I have a question to all the Z boom guys why do some of you raise the boom in the air and try to flick the hose into the holder Yesterday on my way home I seen a operator doing this concrete splashing all over the place.For me I just would lift in and go never a mess you are not hyper extending and sections If you are going to put a ball in the hose to stop drips and what ever.... the hose is allready there just lift it in takes 5 seconds but this guy yesterday put in his ball raised it up was flicking it like crazy the ball fell out concrete all over everything and the wall guys running for cover in the end when it would not go in he lowered it and placed the hose in on his own.....lol go figure...that.

Same with the roll and folds as well.Hate it when that happens,chase splatter for weeks.

Some of us are professional and know how.  It is also good practice for manipulating sections smoothly in unison. 

Work smarter, not harder. 

But in the idiot's case, he was probably in a hurry.

5" hose is heavy!!!

 Those guy's usually end up taking more time jerkin their booms around than it would've taken to put it in by hand. They're the same guys that dont use their boom straps... lazy. 

I hated that holder on my 36Z, had to almost go over centre to get it in. Much easier to do it on ground. On my 40RZ it was as easy as pie, just fold up and in it went.

Never used an boom strap since we don't get them over here. Anyone else in the EU that use it?

My Reed has no boom strap from factory, no hook to hold the second section to the first, either.

And the first hose holder is too tight against the hose ferrule, iIve got to jump on it to get it into the holder.  I'm thinking I might have to shim the tip clamp to get the reducer and hose to algn with the holder.

Does anyone know, is this normal?

Don't sound normal to me. I've got a problem with the holders being too lose for my 5 inch, so you can get mine.

On my Putz there are 3 places to put the holders and several holes in the holder themselves for the bolts so you can adjust them for any type of hose.

On a  smaller boom Putz ( 40 and under) , if you simply turn the hose holder around on a z boom like it is on a roll and fold, you can easily just push the hose into the holder.  The only time it becomes an issue is when you z into a spot where you are tight to the bottom of the boom.  Use a pin system to keep the hose holders on instead of a bolt and you can pull the hose holders off when it is an issue.  You therefore do not have to go over the top to put the hose away.

I just started to take it off when I fold up. The small 3.5" hose we use around here never stays in the holder.

Have you tried bending in the holder cage?