Fellow Canadians,

Lend me your ears. I would like to know what hose you use for flooding the rink. Over the past decade, I have gone through a multitude of hoses. If a hose is advertised as kink-free, I can kink it. If a hose is advertised as construction grade, it must be very light construction. I cannot find a hose that can withstand the wear and tear of -10'C rink flooding. My latest endeavour was the Troy-Bilt construction grade hose that Canadian Tire is selling. Well, the arthritic connection at both ends of the hose shrink in the cold weather thus causing leaks and spraying water which leads to wet hands. Also, if you turn off the water, the hose will actually disconnection from it's own coupling. I do not recommend this hose for -5'C or below.

I'm thinking about spending the $100 on this 'lifetime' hose from Lee Valley. If you've have had any success with this one or anything other type of hose, please post here. I would greatly appreciate it.

Kevin

Not much of a canuck (though I do have lots of silent consonants in my last name), I just picked up my second Goodyear all rubber hose, giving me 2 50' lines that I connect together. It's the only hose I've ever owned that doesn't harden in the cold. I think 50' was $29US, but I didn't really shop around for it.

Hey Kevmac, I too am a "Canuck" This was my first build and I picked up that same Troy Built Hose at Crappy tire, Spent about $60 for a 100'( thought that was a good pick up) Havent had a problem with leaks or anything however the coupling that you spoke of that connects hoses isn't good as it does blow apart sometimes with pressure. Yardworks makes a rubber hose however they were sold out when I went to get one so I bought the Troy Built hose, also the Yard Works was around mid 40's price range for 50' of hose where the Troy One was 60 for 100' of hose. So ive been using that connected to a smaller garden hose and its been working for me. Anyways check out the yardworks unless youve used it already lol, Good Luck!

Joe - unfortunately I don't think Goodyear hoses are available north of the border. I will have a look though.

Ryan - thanks but my current kinked version that I am using is the Yarkworks version. I've done Yardworks, Troy-Bilt and the Costco Heavy-Duty version... all kinked. The Troy-Bilt will be delivered to the Kanata CTC on Monday via garbage for full refund. Grumble grumble.

Even if it's not goodyear, I'd look around for something that's all rubber. Those seem to stay malleable in the cold. I was looking at another kind at Lowes, and it said on the label that it was "perfect for a wide range of temps", then in smaller print, said "40 degrees F to 120 degrees F". Yeah, that's not going to work.

40'F to 120'F is still a wide range! :-)

Apparently the hose at Lee Valley is made by Gilmour out of Peoria, Illinois. Any Americans have any experience with their hoses? I believe that it is this one:


Thanks
Kevin

Absolutely! Especially when I look at the current temperature in Ottawa => -17'C or 1'F. Not that I would be flooding in this weather although I have built up ice thickness in these temperatures (I am quite thankful for my tarp as I don't need to do that anymore).

Kevin

(This post made me an All-Star. I feel like Dany Heatley - time to ask for a trade!)

i think i might use the same kinda goodyear all rubber hose that joe runs. i've even left mine outside when it was single digits overnight and it was still pretty easy to handle the next day even though it was full of ice.