I bought one at Home Depot last summer. It was the only battery
operated self-winder that they had, so it shouldn't be hard to locate
at HD. Mine is now loaded with 100' of 5/8" hose and it works great.
Just press the foot lever and watch it wind up rather neatly. I'm pretty
certain that this is the brand and description:
Suncast Powerwind Garden Hose Reel w/ 100' Capacity

Mine is located just a couple of feet from an outdoor outlet and my
only regret is that the hose reel doesn't come with an AC adapter.
I keep procrastinating on testing the charger to see if it can be safely
left on continuously, which is almost as good as a true AC adapter.

I benchmarked the motor under various loads, the most significant
being winding the entire 100' of hose up a moderate grade. It draws
about 6 to 10 amps, which means that an auto battery charger
could provide the current needed to power the motor without using
a battery. And, of course, building a dedicated 10 amp power
supply should be very easy. Folks - don't mess with improvised
power supplies unless it is plugged into a GFCI outlet.

The unit tends to tip over when you pull out the last 10 or 20 feet of
hose. Two spikes are provided for anchoring the unit in the ground,
which solves that problem.

I believe that Hydro-Industries makes the "ReelSmart Automatic
Hose Reel", which is water powered. I haven't seen one and I didn't
look hard since I was content with the battery operated model.

I purchased mine for less that $100, but I can't remember the exact
amount now. Now that I see how great they are, I'd pay $200 for
one if I had to.

Good luck,
Gideon

=========

dean wrote in message
.com...
Looking for a self-rewinding (spring action) garden hose reel....

Anyone seen a good one they can recommend? Need at least 100' of 5/8"
hose.

Thanks

Dean