Here in Houston I go through one of these reels every 3 years give or take a bit. What happens is the central support for the wheel simply snaps and the reel then hangs at an odd angle. Soon, it will just fall off. At least it gives a bit of warning.

Examining the carcasses of my dead reels I've learned that the plastic bleaches in the sun and the heat and then becomes brittle. It just crumbles. If the reel is full of hose, that extra weight doesn't help much either.

I'm going to try knocking back to just 50 feet of hose instead of the full reel of hose. My experienced guess is that will work  better. Also I'll spray some UV protectant on the hub before I mount the reel. That may help.

So why do I keep buying these if they don't last too long? Well, for one I've got my holes drilled in the brick and I really like just being able to slap the new unit in place of the old one without drilling even more holes for some new reel which may or may not last any longer than this one. Also, I don't see where anybody makes a side winding reel that is that much better than this one for the price at this time.
Here in Houston I go through one of these reels every 3 years give or take a bit. What happens is the central support for the wheel simply snaps and the reel then hangs at an odd angle. Soon, it will just fall off. At least it gives a bit of warning. Examining the carcasses of my dead reels I've learned that the plastic bleaches in the sun and the heat and then becomes brittle. It just crumbles. If the reel is full of hose, that extra weight doesn't help much either. I'm going to try knocking back to just 50 feet of hose instead of the full reel of hose. My experienced guess is that will work  better. Also I'll spray some UV protectant on the hub before I mount the reel. That may help. So why do I keep buying these if they don't last too long? Well, for one I've got my holes drilled in the brick and I really like just being able to slap the new unit in place of the old one without drilling even more holes for some new reel which may or may not last any longer than this one. Also, I don't see where anybody makes a side winding reel that is that much better than this one for the price at this time.