Gear-driven

I've heard great things about the gear driven from people who should know. N&W should know. Unfortunately all the great things I heard came after I had gone to the oscillator type. Here is a picture of my old one at work...

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I have used every sprinkler type (except for gear driven) twice. I finally came back to the oscillator because it is the only one that can cover 2000 square feet perfectly evenly. Most recently I had been duped into using an impact type. The problem with those is that they leave large dry spots that need supplemental water before a week is up. So with that one I had to walk the lawn every day following my weekly watering day to check for dry spots. Now I can run the oscillator and trust that I got even coverage.

The sprinkler in the picture is the old gear type. The newer ones are "turbine" powered. Not sure what that means because I have not broken one apart to see how it works. I do know that it works at very low flow. The older ones would stop oscillating at low flow so that wasn't working inside our littler garden beds.

Thanks fellas. I'd love to hack together a system, but I just can't justify it. I think the oscillator type may be the way for me to go.

Thanks again.

dchall: That is truly a fascinating picture. And there is a lot to be said for the value of oscillating sprinklers. They do have their place in the world of effective watering. I still use oscillating sprinklers, and will continue to use them in situations where they are effective for their purpose.

dchall: That is truly a fascinating picture.

I know, right? Layers of green and layers of water challenge your depth perception.

dchall, your picture shows one of the problems I have with oscillating sprinklers -- after some use, the individual sprays are no longer evenly spaced, and can even cross each other. I've tried cleaning the nozzles with the supplied tool, but it doesn't help much.

The other problem is the extra water deposited at the far end of the sprinkler's oscillation. I once had a sprinkler with a special cam designed to fix that. But it would stall altogether sometimes, so I threw it away. Do you have any sprinklers with a special cam?

Regarding impact sprinklers, are you talking about a predictable dry spot surrounding the sprinkler, or unpredictable dry spots due to other factors?

Predictable dry spot. This same question was posted on another forum I participate in. My friends over there explained to me that I did not have my impact sprinkler adjusted right and there is a sweet spot that provides very even water over the full circle. Perhaps my plastic sprinklers were not made well enough to be able to do that or I just gave up trying to find the sweet spot.

You are exactly right about the nozzles getting off. That is my only issue (besides water pressure). I fiddled with one of my sprinklers yesterday and broke a nozzle off (cheap plastic nozzles). SURPRISE! It comes out perfectly now. One good thing about the non turbine models is the nozzles were made of brass or better plastic. Brass has serious issues but it is very easy to clean out. The model I'm buying now has soft Nylon nozzles.

The best oscillating sprinkler I ever had was the Gardena Aquazoom 1979. Nozzles you can clean with a built in tool and also easily aim from narrow to wide. Adjustable oscillation from full, to right, left, or center in infinite increments. Adjustable water flow. An accurate timer that works independent of the water supply pressure. Mine worked for many years until it got damaged. I miss it. Click the link to see it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardena sprinkler at Amazon

Wow. That is a lot of a sprinkler.

My yard is fairly large. For my purposes I buy three of the cheapest, lightest plastic "pass through" sprinklers from a box store and run them about 100 feet apart in line on a hose using a fourth oscillating sprinkler on the end.

I can water most of the front yard at one tine that way. Mostly I do this to keep my newly planted trees alive.

If the grass can not live with the "uneven pattern" I want it to die now so I can plant something hardier. This will help me out more in the future by limiting my labor.

Now if you want to have xxx type of grass in xyz climate you just might have to baby it along for eternity.

Nice sprinkler rdaystrom. Never heard of it. Mine is a very cheap knockoff of that one.

I have a small patch of lawn in my front lawn that does not get wet much with my sprinklers. In fact, my street is the one getting watered down ;-(

What are your suggestions? I'd like to hear your opinions/suggestions before I think of hiring a pro.

I have 4 Orbit standard 2.5" sprinklers. I tried rain bird dual spray, but it seems like there was not enough water pressure to get the sprinkle heads to pop up and spray. I assume rain bird uses different rate springs.

Thanks in advance.

Here is a link that might be useful: Orbit spray pattern

^ That's not enough info.

Back to the topic. I can't help it. I love the sound of a nice heavy impact sprinkler. I tried the oscillator, but it takes forever to water my lawn that way. I just ordered a few Rainbird brass impacts from amazon to replace my plastic ones.

Ok, a little more nitpicky than a sprinkler. Whats your favorite garden hose? As in weight to cost ratio? Like a heavy weight hose that is 50ft, vs a lighter weight hose that is 100ft?