Suncast CPLSTA125B 125-Foot Sidetracker Garden Hose Reel With Guide

by Suncast

• 125-foot of 5/8 hose capacity
• Hose guide for ease in winding
• Removable reel for winter hose storage

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 20 x 10.5 x 17.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B001LXOUMY
• Item model number: CPLSTA125B
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,076 in Patio, Lawn & Garden (See Top 100 in Patio, Lawn & Garden)
  • #93 in Patio, Lawn & Garden > Gardening > Watering Equipment > Hoses & Accessories > Reels

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

125 Feet Sidetracker Wall-Mount Hose Reel

Product Description

Sidetracker Wall-Mount Hose Reel

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Some tips for a more secure installation. March 31, 2011

By Gary Keene

Amazon Verified Purchase

I installed and successfully used one of these for several years at a prior house. I moved recently and have just installed four of these at the new house. This hose reel is, undeniably, a bit flimsy, but there are some steps you can take to make it less likely to fall apart.

1) The wall mounting hardware supplied with the reel is for wood. It says so in the installation manual, which advises you "consult your local hardware store for alternate mounting supplies." If you are mounting it in stucco, as I did, you must visit your local hardware store and get four expanding inserts that are suitable for stucco. Those will be a lot bigger than the supplied mounting hardware, and you may end up drilling larger holes in the plastic reel to accommodate the larger mounting hardware. Use fender washers under the head of the bolts or screws to distribute the stress over a wide area of plastic. If you choose to ignore this advice and use the wood mounting hardware in stucco, be aware that when you are pulling the hose straight out from the wall, you are also pulling the mounting hardware straight out of the wall. Eventually, it will fail. However, if you can situate your hose reel on the side of the house such that when you pull out the hose, it's being pulled parallel to the wall, the flimsy wood mounting hardware may work fine.

2) When you connect the supply hose inside the reel to the rotating connector, it's pretty easy to kink the hose because it needs to make a fairly sharp right angle bend out of the rotating connector to exit out the side of the reel. It might be useful to jam a coiled metal spring, about 6" long, inside the hose to facilitate bending without kinking. I didn't do that, but it may prevent troubles down the line....

3) The stationary plastic connector inside the reel where you connect your yard hose is also pretty flimsy. If you pull the hose out in a big hurry all the way to the end, there is a good chance that you will break off the angled plastic connector if the hose reaches the limit of it's length and you are still pulling on it. To defeat this, I wound on the last length of the hose 1 1/2 times around the reel, and then I tiewrapped or zipwrapped the hose to itself, on the opposite side of the reel from the plastic connector. That way, the last few feet of hose are never pulled off the reel, they get stopped on the opposite side of the reel from the delicate plastic connector. In any case, avoid vigorously pulling the last few feet of hose out of the reel, because there are twin dangers: you may pull the whole unit off the wall, or you may break the plastic catch that holds the rotating reel on the stationary mount.

4) The stationary plastic connector inside the reel where you connect your yard hose does not have much clearance around it. Therefore it's mildly difficult to tighten the hose onto the connector. If your hose has some plastic finger grips on the connector that "help" you tighten the hose to a regular faucet, you may find those grips make it impossible to attach the hose to the plastic reel connector because they make the hose end connector too large to fit into the limited space inside the reel. You should use a hose with no enlarged helpers on the connector, or you may have to cut off the helpers. By the way, I found that a basin wrench made it easy to tighten the metal hose connector onto the plastic reel connector in the limited space available.

5) When you get ready to wind your yard hose onto the reel for the first time, pull the hose out completely straight and make sure you unwind any kinks or unnatural spirals that may have developed in the hose when you were hand-winding it in the past. You want to wind a completely straight, unkinked hose onto your new reel. If you are putting a brand new hose on the reel, you should unroll it like a wheel out to it's full length. Do not just pull it straight out from it's coil, because that puts a lot of unnatural winding into the hose.

6) All the hose connectors inside the reel are plastic, and fairly easy to destroy by cross-threading. Make sure the metal hose ends that you are connecting to the plastic reel are clean and perfectly round, not having been squashed under some car wheels. There is a tube of silicon grease included in the installation kit to lubricate the rotating water connector, and I used a tiny amount of the silicon to lubricate the threads of the hose connectors so they went on easily. If you find yourself forcing those hose connectors, you have some kind of problem that needs fixing before you proceed further.

