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Reliable long life water hose gun?

AJB Temple

AJB Temple

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Gardening season has started apparently and we’ve just chucked away three hose guns only a year old.
Has anyone come across a hose gun which lasts more than a couple of years, which will lock open (preferably without using a metal loop) and which has several clickable spray patterns including fine mist, gentle watering and jet? Because of the fish pond filters and outside kitchen, some hose guns are used throughout the winter. We’ve tried:

Brass ones - vetoed by head gardener (wife) as no switchable pattern & connectors leak as soon as cold sets in
Hoselock pro - great when new but within months they drip, plastic goes brittle in winter, connectors are rubbish. Pricey
Cheap Hoselock - same problem. They dominate garden centres around us
Lidlaldi - they last under a year. The metal bits are pot metal and they disintegrate

We can’t go commercial as unfortunately all the outdoor taps I put in are domestic size and the hoses are tricoflex but domestic size too. A mistake, but stupidly I didn’t think about it enough when I put all the pipe work in so didn’t go down the commercial route. Can’t justify replacing the hoses, reels, taps and all the other stuff.
 
I've tried everything. The only thing that works is to bring them inside in October, and not take them out again until about this time of year.......which is a fat lot of use because we need to hose the dog down in the winter, when it's muddy, and not in the summer. So, I'm afraid I treat them as a consumable, and just buy cheap stuff, knowing it'll be very lucky if they last 6 months.
 
I find Gardena better than Hoselock, and the connectors more likely to stay engaged.
Still plastic, though, and can break esp in cold weather as the plastic becomes more brittle.

Presently using a cheap no-name which has lasted better than anything before it. Sorry, can't remember where I bought it.

Duncan
 
We have an expensive German one by Gardena which has proved to be pretty good. This will be our third year using it but I keep it disconnected from the 'ose and well out reach of the sun's UV - Rob

Edit - no dog anywhere in sight
 
I make sure that I have a supply of the O rings that seal the connections as they seem to fail regularly.
 
Thanks all. Will investigate Gardena. Used to be well known but Hozelock dominate now apparently. It seems there is a market for someone to design a hose gun that actually lasts. It is surely brand damaging for them to last under a year.

It unfortunately gets expensive as we use severa: my wife has a hose and gun in each greenhouse, I have one at the workshop, we have one in the outdoor kitchen for filling watering cans and spraying bonsai etc, one at the garage and one for the pond filters. She likes the functionality of the hoselock pro ones but they are so leaky. The greenhouses seem to destroy them extra fast. In my experience they generally break at the bottom of the handle where the hose goes in. None have lasted long enough to replace the rubber o rings :o

The only one that lasts is the one I keep permanently connected in the fish pond filter chamber. That one gets no sunlight and no frost.
 
I chose what I thought was a nice one. Plastic but with stainless steel pivot screw for the pattern changing head and a brass on/off rod and adjusting nut.
Inside a year it was leaking Grr!
inside the return spring was plain steel and had rusted away. Replaced with a stainless steel spring and all is good - so far at least.

Alternatively find a cheap source, keep a spare and replace each year.

Bob
 
I bought three of these Gardena Classic Cleaning Sprayer (part number 18301-20) about ten years ago and all are still in use today with no leaks or other problems. Two remain outside year round for watering the potted plants and flower boxes around the house. The third is connected to a short hose in the upstairs bathroom for watering the flower boxes on the balcony.

The sprayer has a trigger lock, an adjustment lever to control the output water pressure, and an adjustable nozzle to vary the output from a stream to a wide spray pattern. It is not a mist, but by varying the output pattern and the water pressure, the result is more gentle than rainfall.

Gardena makes a similar sprayer that has a larger head that appears to be better for misting large areas. The part number is 18311-20.

Gardena-1.jpg
 
I have a friend who owns a compost making business and they use Washdn Gun Heavy Brass hose guns from their pump supplier. They are pretty neat and built to last but I was put off by the £100ish price tag when I investigated further.
 
Thanks again guys. Thanks Mike for part number. Gardena seems to get the thumbs up. I can't afford £100 each for a hose gun sadly. But will try a couple of the Gardena ones this year. Amazon have them or FIL can bring some from Germany. The jet version is fine in a couple of areas, but the ones for watering must have a mist.
 
AJB Temple":i803ffmj said:
Thanks again guys. Thanks Mike for part number. Gardena seems to get the thumbs up. I can't afford £100 each for a hose gun sadly. But will try a couple of the Gardena ones this year. Amazon have them or FIL can bring some from Germany. The jet version is fine in a couple of areas, but the ones for watering must have a mist.
Click to expand...
This is ours and is probably the one you're after:

IMG_2649.jpeg

Half a dozen spray settings in the head including fine misting. I keep it hung up in the outside porch under the white plastic bag as our back garden is directly south facing and a proper heat trap; probably cost around £40+ now, but recommended - Rob
 
Thanks Rob. Yes - exactly that I think. Will just check Mrs AJBT is happy when she gets back and will then order. I think the mist function is the most important for her seedlings and to avoid disturbing bonsai chippings. If anything, use in the greenhouses speeds up the destruction. I might make a drain box to keep the sunlight off.

