I have found the same thing with the little mini reels. Real handy for short sections of fence, but nothing I want to use for any distance. Also, I was surprised at how well those cheap electric cord reels work. A little bit of a pain to tie off at the end of a run, but hold a lot of wire, and reel up pretty fast.
Yea, I like those electric cord reels. The best I’ve found is to put the non conductive handle on the end of the line, then hang the reel with a rubber bungee cord