Stackable hose reels look the part, but are they worth it?
The Double-decker hose reel is a growing request for our sales team, so we took a second to explore why Window Cleaners desire their hose reels to be stacked, what are the benefits of doing so and which equipment is best suited to the task.
If you've ever spent time playing Tetris with the equipment in your van, the pros may not need writing down. Space is a premium and with more Window Cleaners opting for powered hose reels, there's a greater demand to have reels fixed in place - which means permanently losing that space in your van.
If you work with two operators, that's two hose reels and a few square feet gone forever. Stacking vertically means you can keep that premium floor space free to fit in other gear.
Things to Consider Before You Buy
Stacking vertically does require extra build quality. The forces put on the reel and frame will be greater - a good strong frame with well-built reels are a must and part of the reason the Pure Freedom brand is the leading name in purpose built stacked reels.
In the Pure Freedom collection you have double stacked manual reels and the twin stacked ReelMaster, the latter being a reliable and powerful electric hose reel.
It's also helpful to consider the practicalities of working with twin reels, particularly if they are manual - to reel them in quickly without tangling and getting in each others way - we recommend using extension arms with hose guides.
It's also useful to different hose colours, again just to limit hoses getting tangled (though we understand if you don't want to destroy your vans uniform aesthetic).
Weight is another important factor, some reels are heavier than others and with 100m of hose full of water, there's going to be significant weight on one side of the vehicle - for the most part this isn't problematic but if you have all of your other equipment on the same side, it isn't going to do wonders for your vehicles suspension. We recommend where possible trying to balance the weight of the varying bits of equipment in your van side-to-side and front-to back.
The PowerUP 3D is a lightweight powered hose reel that can help with this - It's a popular hose reel to stack using the stainless steel double-stacker frame.
Finally, make sure that you really need to have two reels fixed in place. Wheeled or freestanding reels with bumper mounted hose ports might be a better option for you. That way nothing is permanently fixed and you've got complete flexibility. For those that use the van for other purposes, this is often the preferred solution.
