before I return it to Bunnings.