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Keeping hoses from freezing in an unheated building

5K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  CNGreen 
#1 ·
I am going through the second winter with my pole barn. I installed a yard hydrant in the barn when it was built.
I have a hose reel that I keep in the barn during the warm season. Several times during the winter I have wanted wash salt off of my work truck & tractors in the barn when the temp gets above freezing.
The problem is that during the winter the hoses are kept in an insulated building that is about 500 feet from the pole barn.
It is a pain to drag the hose reel or hoses up to the barn & then take it back after I am finished. Another problem this year is that we have had some many days below zero that the hoses froze in the insulated building.
That has never happened before.

This week I came up with a solution to the problem. The ceiling in my barn is 14'. I decided to get 2 - 25 foot hoses & hang them from the ceiling so the water will drain out of them after use.
Yesterday I went to Menards to get materials. I looked in the area that used to be the garden department. No more garden department. I ask a worker where the hoses were. I was told they were moved to the outdoor garden center.
My first thought was that this was a stupid move, but it turned out to be OK. It was about 11 degrees, so I got to see how stiff the hoses were when it was very cold. The 25 foot hoses were so stiff that I was afraid they were gong to to break.
They had some 50 foot Flexzilla. Those hoses were more flexible than a lot of hoses are at 80 degrees.

I got a 50 footer & 2 ends. I also got a 3" clothes line pulley & nylon rope. I made 2 - 25 foot hoses out of the 50 footer. I hung the close line pulley from the ceiling, tied an old wire spool to the rope & ran the rope up through the pulley.
It works great.
 
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#3 ·
Nice solution to the problem! And I can attest to how great the Flexzilla hose is -

I got so tired of the cheap vinyl(?) hoses. Since having the RA it was almost impossible for me to handle them even in the summer just for washing my truck. I did a bunch of research and ended up buying a Flexzilla hose from Amazon after reading all the positive reviews. That was on of the best purchases I made to help me with this - the hose is fantastic - and so light. When it came via UPS I couldn't believe how light the box was. And so flexible and will hardly kink - and even if it does just a flick of your wrist and it straightens itself right out.

The price went up a bit since I bought mine 2 years ago:

Amazon.com: Legacy HFZG550YW Flexzilla 5/8 X 50 Zilla Green Garden Hose with 3/4 GHT Ends: Home Improvement

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...field-keywords=flexzilla&sprefix=flexzi,tools
 
#5 ·
Great idea, thanks for sharing that with us. I'd never heard of that type of hose. My airline is so stiff that it can hardly be used in even an Alabama winter. I'm going to look into this.
 
#9 ·
Same here
 
#6 ·
Thanks everyone.

I have been using some Flexzilla air hose for a few years. I did not know that they also made water hose.
The air hoses have help up great, I hope the water hoses work just as well.

The 50' garden hose at Menards was $36.95.
 
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