After getting the Green Leaf WW-1 installed and setup in my garage I was sure I'd made a mistake. It's made entirely of plastic, the netting feels cheap and the whole thing just felt like it'd never work. I sort of knew those things going in but attracted by the price and the majority good reviews I bought it anyway. Well I'm glad that I did! I finished my first day using my extension cord coiled up in the WW-1 for lawn care purposes and it performed fantastically.

â–ºInstallation:
Installation is relatively straightforward and no surprises for me. You'll want to mount the bracket directly onto a 2x4 or some other sturdy item in your area. The WW-1's main body does require some assembly - installing the hand crank (either left or right side cranking is user selected); installing the choke. I had this up on my wall and ready for the cord in about ten minutes.

â–º100ft Cord:
Exactly as advertised the WW-1 can handle a standard duty, outdoor rated, 100-foot extension cord. My initial attempt to wind the cord wasn't very promising but after getting the first couple loops started the rest fell into place. The instructions do make it clear that the cord should be laid out and free of any kinks before winding. I did my best to do that but on a cold day the cord was still a little tough in spots. My advice with this product is to put your extension cord through it a few times first. I found that as I used my cord and wound it back into the WW-1 it got easier to make a perfect spiral as the cord develops a sort of memory.

I was looking at some more expensive metal cord winding options but I'm glad I gave this product a try first. It works perfectly and saved me more than a few bucks. Very satisfied and I'd buy this product again!

This device really does work like magic! After the VERY simple install, it winds up a 150ft extension cord quickly and easily and I can't imagine ever doing it the "old school way" again. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars were a few simple issues, but nothing that should keep you from immediately ordering one of these gems.

My first issue was on assembly. The unit comes with some assembly required - simply put, you have to install the handle and the part they call the yoke. The handle winds the main pulley that reels in the cord. The yoke pushes the cord against the winder wheel to keep it in contact and promote enough friction to wind the cord. Well - the handle has a spindle or axle that goes thru the unit. On each side are two bushings that slip into two holes drilled into the body of the unit. On mine, one of the bushings was a tad too small, or the grommet that slips into it was a bit too big. So winding the unit felt too difficult. I had to use a fingernail file / emergy board (it was the best option for this) to reduce the size of the insert until it fit nicely. That and a little lithium grease and the unit operated smoothly. The design of this product is such that you can over tighten the small screw that holds it together, causing the winder to bind up. If the main pulley had a sleeve that prevented the sides of the main body from crushing against the pulley it would prevent this, but would also add complexity to the design.

But the other issue is that you need TWO hands to wind up a cord, not one. You have to pull the yoke to maintain pressure against the winding wheel while you crank the handle with the other. While this again results in a simple and elegant design, it could be improved by a simple flip lever that uses a spring to put pressure on the yoke. Flip the lever the other way and the spring is disengaged. Now I will admit that different amounts of pressure are needed depending on what you are winding and so on. 3 different springs - light, medium, and firm would help a lot and might be cost effective. I plan to use a small spring or mini-bungee to simulate this as my simple cord for my leaf blower and other items will likely work just fine. You can do the same if you want/need one-handed operation.

Last thought - the inlet of the unit is great, allowing for smooth inflow of any cord. I found that in my garage, the cord would drag along the garage door track. This was easily solved with a short 7 to 8 inch section of PVC pipe with some smooth edge fittings. The inlet of the main body of this unit is ALMOST identical to a 2 inch standard PVC pipe. Which means that a 2 inch PVC pipe coupling almost fits over it perfectly. But the inlet isn't quite round and the coupling has to be forced on. If the design were improved so that the inlet was the standard size as a 2 inch PVC pipe, it would make the unit easily expandable using off-the-shelf PVC parts, allowing you to reel in cord around simple corners and such. You couldn't add much length but it would add value and functionality to an already great product.

Overall though, for the price paid you really can't go wrong. And a nice touch - they included two of the mounting brackets so you can put your cord in two convenient places. I assume you could buy more of these mounts too - making this reel pretty portable and more functional.

I have read a number of the reviews for this product and have my own opinion. I received this as a gift about 10 years ago from my sister. She bought one and loved it so much, she got one for me and my father. Not being a gadget guy, I was skeptical at first. That didn't last long. As I said, I have had one of these for 10 years and it has not been treated well. It has lasted until about a month ago when I did it in. I am the kind of person who needs well-built things. If this plastic and netting item can last me 10 years, it should last others much longer. I did order another one and noticed there is a new addition to the old one, a means to pivot the winder. If I had this on my original one, it may have lasted longer but I doubt it.