7) Because you cannot put a huge amount of torque into tightening a hose onto the plastic connectors of the reel, it's very advisable to put a new soft rubber washer inside any old hose you are putting on the reel. The new washer will make it less necessary to over-tighten the connection in order to stop leaks.

I'll let you know in a few months if I have any problems with the four hose reels I've installed recently. I have used these reels in the past, but always with the modifications detailed above. I've been satisfied with these reels in the past, but probably only becasue I recognized their limitations and compensated for those.

August 2012 UPDATE . . . After 16 months of use, all 4 of the hose reels I installed are still working fine. Except the one I installed in stucco using the included wood mounting screws DID get pulled out of the wall. Since I reinstalled it with stucco anchors, no problem. When I reinstalled that, I did put a spring coil inside the hose where, inside the reel, it makes a sharp turn. That theoretically cuts down on hose kinking at the connector, but to be honest, none of the other 3 reels have any problem delivering water flow at adequate pressure, so this may be a non-issue. Read more ›

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Does the job but flimsy and hard to operate August 2, 2010

By Uncle Matt

Amazon Verified Purchase

It is what it says it is and nothing more. It's all plastic, and although it has not leaked since I installed it a few days ago, all parts are so flexible that I don't expect it to hold tight for long. The base that attaches to the wall is sturdy enough but the main wheel part is too thin and flexes a lot under the weight and pressure of a normal hose. The back wheel rubs the base as you wind/unwind. The parts you attach the main and leader hoses to is thin plastic as well and I felt that if I used a wrench to tighten my connections I would break. Detaching the main wheel from the base for installation (and eventually for winter storage) is difficult and required either great finger strength or a screwdriver to pry the plastic cap off. And if you want to get a wrench on the leader hose attachment which is concealed inside the hub, you must first pop that part off of the base which is really difficult even with two screwdrivers. The only pleasant surprise: There is a roller inside the hose guide that does a nice job when unwinding by walking away with the end of the hose or when rewinding, a feature superior to my last one where the hose just dragged across plastic and tended to bind up. All in all it's a suitable product if you can get a good price on it, but even for the low price I paid on Amazon it doesn't feel like a bargain. Time will tell.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, inexpensive Hose Reel May 20, 2010

By Micki Free is Not a Girl

Amazon Verified Purchase

Bought this hose reel about 2 weeks ago, and it has worked great. Easy setup, comes with everything you need to put the reel together, and easy to follow instructions. Once it is mounted, works great. Looks good, reels the hose in quickly, and doesn't have any leaks. Not the highest quality material, but for $20, it is definitely worth the purchase.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Flimsy and barely holds a 100ft of Hose September 14, 2010

By Erick

Amazon Verified Purchase

I assembled the hose reel after I attached the base to the exterior stucco wall. As soon as I started to reel in my hose, the plastic crank knob pulled off. The reel can barely hold my 100ft hose, so towards the end of the reeling process, the hose tends to fall behind the reel and get snagged. I don't recommend this hose reel unless you have a 75' or shorter hose and are looking for something inexpensive to only use occasionally.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor quality!!! July 11, 2010

By Grant M. Flora

Amazon Verified Purchase

One star is to good of a rating for this item.. They sent me one that was used!! The screws were taped to the side of the unit in a plastic bag... I mounted it, connected it, and water sprays every where... Poor Quality, and I believe someone else had returned this one, and they just turned around and sent it out to the next fool that ordered one. (ME!!)
Never again!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Suncast CPLSTA125B Reel review April 4, 2012

By Carlos

Amazon Verified Purchase

Just like the other reviews here state, "You get what you pay for!" I bought this hose reel a few months ago, mounted it to my stucco wall without any issues,but I could tell that it was too flimsy to hold 100' of hose. Today, while attempting to reel it in after washing my car,the reel snapped off! Now I have the frame on the wall, and 100' of hose on the ground. What a piece of junk! Don't waste your money!

Carlos M.
Melbourne,Florida

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars homeowner in PA August 30, 2012

By Homeowner in PA

Amazon Verified Purchase

I have a 10 year old version of this product. I was extremely happy with it. The wall mount broke so I order what I thought would be the same product. The new product is pure garbage. The plastic is so thin it sags under its own weight. The handle snaps in but won't stay in. Pops right out when you try and wind up the hose. There is no quality coming from this manufacturer. I will not buy Suncast products again.