Gilmour Heavy Duty 2 Way Garden Hose Splitter, Dual Water Hose Splitter with Shut Off Valve, Metal Water Manifold

I love this manifold compared to the other models out there. I dislike those expensive brass manifolds that have those stiff levers that close one way on the left and another on the right that I can never remember to turn the right way. They almost always come with a screw on bracket to support the manifold because the angles of the end ports put too much strain on the faucet with the hose attached.This is what I like about the AY4FFM from Gilmour:Pros:- price is excellent- aluminum is strong and doesn't rust- plenty of threads- all branches face straight down- ball valves are easy to turn (and all close same direction)- full-flow design- 5th port bypass connection- hot water ratedCons:- perhaps higher than normal mineral build up inside (maybe plastic would be better in this case only)- "fatty" tap connector is too deep and too bulkyI can see why galvanic corrosion (brass hose on aluminum threads) could be a problem but a long time ago I gave up fighting with manifolds trying to tighten or loosen the attached hoses when they are cramped so closely together. I always use plastic disconnects and while this does add to the overall cost I feel that all manifolds benefit from having them and I prefer the convenience.If I could make one improvement it would be to the tap connector. Gilmour is using this fat connector on a lot of their hose accessories and while it is very easy to tighten as designed, it is too shallow for many male hose connectors that only have a few threads. These hoses won't seal against the rubber washer if the top of the connector hits something else first (tap knob, wide part of the hose connector, etc).Why 5/5 given the cons? It's better than all of the other items out there that I've tried. I'm using two right now and plan to buy a 3rd through Amazon.

I have had three of the aluminum. The first one I let it freeze, my bad. I had drained the indoor line but it left water in the valves which I forgot to open... The next one lasted about 3 months before it popped it's female connector. I thought maybe I had overtightened it. The third one which I bought to replace the second made it to this year. I made sure to be gentle. It popped it's female inlet, too.The issue is that they use a hard plastic female connector ring that is pushed on and a series of teeth in the ring that engage the aluminum depression ring. The issue is the plastic teeth on the female connector ring fatigue VERY QUICKLY. I had a hose connected that is regulated to 45 PSI, two teeth blew about an hour later and I have water all over the side yard.I had a plastic version of these and I thought the metal would do better. No so, the female ring is put on the plastic housing and all the parts are GLUED together so they don't fatigue. I had a plastic full-flow splitter for 3 years and it is still working fine. I ordered the much cheaper plastic on.The reason I want these is it has a gate valve a oversized chambers that allow a LOT more water to get through. I use this for irrigation so I have made sure I have 3/4 pipe all the way out to this splitter which has the control valves. So I want the flow. You only have to look at the hole in the ball valves to see the difference!

Strong aluminum manifold that allows for direct straight in line feed. No curves to off set garden hoses.

Been using these splitters for many years, they work good for a while but they don't like very hot weather, and they don't like very cold weather. As long as they are put away in winter, I can get 2-4 seasons use out of them before the junction between the plastic hose bib connector and the metal splitter part breaks or otherwise fails. Also, the protrusions on the plastic connector always get in the way of the hose bib, so I always have to cut them off before installation.They used to be reasonably priced, but now they are getting expensive, so this purchase may be my last as I re-plumb my watering system to have full-flow without the use of these components.

I decided to switch all my outdoor garden hose from 5/8" to 3/4" to increase flow rate and this was one of the few full flow, metal, two way valves I could find where the internal diameter of the valve didn't significantly impact the flow rate and defeat the purpose of switching to the 3/4" ID hose. Also, Gilmore makes quality products. I have one of their metal sprinklers that's probably 25 years old and still works great.ld andt.

I live in New England so I have to disconnect everything from, and winterize my spigots. When you connect this device new, fresh out of the box, it is great. On the spigot in the front of my house, I connect it, have timers connected, and I don't touch the unit again until I disconnect it at the end of the season. For the one I have connected to the spigot in my back yard, I turn things on and off, manually, and the wear and tear from doing so will diminish the life expectancy of the unit. I expect no more than 2 years out of these (anything else is a bonus) and as a result, try to keep an eye out for them when they are on sale in order to avoid paying full retail. I like this for it's features (full flow was a must) but they are probably only worth it when priced below full retail.

This is not a heavy piece, very light weight, thin material - but I don't plan to use it when it's freezing out.My main goal was a 4-shutoff unit with full flow -this one has it! Most all valves / controls have about 3/8" port for flow, this one has almost 5/8" which is what I wanted. The price was way cheaper than one I could make myself with PVC, and it has a total of five ports for hoses - Perfect for my use. Just ordered a second one..I would definitely recommend this shutoff valve!

I use this on the water supply to our seasonal trailer. One branch goes to the trailer, the other to an outside hose. I very much appreciate the large openings in the valves that allow good water flow to the trailer. Most other adapters choke the water supply, reducing the flow to the trailer.

These are full flow as it says and the end cap is nice to daisy chain this to other devices.

Crappy plastic fitting. Very disappointed, as Gilmore is a name I had higher quality expectations from. The high flow is great but the plastic parts lasted 3 months and broke off my tap. Thankful Amazon customer service provided a full refund. Hopefully Gilmore will redesign.

This splitter has survived a season fine, when connected by a flexible short hose to the spigot, and the valves are fairly easy and smooth to operate. However, the outputs are so close together that it is quite difficult to tighten or loosen a hose from an output that is between two other connected hoses. You can only touch the top and bottom of the female connector, and it is difficult to put much torque on the connector with that limited access. If you plan to install and/or remove all your hoses on the splitter at one time, you can avoid the problem by connecting or disconnecting them one at a time from one side of the splitter to the other.

Initial impression was it a good product that would fit my needs. Operated smoothly, had a nice finish. but less than three months after putting into use the plastic nut that attaches the unit to the water supply broke. This had potential but was not robust enough to last. I would not recommend.