Garden hose reels with secured nozzles?

[GardenJunior]

Hello. Hope someone might have a solution to a garden hose problem. My colleagues and I work in a public high school, and we like the idea of installing some (30 metre) retractable hose reels to minimise trip hazards caused by unrolled-up hoses. In looking at available models, none seem to secure the hose nozzle to the wall or to the casing to discourage mischievous hands from playing with the hose. Have looked through some retractable reel catalogues but none seemed to have this much needed feature. Has anyone experienced this before and found a solution? Appreciate any suggestions members might have.

[EricL]

Hello @GardenJunior

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about garden hoses. 

One way to lock the hose is to attach Grunt Heavy Duty Anchor Point - 2 Pack. Slide one in front and one on the back of the hose stopping ball. You then hook the rings into the Lockwood 50mm Brass General Purpose Padlock and drill a hole on the thick lip of the hose reel body and attach the padlock there. This will prevent the hose from going forward or backward. However, please be aware that drilling into the body of the hose reel will cancel your warranty.

Let me investigate further with our providers. If I happen to see any other D.I.Y. hose reel locking ideas I'll post them here.

Let me tag our experienced members @JoeAzza and @TedBear for their recommendations on how to lock your hose reel.

If you need further assistance, please let us know. 

Eric

[JoeAzza]

Hi @GardenJunior , Great idea from @EricL, if you don't want to drill the plastic , you could place the padlock on the pivoting pin, the pin shown in the picture is alloy, it should be strong enough to reduce temptation to use the hose. You might need to change the tap handle to one where you have to insert a key to turn it on. See image below.

https://www.hoselink.com.au/products/padlock

[MitchellMc]

Some great ideas here @GardenJunior.

If you were to select a hose reel that has a handle on the top of it like the Pope 20m Auto Wind Hose Reel, you could lock the hose onto it with a Lockwood 30 x 80mm Brass Extended Shackle Padlock with Silicon Cover.

I trust the impressive visual representation I've crafted for you below will adequately illustrate this solution's merits.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[TedBear]

Hi @GardenJunior ,

Another option may be to modify @EricL 's suggestion slightly, by attaching one those Heavy Duty Anchors Points to a wall or post where the reel is mounted, then use an appropriate length padlock around the hose (and through the anchor point), to prevent the hose's stopping ball from being able to be pulled through the padlock.

That would get around the Warranty cancelling issue.

I agree with your idea that the reels themselves should be lockable because one shortfall in our proposed ideas so far is that a really determined child could remove the attached hose end piece and slide the hose out of the padlock... and use it.

Are there any end hose end pieces that are hard to remove?  How big a problem is it that it would need a tighter security solution?

Perhaps lockable a hinged flap with a slot in it (for the hose to protrude through) could be fitted across the actual reel holder's outlet hole to keep the hose stopping ball inside the housing?  But, again it would involve drilling holes in the reel housing.