Sprinkler system

[Iplayfarmer]

So, I'm tilling up my back yard and I'm going to re-slope the lawn away from the house. While I have everything torn up, I think I want to put in a sprinkler system.

I've got a Meyers 3/4 hp pump for my irrigation well. I haven't put any guages to it, but it puts out a lot of flow without a lot of pressure.

In your various experience, what kind of sprinkler systems work the best? Any suggestions that would help me in planning this system would be helpful.

 

[Gatorboy]

Check out the Rain Bird and/or Toro websites -- you should get a good start there.

I installed a sprinkler system at my home back when I lived in Florida. It's a relatively easy task to do -- I think it took me 2 days to do mine.

 

[jjcc246]

I have a rainbird system. Very happy with it. Main thing is enough water pressure to run it. I have 3 zones with 4 heads each and i needed (i think) 32 psi to run it properly. Also if your temps. get to freezing you have to blow it out. I use a air compressor hooked up in line after the water shut off valve. after shutting the water off i hook the compressor in and manually open the valves (through the brain box) and wait for all the water to blow out. very easy to install.

 

[Highbeam]

"Main thing is enough water pressure to run it."
-Whoops, I think you mean flow. Though when you lack flow, pressure goes down. If the pipes are sufficienlty large, then you just have to be able to move enough gallons per minute for the heads. Each head will take so many gpm and that limits how many heads can be on at once. The GPM rating will be stickered right on the head for normal operating pressure.

I have a 48 head system in my back yard right now with 7 seperate zones. Sprinkler systems are really very inexpensive to purchase it is the installation labor that gets expensive. My whole system was only like 500$ in materials. Add a zero to have it installed in my area.

My water consumption has gone down, grass stays greener, and I don't have to drag hoses around after work on the nice hot summer days when I would rather be barbecueing dinner and drinking whiskey.

Do it, you'll be glad.

 

[AntrimMan]

Another important feature, besides flow, is a clean supply.
I use a pond, mind you it's not a puddle, it's 315 acres and class B, and I drop my intake into about 5 feet of water. The foot valve sits inside some hollow cement blocks to keep it out of the dirt. Even so, there are always bits of weed clogging up some holes in the sprinklers. When that happens the system pressure available to the other holes is increased and the pattern changes.
I bought a FlowJet pump and tank setup years ago. The pump is all plastic and it has worked fine. Before the hard freeze comes I do blow the sysyem out using an end off an old washing machine hose connected to the compressor then I take the foot valve off and lay the intake along the shore. The pump is in the cellar so no freezing concern there. In the spring I use a complete washing machine hose to couple the house well system to the irrigation system, one faucet to the other, and let the house charge the irrigation system while I hold the foot valve open. Then I de-couple, put the intake in the pond, turn the pump on and I'm good to go.
You would think with all the water I can use that the grass would be gorgeous. Nope. I don't fertilize because of the pond. I use the water for the flower beds and gardens instead. People who fertilize grass get what they deserve, cutting it twice a week. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Cutting grass interferes with sippin' whiskey /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif so I'm at least one up on ya HighBeam. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

All the best,
Martin

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Help me out... You say that you have a rain-bird system. Does this mean rainbird makes standard sprinkler system type units too, or do you have the good old pulsating original style rain birds?

I had thought about putting in the pulsating type somehow, but I didn't know if it would work.

If I can get the back yard to work, I might just put something into the pasture too. It's only about a half acre.

So...What kind of sprinklers are you using?

 

[Farwell]

My well has a 3/4 hp pump and will power two of the pulsating sprinkler heads. Rainbird or other sprinkler companies may offer heads for lower pressure systems. I have tried the area heads and my system will easily drive 6 or more of this type head at a time. I do not have an underground system and use 5/8 inch garden hose between the pulsating heads. I have been casually looking for 3/4 inch garden hose thinking that bigger hose may help me drive a few more of the pulsating heads. The city water system I was on in California had 80 lbs water pressure and I used a pressure regulator in part of my water system to keep it from blowing apart. I have not measured my well pressure yet, guess I could look at my pressure tank and that would tell me.
Farwell

 

[anojones]

The Rainbird, Toro and Orbit websites will all design a system for you if you give them some basic info and the layout of the area you want to set up.

 

[Westonium]

You may need to concern youself with freeze-thaw. If you go with PEX you would only have to worry about abrasion. If you go with PVC you have to concern yourself with 1 inch of length change for 50 degrees change in temperature. Meaning - don't have any super long shallow runs filled with water when winter hits.

There may be other piping systems out there for buried irrigation.

If you go with PVC - PM me for some tips I found handy. I put in about a thousand or so feet of it at our last house in Norco, CA on 1 acre property.

Definitely not hard. A little extra investment up front in work and not skimping will save you tons of misery and digging later.

 

[keeney]

Definitely use the free guide on the Toro website. It has all the instructions on how to do this. Other mfg may have this info as well.

My $0.02 worth of personal advice:

A: Do the design work on paper before you start digging.

Designing your system on paper is much easier than trying to redistribute the zones or change the head spacing after its in the ground.

B: Make sure you do the calculations to make sure you have enough pressure at each head with all the heads in a zone running at their rated flow, including the pressure drops of all the pipe and any elevation increases. The 3/4 HP pump mentions is likely only good for 6 to 8 GPM at 40 PSI. Thats only a single full-circle geared head in a typical residential setup.

C: Make sure you place the heads so that they overlap by 100%. This overlap helps with even-ness. Also, its really obvious on your lush green lawn if there are any dry spots getting 0% water. If the heads are rated for 35' radius at 30 PSI, put them 30 to 35' apart, not 70'.

D: Pay attention to trees and shrub locations when planning the system. Its detrimental to the roots and a PITA when you try to trench-in sprinklers too close to big trees. Also sprinklers can't spray through to the other side of tree trunks, evergreen trees, or thick shrubs. Low-hanging branches can block the spray pattern as well.

It may also seem an obvious thing to consider buildings and other obstructions, but I learned the hard way that one of the sprinklers I installed in my front yard was poorly placed. I turned the zone on for the initial test and watched it drill the side of the mailbox a few feet away. Not only did it obstruct a significant portion of the coverage area, it also soaked the mail inside. It was easier to move the mailbox.

- Rick