Hate your water hose in winter?

[billinwv]

They can be a super pain in cold weather. Big plus to this new place was frost free hydrants with elec. outlets in 6 places! Well until this horrible cold. The line to the hydrant for the cows froze day before yesterday, 150 feet from unfrozen one. Went to HD to buy hose and came across squeegee hoses. What a time saver! 3 fifty foot hoses weight about 2lbs. After use they emptied out almost on their own and easily fit in a 5gal bucket to carry inside. Best thing since sliced bread for now.

[Forcast]

I have been using the soft hoses as well 2 winters now they are great, I still bring them in the house. I have a hook up at my washer machine. when the outside one are frozen

[Ozarks Tom]

I've been considering that, thanks for the input!

[motdaugrnds]

I've been stretching my "regular" hoses out their full length with them slanted downhill from the frost free pumps. This works for the most part; however, I'm wondering if those soft hoses might work better. Is that what they are actually called, i.e. "Squeegee"? (Just a couple of 50 footers would work well at my place.)

[Forcast]

I have the 50 foot pocket hose brand LOVE IT selling for 20$ at dollar general.

[rambler]

There was a thread on that here this fall, couple people suggested those stretchy hoses for winter use.

Tried a couple, they do work very well as mentioned, let them empty put in a 5gal bucket and on the basement.

Was going to dig that old thread up and thank the people, if they see this thrad thanks for the tip and same to the poster here.

They are a bit more fragil than regular garden hose for dragging around, but work well for this.

Paul

[Horseyrider]

I've been using one this winter, and for me there have been some real pluses as well as real minuses.

Pluses:

Ease of use. It goes in a bucket and stores by the back door, unlike the big hose, which has to be dragged out of the basement. Bled or not, the big one freezes if not stored inside.

Very compact. It fits in a bucket. My big hose doesn't fit in anything; it has to be dragged.

Mine came with a toggle at the business end so I can shut it off without turning off the hydrant. Nice for filling individual buckets in the barn.


Minuses:

Dang thing takes 40 minutes to fill my stock tank! My big black hose takes less than fifteen. Mine has a very skinny diameter.

The business ends are made of plastic. Plastic! Not brass, not steel, plastic. It's so much easier to screw crooked on to frosty hydrant threads and strip, or spray the wall and yourself when you find out you didn't get it seated as well as you thought.

The tag on mine said DO NOT DRINK FROM THIS HOSE. Really? Who doesn't drink out of their hose from time to time??? My critters do, every single time, though indirectly. But then I saw the packaging of my big black hose, and it said DO NOT DRINK FROM THIS HOSE.


Mine was a gift. I think I'd always have one on hand for winter use. But for every other time of year, I really like the speed and delivery rate of my big black hoses. Besides, all the fittings are brass, I have an additional brass toggle on the end to turn on and off at point of use, and it's ready to take years of hard work. The little inflatable ones, well, a few winters is all I'll likely see with them before replacement.

[k9]

Water hose and winter just don't go together around here...

[maddy]

Those expandable hoses look like just the thing for a garden, where an ordinary hose becomes muddy and pulls up delicate plants when it gets dragged around. I notice in looking on Amazon that there are basically two types: a plastic coiled one that resembles the cord to a telephone headset, and one that looks like it's made of scrunched up fabric. Does anybody have an opinion as to which type is preferable in a dirty, homestead-type situation?

[poppy]

I bought one of the shrink hoses advertised on TV at Rural King. It was a piece of junk that sprung a major leak in 2 weeks and it was only lightly used.

[unregistered353870]

I have the black ones with the brass fittings. I think it's DAP brand. It's not really heavy duty, but much better than the green ones with plastic fittings. Seems to be bigger diameter so faster flow than the green ones, too. I also have quick connects on them so they're easy to hook up with winter gloves on.

[MOgal]

A couple of years ago, DH bought me a 50' length of Flexilla hose and it is truly flexible in the coldest temperatures. We were so impressed with the quality that we bought several more lengths. It's good sturdy hose that I leave hanging outside near the faucets (house and barn) for firefighting if, God forbid, that becomes necessary. We did have a natural cover fire within 1/2 mile a couple of years ago which heightened my awareness. As mentioned earlier, it does have to be bled after each use but since I want them all readily available IN A COIL, I empty the hose when I hang them back in their places.

Not shooting down the self emptying hoses just figured for the money, I'll go with the Flexzilla even though they aren't cheap.

[Awnry Abe]

I haven't had great luck with the collapsible hoses. Whomever is making high quality ones that everyone is raving about needs to differentiate themselves from the rest of the crowd. I don't like them because they are slower than dirt and I have to hold on to them while using them otherwise they are like clown-fire-hose-squirrelly. And using the shut-off is like lighting a ticking time-bomb. I'm happy with my normal garden hose. It is easy for me to drain.

[MOgal]

Awnry Abe said:
I have to hold on to them while using them otherwise they are like clown-fire-hose-squirrelly.

That sounds funny as all get out and not the least bit pleasant with the current cold temps. I bet it didn't take but once to learn your lesson, huh?

[Awnry Abe]

Yeah, and that was back in November.

[Rustaholic]

Back when we had critters the hoses were all drained coiled and stored away every early Fall. Then I just carried buckets of water.

Thinking about where I am going to put my year around pig and goat barn I will have to put in a deep hydrant right inside the barn. I also will either tweak up an old snow mobile I have or use a garden tractor with a snow blower to keep the road open.

When I get my soil in shape to grow enough feed I will have a couple milk goats and keep a couple breed sows year around.

Those two sows will cost a bit of feed to keep them but the shoats I can sell will pay me well and buy the hay I will need for the goats.

Plus I will keep and raise two or three of the shoats for the freezer and to sell.

I have people that will buy my extra goat milk too.