I recommend this product to all the guys I know who use an extension cord around the house. I am going to purchase one for work in a few days. I'll mount it in the garage where we keep a shop vac to clean out our vehicles. I get tired of seeing the cords lying around all over the floor and this neat product will solve that problem in a flash (or a wind).

Pros: Holds plenty of cord for me to use my leaf blower everywhere I need around my house. It stores it where I can get to it easily. Deploying the cord is just a matter of grabbing the end and walking the distance you need. When you are finished just press the top lever back and wind away.

Cons: The ONLY drawback I can see is easily fixed by me not being such a tightwad and buying a longer extension cord. The two cords I have (had and will have again) seem to hang up in the mouth of the winder. This requires feeding it through manually and back to winding. That's the only complaint I have.

I had a couple of extension cords hanging up in my garage. They were coiled, and were OK, but it was a pain to have to get one off the wall, then plug it in, and uncoil it enough to use whatever tool I was plugging in. Then after use, the wiping it down (it was resting on the garage floor after all), re-coiling it, and re-hanging it on the wall. I wanted something more user friendly. I looked at the winding cans, and they looked promising, but when i saw the wonder winder, I thought that looked really nice, and I gave it a try.

The winder arrived, and I opened the box. It is all plastic with the exception of the screws. Don't let that scare you. This looks like pretty heavy duty plastic. I don't think it would survive me hitting it with the car while pulling into the garage, but I can't imagine anything else that might happen in my garage that would destroy it.

I read the directions, and then promptly lost them (as I am prone to do). About 2 weeks later I decided to put it up in the garage. I was a little concerned about not having the directions, but figured if I got stuck, I could always find them online somewhere. Well, the assembly of this winder is just about idiot proof, because I got it put together in no time flat. I put the cord in, and started winding, and it does do what it is supposed to do, it winds the cord nicely, and helps the organization of my garage.

My only complaints are:
1. The pressure you have to put on the handle to create the friction to pull the cord. This has been addressed in other reviews, and the suggestion is that you sand the main wheel slightly to give it a roughed up surface. I haven't tried that yet, and I'm not sure it is a big enough complaint that I want to do this. We'll see... One thing to note, if you do sand it, and you ruin the wheel, the nice part is that you can purchase just a wheel from the Green leaf company. They are currently about $2.50 if I read their website correctly.
2. The cord sometimes will travel in the "mouth" of the winder, and then get caught up between the wheel and the sidewall. I think this was caused because I didn't tighten the screw into the handle adequately, and after tightening it has gotten better, but I still seem to have it happen occasionally and I don't think I should have that problem.

Overall, this is absolutely a good purchase, it "cleans up" my garage, and make it look better. It is similar to an air hose. You can have it wrapped up and coiled and it looks OK, but it looks better on a retractable hose reel.

I'm very pleased with this. I use a few electric-powered garden tools, such as a blower/vac and a hedge trimmer, and keeping the cord organized has always been a chore. This little gadget makes cord storage and use a lot easier.

Very easy to use. The only issue I had with installation is that the mounting bracket has an arrow that points up. However, if you mount it with the arrow up, the unit ends up being tilted. Before screwing in the bracket, hold it up to where you want to mount it with the unit attached. That will show you the correct mounting position. Don't trust the arrow!

I'm having no problems using it with 16 gauge, 100 foot line. I tried it with 14 gauge and it worked OK, but there was a bit of a struggle to get the line wound up properly. My 14 gauge is only 25 feet, but I'd guess 75 foot would fit. Don't even try it with 12 gauge. It's not sturdy enough to handle that and survive for long. A better bet for 12 gauge is the more expensive bucket-type holder, such as: Quick Winder RAP-100 Electric Cord and Fiber Optic Cable Reel

The "cage" that holds the cord is made of string. That will probably be the first point of failure. To help extend its life I remove the holder from the bracket when done so that the weight of the cord is not constantly stretching the cage.

Not the most sturdy holder I've seen, but easy to use and well worth the price, especially if you catch it as a gold box deal or on a price dip.