Testimonials

The City of Belton Fire Department purchased one Hose Mule in last year’s budget because we had heard lots of good stuff about this device. The Hose Mule™ was delivered and installed on Quint fire apparatus. We also installed mounting brackets on all other fire pumpers within the department. After a short training period, our firefighters got to use the Mule during our annual hose testing session. All Larger Diameter Hose (LDH) was laid out for testing and then re-loaded using The Hose Mule™. Our firefighters all agreed that picking up the LDH was much easier than using the standard method. We have also utilized the
Hose Mule on a recent structure fire where we laid over 900 feet of LDH. The Hose Mule™ was greatly needed after this fire since our department is a small department in Central Texas with limited staffing. I would recommend the purchase of The Hose Mule™ for any size department.

Roy Harmon
Fire Chief / EMC
Belton, Texas



The Hose Mule™ that we purchased from you several months ago was very easy to install on our apparatus. It has really cut down on the amount of time it takes to drain and place the hose back on top of our trucks. Also, it cuts down on the amount of firefighters it takes to put the apparatus back in service. One other factor is the way the Mule gets all of the air out of the hose as it drains it. We have a much flatter and neat load.

Chief Henry Horelica
Cameron Volunteer Fire Department
Cameron, Texas



One of the most dreaded tasks in the fire service is loading large diameter hose at the end of an incident. In 2008, a machine to load large diameter hose and named The Hose Mule™ was demonstrated by Clint Baker at our Fire Department. After purchasing and using The Hose Mule™, I have determined that it lessens additional fatigue on firefighters while loading hose at the end of an incident, enhances firefighter safety by driving forward and not backing at a more constant or controlled speed, and reduces the potential of back injury.

Glen Arthur
Fire Chief
Hewitt Fire Department



I, Jim Menefee, Lorena Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief, have been a personal friend and associated with Clint Baker, the founder and inventor of the "Hose Mule" for approximately 30 years. Our department, the Lorena Volunteer Fire Department, in Lorena, Texas, is a small rural/urban community about 10 miles south of Waco. We are proud to say that we had hands on practice and helped with the initial workings and development of the unit from its original design to the final models available today.

After installation of the original "Hose Mule" unit made available to us, we have had several structure fires with 700-1000 ft of 5" LDH on the ground and have picked up and re-loaded these hose lays all in under 10 minutes.

We classify the "Hose Mule" as one of our most important team members. Although it doesn’t wear bunker gear, the overall speed and the mechanics of the lifting, the pulling, the water draining, plus the ability to control the rate of speed at which the men in the hose bed handle the hose, helped us reload over 2200 feet of 5" hose we were testing in just over 20 minutes. This would have normally been at least an hour or more, involving 6-10 firefighters, and would have strained a few backs and shoulders during this process.

In my opinion, the "Hose Mule" is a hose reloading invention that should be specified and included on every new or refurbished apparatus, simply because it saves firefighters, paid or volunteer, from painful back strains and time away from the station and family. There should not be any lost time back injuries attributed to re-loading hose if a department has one of these on their engines.

Truly, this is one of the best new tools in the fire fighting industry, and after using it for the 1st time, you will see why we are extremely lucky and proud to have one in our station.

Jim Menefee
Fire Chief, Lorena VFD
Lorena, Texas



My company, Fire Flow Technology, provides Large Flow Water Delivery Training to municipal and industrial fire departments nationally. I teach heavily on the use of Large Diameter Hose to move large volumes of water up to 6". Putting the hose evolutions together involves strategic planning on the fire ground, which can include hundreds and even thousands of feet of hose, which is easily laid out by a fire apparatus. However, after the fire is out and the troops are tired is when the work actually intensifies when the replacement of the hose begins. I can honestly say that The Baker Hose Mule has made a world of difference in picking up large diameter hose. With a crew of four and a coordinated effort, picking up hose has become as easy as making folds in the hose bed. The Mule drains and picks up the hose as the engine drives along side of it. No more hand rolling and draining 100 feet sections of hose weighing up to 100 lbs. Let the Mule do the work. I would recommend The Hose Mule™ to any department that utilizes large diameter hose.

Paul Shapiro, Director
Fire Flow Technology
Boulder City, Nevada



Our department is very pleased with the purchase of The Hose Mule™ from the newest recruit to the veteran firefighters. The Hose Mule™ has reduced the time and labor involved with reloading large diameter hose. We use it whether at an incident or testing hose. Not having to uncouple or roll any hose and The Hose Mule™ picking up and putting the hose in the hose bed is a giant plus! I believe we have also reduced the chance of injuries due to minimizing time that we have to handle the hose. The price of the machine is far less than a single claim when the personnel are injured from handling hose. I would recommend the purchase of The Hose Mule™ to any department that has to load any size of hose. After using it, all of our firefighters believe in this product.

Gerald Groppe
Fire Chief
Robinson Volunteer Fire Department