Edit: Ordered a premium one like Rob's (metal parts) at £32, a Comfort on (all platic, but with a cleanable filter) at £23 both made in Germany and a cheap one made in Taiwan for £11 and will compare this year.

Once again it has rained so no watering needed! I'm not sure if there have been any days so far in 2024 when it hasn't had at least a sprinkling of rain in our area. Our ground is totally waterlogged and we've abandoned garden openings for charity. One area of orchard is submerged. Still feeding one of the weaker bee hive colonies with fondant. Greenery abundant though - very weird conditions, and it is stormy again as I write.
 
Sounds like youre sorted now anyway but a word of warning on the heavy duty wash down gun you linked to. We used to use those at work in conjunction with industrial hose, which you also mentioned. The gun is very heavy and holding the trigger on is fatiguing if it doesn’t lock on. Industrial hose is also heavy to drag around and reel back in. I’m no weakling but got so fed up of it got rid of the lot and bought a mix of domestic hose and guns, hose lock and gardena and accept they leak a bit. I wouldn’t use them in a domestic setting and though I’m no gardener I do have a large garden. As an aside I bought several guns over the years and now just buy the cheapest I can find for home and like others accept they don’t last. It’s a bit of a poor show from the manufacturers though isn’t it
Mark
 
Thanks Mark.

Indeed a poor show. Will see what Gardena is like or else just get cheapo stuff and replace each year.
 
I have bought cheap and expensive and nothing seems to last. I buy a new one every year now. Just bought one last week from Lidl. '3 year warranty' yeah right :-) worth it for £4.99 tho.
 
sammy.se said:
I have bought cheap and expensive and nothing seems to last. I buy a new one every year now. Just bought one last week from Lidl. '3 year warranty' yeah right :) worth it for £4.99 tho.
Click to expand...
Just thought you might want to know that the link to your gallery isn't working.
 
I used to work in professional horticulture, and I dont think any of this stuff is built to withstand more than a few years use - we used to nurture ours very carefully, but they nearly always needed at least some maintenance, or replacing, every year or two.

This one looks like it might work for you, and perhaps last longer than the 'normal' stuff you've had so far ?

www.access-irrigation.co.uk

8 Function Spray Gun | Buy Online from Access Irrigation

Buy 8 Function Spray Gun online from Access Irrigation Components Store. FREE delivery on orders over £100!
www.access-irrigation.co.uk
 
Thanks. That appears to be a PRC clone of a number of near identical guns available on line. We had a couple like that last year and the aluminium corroded mainly at the inlet point. It's interesting that the premium sellers like Gardena treat metal like a premium product for about £12 extra, whereas the PRC guns are often cheap and sold as all metal (including lidlyald). I bought a Gardena as recommended in this thread and it seems very good. Also bought a cheap one similar (near identical) to the one you linked, for £11 on-line. I'm resigned to regular replacements. Such is life.
 
Gosh thats a shame. Access used to be one of the better irrigation suppliers; a sign of the times I guess that its getting harder and harder to find stuff built to a quality standard rather than down to a price.
 
The obvious answer is to get Al to make one for you. :p
 
John Brown said:
Artificial intelligence or Al the lathe maker?
Click to expand...

Ah, the joys of sans-serif fonts...

On a related note, once when I was chatting to my other half (who's name is Carolyn and she really doesn't like being called Caroline) and I told her that people kept emailing me with the emails addressed to Al but mis-spelt with two 'l's. She was very surprised and took a very long time to realise I was pulling her leg ;)
 
It took my missus, french, a very long time to learn and understand the common usage of nicknames in english. She would spend hours trying to find Bob Smith in the directory before being told to look under R .:)

On the other hand my father was very keen on saying “you can call me anything you like but don’t call me late for dinner” .
 
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Having just lost 2 Lidl sprayers to frost this week, I thought I’d revive this thread and see how everyone is getting on with their hose heads. Anyone cracked the code and found a frost-proof one? We use year round to spray the dogs and my memory isn’t good enough to remember to bring in before the overnight freezes. Maybe I have to build a habit and disconnect and bring in after every time we use it. Tedious.
 
My dad used to regulate the hose flow and pattern with his thumb
That lasted 72 years.
I keep a stash of the cheapest disposables I can get- the price/quality ratio as you spend more becomes a diminishing return
 
I’ve now replaced all my plastic hose fittings with brass and keep a stash of the O rings. Spray gun does get brought in after use, not used for watering just for a light jet wash to get the worst of the muck of the cars before washing.
 
Gardena sprayers and fittings.
Freezing not an issue here but a destructive sun.
Sprayers are kept out of the sun on patio.
The hose and fittings are replaced about every 8 to 9 years, O-rings in stock as well as spare hose fittings.
Taps fittings also last for years, only O-rings replaced, unless some light fingered gardener removes them. (last time I caused so much sh1t at the office, the garden contractor replaced them)
 
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