Engine-Powered Hose "Winder Upper"

Engine-Powered Hose Winder Upper FARM HOME Miscellaneous “It works slick and saves a lot of hassle when I’m watering my yard ” says inventor Phil Cruise of Canton N C about his engine-powered hose “winder upper” “It’ll wind up 50 ft of hose in only 30 seconds ” The battery-operated unit is powered by the starter motor on a stripped-down single cylinder Briggs & Stratton engine The starter motor turns the engine crankshaft which has a 15-in aluminum wheel attached to it To wind up the hose Cruise simply opens the engine’s original gas tank which was modified to contain a switch and cable that’s connected to the engine’s solenoid Is all of this overkill? “Maybe ” jokes Cruise “But then I really despise garden hoses ” He removed the piston connecting rod camshaft valves and gear from the Briggs & Stratton engine keeping only the starter solenoid crankshaft and block He used two set screws to attach an aluminum hub to the end of the crankshaft Then a wheel adapter was welded to the hub and the wheel was bolted to the adapter A brass rotary water valve fits onto the hub “There’s a 10 to 1 ratio between the starter and the flywheel so it has a lot of torque ” says Cruise “A 50-ft hose holds two gallons of water which weighs 14 lbs yet it has no trouble pulling all of the hose onto the reel One time I even replaced the hose with cable and used it to pull a truck on a gravel road for a short distance “It didn’t cost much to build My friend Scott Allison rigged the starter solenoid and cast the aluminum hub by melting down old pop cans My friend John Conard gave me the engine I bought the chrome wheel at a junk yard for $10 ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Feather Phil Cruise P O Box 1765 710 Cathey Cove Road Canton N C 28716 ph 828 646-0361; cruisepla2@att net

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