Alright, buckle up, because I'm about to walk you through my latest weekend project: a battery-operated hose reel. Yeah, sounds kinda bougie, but trust me, it's a lifesaver if you're tired of wrestling with a tangled, heavy hose every time you need to water the garden.

So, where did I even start? Well, I was staring at my old, rusty hose reel, cussing under my breath as usual while trying to unwind it. The thing was just plain difficult. That’s when the lightbulb went off. "Why not electrify this beast?" I thought.

First things first, I needed to gut the old reel. Completely stripped it down to its bare bones – the frame and the spool. Got rid of all the clunky, manual cranking parts. It was actually pretty satisfying!

Next up, the brains of the operation: the motor. I scavenged a 12V DC motor from an old power wheels toy my nephew had outgrown (and busted, naturally). It seemed powerful enough, and hey, free is always good! I did some quick tests with a battery to make sure it still spun, and thankfully, it did.

Then I had to figure out how to attach the motor to the reel. This was the tricky part. I rummaged through my junk drawer (everyone has one, right?) and found some old gears and sprockets. After some fiddling, I managed to rig up a gear system that would transfer the motor's power to the reel's spool. It wasn't pretty, but it worked...ish.

Of course, the gear system needed a housing. I used some scrap pieces of metal I had lying around. Cut them to size with my angle grinder (safety first, folks!), and welded them together to create a basic box to protect the gears and keep everything aligned. The welding was a bit messy, but hey, it's functional, not a work of art.

Now for the power. I didn't want to be tethered to an outlet, so a battery was the obvious choice. I snagged a 12V rechargeable battery from my old drill. It was small and lightweight, perfect for this project. I also wired in a simple on/off switch and a forward/reverse switch. Gotta be able to unwind the hose too, right?

Time to mount everything. I bolted the motor, gear housing, and battery to the frame of the hose reel. I used some heavy-duty zip ties as well just to be extra sure everything stayed put. It's not the most elegant solution, but it's sturdy.

Finally, the moment of truth. I connected the battery and flipped the switch. The motor whirred to life, and the reel started to spin! It was a bit jerky at first, but after some adjustments to the gear alignment, it smoothed out nicely. I tested it with the hose, and it wound and unwound with surprising ease. Woohoo!

Okay, so it's not perfect. It's a bit noisy, and the gear housing could use some refining. But hey, it works! And now I can water my garden without breaking my back. Plus, I got to use my tools and tinker around in the garage all weekend. That's a win in my book.

Lessons learned? Welding is hard, gear ratios matter, and sometimes the best solutions are the ones you MacGyver together from spare parts. Would I do it again? Absolutely! Maybe version 2.0 will be solar-powered...

• Gutted old hose reel
• Scavenged 12V motor
• Fabricated gear system
• Built motor housing
• Added battery and switches
• Mounted everything to the frame
• Tested and tweaked