The thing about an over-the-top item like, say, a Maserati, is that no one needs one, but plenty of people still want one. Maybe thatâs the idea behind the RoboReel Water, which at $650, might qualify as the Maserati of hoses.
Yes, hoses. As in water-the-plants, attach-it-to-a-sprinkler, Jeeves-wash-the-Maserati hoses.
The RoboReel Water certainly isnât your $30 garden center special. The contraption has a shipping weight of 85 pounds and puts a 100- or 150-foot hose reel in a spherical motorized turret that sits in a wheeled frame. Standing knee high, it looks like a green Death Star on legs.
The chief feature is that with a press of a button behind the watering nozzle, an electric motor quietly and smoothly winds the hose back into the housing.
The company previously offered a similar treatment for an extension cord, the RoboReel Power. The idea was that in a shop of fine furniture or classic cars, you wouldnât want a spring loaded retraction system - which is what most automatic winders are - whipping the cord across the floor where it could ding delicate finishes.
Iâm not sure what needs that protection on the lawn; peacocks and gilded garden gnomes, I suppose.
The RoboReel Water also has a timer, so it can be set to spray at the same time daily, and there is an available sprinkler that will crawl across your lawn, watering a large swath.
The motor is powered by a battery, so there is no worry about needing to have it near an electric outlet. They company said the reel should retract about 100 times on a single charge. The reel is warranted for four years or 4,000 winds. It also comes with an assortment of spray nozzles.
But couldnât most people - O.K., everybody - get by with a simpler hose? Sure, but as with a quarter-of-a-million-dollar sports car, the desire to own one isnât based on need. Itâs about impressing the neighbors, which you will do when you turn the water on and off remotely and send the hose quietly slithering back into its Death Star.