Tag Archives: rotors

Jul 20 2012

How we picked our team. Irrigation supplies, major league


Ever wonder why a company picks certain products to carry?  Sometimes it is obvious: if you are going to sell groceries you need to sell Kraft products. Sometimes it is not, like the Tabasco flavored tequila now on the market. Don’t try that one. Seriously.

Choosing the product lines for Sprinkler Warehouse involved both the obvious and the lesser known. The major requirement of each brand was that it was reliable, did what it said it would do and would show our pride in our company.

The obvious. You cannot discuss irrigation without involving Hunter and Rain Bird. Both of these companies are dedicated to irrigation and produce a full line of products. It would be extremely difficult to think of an irrigation requirement that they cannot fulfill.

There are a few others.

The one you’ve heard of but didn’t think about for irrigation.

The Toro Company. Ever wonder why it’s named “Toro”? I did. Seems it was started in 1916 to build tractors for Bull Tractors. Fits right in there, doesn’t it?  Toro is most famous for its commercial and residential lawn and tractor equipment, snow blowers and utility vehicles.  Not as well known is the fact Toro has been in the irrigation business since 1962. They produce a full complement of irrigation supplies and have one of the most innovative controllers on the market, the battery operated and waterproof DDCWP. They also produce the highly efficient Precision Series spray nozzle.

Some you may not have heard of but need to.

The K-Rain Corporation.  It’s not often you find a company started by a rocket scientist. This one is. It was founded 1974 by Carl Kah, a former manager of the U.S. Air Force’s reusable rocket engine program. According to Carl, “Thespace program set an example for all of us in business to follow. There is always something that needs to be improved.”  K-Rain keeps improving, having over 90 patents so far, including one for the Indexing valve, a Kah invention that reduces the need for five valves down to one. Their continuing quest for improvement enables them to bring quality products to market with prices noticeably lower than many of their competitors.

The DIG Corporation. DIG was founded in 1981 to do one thing and one thing only: provide efficient, cost effective low volume irrigation systems. “Low volume” is commonly known as drip or micro irrigation. That’s all they do and they are very good at it. They have anything you can think of for a drip system, whether it’s in your garden, your flower pots, under turf or in plant nurseries. They drip, spray, fog, mist and stream. They also provide the LEIT controllers. Powered by ambient light, LEIT controllers are much more sensitive than solar power, giving you more options for controller locations.

Cyber Rain Inc.  No other irrigation controller out there is as versatile, flexible, high-tech and just flat cool as the Cyber Rain Cloud controller. Need shade, order up a cloud, no problem! (sorry, couldn’t resist.) The Cyber-Rain Cloud controller does everything you can ask for and you control it from anywhere. Whip out your Android, iPhone or Blackberry phone, check your system performance, make changes and, instead of Zone 1 or Zone 4 you see a picture of the area. Why remember zone numbers when you can see what it covers? It checks the weather and automatically adjusts your irrigation schedule to match and, since Cyber-Rain uses the internet, weather updates are always free! Now folks, that’s pretty hard to beat.

Every member of our team was drafted after careful consideration. We’re glad to have them and look forward to the upcoming series/bowl.

Jul 18 2012

Don’t listen to your sprinkler repair man. Better yet, don’t ask.


I’ll start by telling you that’s what I do. I repair sprinkler systems. This does cause a problem, as I’m telling you not to listen to me. Luckily, that’s handled by quantum metaphysics and we can skip ahead.

We are frequently asked: “What’s the best —?” Truth is, we usually don’t know. What we do know is what works for us. We have two basic requirements: we want to make a profit on the repair and we want the product to be good enough that we are not called back for warranty service. This defines our ‘best’ product.

We lose money on warranty repairs. This is bad.

We are also a conservative bunch. We don’t want to be the first one to try the new product and see if it lasts. We go with what we know.  We use the same rotors, the same controllers, the same pop-ups time and again.  I’ll go over a few of those and what might be better.

Pop-ups and nozzles

The Rain Bird 1800 series is one of the most popular popups out there, if not the most popular. It’s my default purchase. Why? Because in the years I was training my supervisors told me to go with the 1800s. Who am I to argue with the boss? Therefore it’s what I know and what I recommend.

What about the Hunter Pro Spray, Toro 570Z, and K-Rain 7800? All good, all in the same price range. The one you’ve never heard of, the K-Rain, might have the best seal in the bunch. Looks that way in drawings and specs. However, I install 1800s and don’t want to experiment.  See the problem here? I’m passing on a potentially better popup available at the same price just because I don’t want to try it and risk a warranty call.

How about nozzles? Rain Bird, Hunter and K-Rain are all extremely popular, pretty much same precipitation rate, all in the same price range. Which is best? Might be the Toro Precision nozzles. In a 12’ full circle spray they use about 1.3 gallon per minute less. Other sizes have similar savings.  Minimizes run off, helps with low gpm systems, and has an efficient pattern.  Why don’t I use and recommend them? They cost twice as much, if not more, than the others. People don’t want to pay for something they really can’t see and one nozzle spraying water looks like any other.

