In-Ground Sprinkler Heads

[barlowc]

I have an in-group sprinkler system. The current heads are a mix of Rain Bird impulse heads and Hunter gear-drive heads. The controller/timer is a Rain Bird.

I spent the afternoon digging out 6 heads that I need to replace. 4 of them are the Hunter ones and 2 of them are the Rain Bird ones.

My local Lowes carries Rain Bird and Orbit brand heads in both types. My local Home Depot carries Toro brand heads in both types and Orbit brand gear-drive heads.

Any recommendations on what brand to choose or stay away from?

 

[Steve S]

I have a mix of which is the cheapest as I have replaced almost all the sprinklers one at a time as they wear out. I like the impulse ones better because they are quicker to adjust and take dirt better. I do not buy made in China sprinklers.

 

[barlowc]

There doesn't seem to be much of a difference in price; maybe a buck or two per head at the most. Whatever I pick, my intent is to use it across the board and stick with it as I have to replace others.

I was thinking that I'd just stick with the types that are in use right now. I'm not sure why gear-drive were used in some places and impulse in others, but I'm guessing there was a reason. The supply lines for the impulse heads are larger than the gear-drive heads.

 

[Vikas]

Tell me what is your trick in digging them out. I hate doing that. I always think that there has to be some nifty tool to make the digging easier. I have to replace few of them and after I finished the first one, I don't even want to think about doing another one.

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Tell me what is your trick in digging them out. I hate doing that.

No trick. Just hard work. I hate doing it too.

I think I'm leaning towards the Toro heads that Home Depot carries. And I may use gear-driven ones across the board. A few of my impulse heads have so much stuff down in them that it causes them mis-operate and eventually fail.

 

[bigmike]

I don't mind digging them up - it's adjusting them that I can't stand. I must either not have enough education or way too much, but either way I get soaking wet and give the neighbors alot of entertainment.

I've always used rain bird, fwiw. I don't think I ever researched any other brands.

 

[synthetic_crazy]

I used to install sprinkler systems and all we ever used were Hunter irrigation products. They are far superior to Rain-bird or Toro. The up front cost may be more, but it is offset by the years of reliable service they will provide.

 

[Vikas]

Do you have any fancy tool to dig around the head?

My system is approximately 10 years old and its all Hunters. One by one the heads are slowly dying. They must be getting clogged because I can feel the lack of flow causing it not to turn. It is 30 heads system and I have already replaced 5 and at least 5 more to go :-(

If there is a $100 tool to dig around the head, I will buy it in a New York minute!

- Vikas

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: bigmike
I don't mind digging them up - it's adjusting them that I can't stand. I must either not have enough education or way too much, but either way I get soaking wet and give the neighbors alot of entertainment.

Yep, that's me too!

I've tried a bunch of different heads. I've got one circuit (3) that works best with the cheapest all plastic Orbit sprinkler heads. The other two circuits seem to have better coverage with the Rainbird heads

I don't know. I just don't want to adjust them anymore.

 

[Cutehumor]

I bought a house last year with a sprinkler system that has rainbird sprinklers/control module. I'm dreading replacing the heads, I must have almost 20 of them. I imagine they are almost ten years old, but they still work fine.

 

[barlowc]

I went with the Toro ProStream XL gear-driven rotor heads. I just finished Zone 1 which is my front yard consisting of 5 heads. The only thing remaining is some fine adjustments such as swapping out the 3 GPM nozzles for 1.5 GPM ones where the heads have a 90-degree arc pattern instead of 180-degrees.

I think I'm going to do Zone 5 tomorrow which is another 4 heads. One of them is already done so I only have 3 left.

As I put each new head on, I drove an 18" grade stake down into the ground and then secured the head against it using some zip ties. Once I fill the dirt back in you won't see the stake and I'm hoping that it'll help keep the head in the correct position over time.