A quick note about something you’ve never heard of: K-Rain. K-Rain makes good products, has 90+ patents in the industry, is very competitively priced and apparently has one of the worst marketing programs around. Have you ever heard of it? People who don’t have irrigation systems know of Rain Bird, Hunter and Toro. There are many pros who don’t know about K-Rain. It’s hard for someone to recommend something they’ve never heard of.

Rotors

The most popular rotor out there is the Hunter PGP. Sells by the tens of thousands. Is it the best? Don’t know.  I sure put in a bunch of them. To be honest I like the Rain Bird 5000 “Rain Curtain” spray coverage better. The Toro T5 and the K-Rain 11000 series are in the same price range but you get a 5” pop-up instead of a 4”.  An extra inch for nuthin’. But people know Hunter and it works so I stay with it.

Controllers

I like and install Hunter. Good and reliable. That’s not the main reason I install it. Look at the face of Hunter controllers. They all look the same. I don’t have to worry about going to service a system and having to remember different brands or carry manuals with me. And, of course, I tend to recommend Hunter for the same reason.

Now look at  K-Rain series. Their controllers  are usually lower than both Rain Bird and Hunter, they also have a standard front and they are reliable. I could save you money by installing them if I were a bit more adventurous. Unfortunately, I’m a coward when it comes to money and warranties.

The point to all this is that your repairman will give you a safe answer. He works in the field all day, knows what works for him and  makes his life easier. The product might or might not be the best but it will be safe for him to recommend and it will work.

There are a lot of products out there that don’t get the exposure they should. Check our site for ideas. At Sprinkler Warehouse we try to give you all the details along with links to different manuals. A lot of information there to help you make a better choice and far more variety than many repair people have ever seen.

Jul 13 2012

It’s the little rotors’ turn to turn, turn, turn…hmmm…I should put that to music.


Like the Little Engine that Could, some rotors just refuse to accept limitations. There is a whole bunch of over-achiever rotors available for smaller systems or smaller areas just eager to show you what they can do. Retro-fitting an old system? Need to cover a smaller area? Only have a ½” supply line? Listen! You can hear them yelling “Pick me! Pick me!”

Take a look at the K-Rain MiniPro, the  Hunter PGJ, the Toro Mini-8  and the Rain Bird 3500. Designed for smaller areas and retrofits these rotors fit areas too small for standard rotors but too large for standard spray heads. Coverage on these range from a low of 15’ to a high of 37’. Since most spray nozzles stop at 15’ and most rotors start at 25’+/- this fits right in.

Since they use a ½” connection you don’t need to run new pipe to get the same type coverage as their bigger siblings and you can match their precipitation rate. Have an older system that no longer provides the head to head coverage it should? Simply use these to regain coverage and possibly eliminate a head or two. For example, if your spray heads are 15’ apart you can replace each head with one of these set for 15’ or you could replace every other head with one of these set for 30’, eliminating the middle head.

For mid-range coverage they do everything the bigger rotors do and do it just as well.  And they are far more enthusiastic.

Once again I want to say that our talented graphics department had nothing to do with these graphics. Don’t want to embarrass them.

Jul 5 2012

The sprinkler rotor keeps moving and the spray head won’t budge. Which one is right?


Congratulations. You just bought a football team. Now you have a football field to water. You decide to use pop up spray heads with a 15’ radius. You can get a very efficient pattern of coverage with only 147 spray heads. Of course, you’ll constantly repair them as the players will stomp them into the ground. If, after a tackle, a player comes up with a spray nozzle in his nose I extend my sympathies to you.

How about planting a flower garden? Oh, about 6’ wide x 20’ long. Now I’ll use a rotor to irrigate it. For highest efficiency I’ll plant the rotor about 20’ past the end of the garden, spraying back in. I’ll also set it’s rotation to the standard minimum 40o angle, which means it also waters an extra 21’ of yard at the end of its arc. Hope that doesn’t hit your sidewalk.

People get confused about which type of sprinkler to use. On the one hand rotors put out a lot of water and move all around. Must be good, right?

Spray heads have a fixed radius, usually 15’ or less, and just serenely apply this efficient fan of water. No wasted movement, no back and forth agitation. Must be good, right?

The decision on which to use is simple. Answer these questions and the answer falls into place.

1. Is your distance less than 25’? If so, go with popup spray heads. The most popular rotors can’t get any closer than 22’, usually 25’ plus.

2. Wide open area? More than 25’ each direction? Rotors would work.

3. In a planter? Spray head

4. Following the curve of a walkway? Spray head

5. Narrow strip between houses? Spray head

6. Open area now, as in question #2, but you intend to put in planters later? Spray head

7. Football/baseball/soccer field? Rotors

8. Around your deck and pool in back yard? Spray head

The differences

Rotors are designed for open areas. They spray a large volume of area in a back and forth motion, either full or partial circle. Typical distances for residential are 22’ to 50’. There are some that will go down to 15’ but these aren’t normally used in good efficient designs. They are usually used to fix a problem somewhere or to help compensate for a bad design.

Spray heads are usually used on pop up bodies. They spray a consistent amount of water over a fixed area. They are available in various radii and patterns, along with adjustable pattern spray heads. This makes them very adaptable to any situation. In the eight questions above, notice that only two indicate rotors. Also that #2 and #7 are essentially the same thing, so only one situation fits rotors. After that, it’s spray heads.

Or drip. But there is already an article on that.