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love_the_yard

How to Relocate Rotor Head

I need to move/relocate a rotor head. I put in a new flower bed - the one in the center of the first photo below - and need to move the head from the far side of the bed to the inside, next to the lawn. The current (old) location, marked by a white yard stick, and the new location, marked by an orange flag in some of the photos, are labeled in the second photo below. The new position is at least ten feet away from the current position.

I would like to do it right and need some help advice. In the past, when I have relocated heads four to five feet, I have used Funny Pipe. (I relocated this head once before and that is why you see Funny Pipe in the photos.) Since I have to move it so far, I'm thinking that Sched 40 PVC should be used for the majority of the distance. Then use a short piece of Funny Pipe from the Sched 40 to the head. What do you think? Would that work? What parts do I need to buy?

The supply pipe is buried very, very deep - around 15 inches. Would it be ok to elbow up from the supply line and dig the new trench at only 10-15 inches deep? Or does Schedule 40 need to be that deep? Note that there will not have a lawn mower running across the new bed.

I do have PVC cutters, blue wet/dry PVC solvent, teflon tape, etc.

I live in Jacksonville, Florida where the ground does not freeze.

Below are many photos taken tonight after I dug down to the supply line. Thank you in advance for any advice. It is greatly...

Comments (12)

  • mike1059
    11 years ago

    While not recomended as a normal practice, in this one case you can get away with just running funny pipe the full distance buried 6" to 10" deep and you will be fine.

  • Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Mike,

    Thanks for the reply. I measured the distance and it is twelve feet. I have only one piece of Funny Pipe left and it is only eight feet long, so I think I will need to buy Sched 40 pipe.

    Can you help me determine the parts I will need? The Tee off of the supply line is one-inch with female threads. Unfortunately, the threaded opening faces away from the direction in which I need the pipe to go. I made a rough drawing of the layout and parts I think I need - please see photo below. Would you (or any kind person) please review it and see what you think?

    One other concern: I don't know if the opening in the Tee is perfectly horizontal. If the opening is slightly up, then after I put in the elbow, the vertical section of pipe will not be vertical. It will lean a little to the right and then 12-foot section will actually run downhill to the right. Would a 12-foot section of 1-inch Sched 40 PVC have enough give to correct that and lay in a horizontal trench?

    I sure appreciate any feedback before I start digging, buying and gluing. Thank you so much!

    Carol in Jacksonville

    {{gwi:332529}}

    {{gwi:332530}}
    Distance is 12 feet!

  • mike1059
    11 years ago

    There is some flex in the pvc, but if it looks like there will be too much stress on the elbow it would be better to add a second elbow at the tee to get the proper angle.Also when you go to get the parts ask for a 1" street elbow which you have threaded into the tee, then a 1" female adaptor to finish the pvc. Except for those things your layout looks good.

  • Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I just got home from purchasing the parts. In the process of buying, I figured out that I have 1/2-inch PVC, not 1-inch. Duh...

    Mike, I hate to be so dumb, but I can't figure out what you mean by "then a 1" female adapter to finish the pvc". I can't figure out what you mean. Where would the female adapter go? Between which two parts?

    Thanks so much! I appreciate your generosity with your time!

    Carol

  • mike1059
    11 years ago

    The female adaptor is the last fitting on the pvc where the funny pipe fitting threads in.

  • Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Oh, I get it! You were helping me with the correct terminology. Thank you! Somehow the nice guy at the store figured out what I needed after showing him my crude drawing. (I thought you were telling me to insert it next to the tee and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out where/how.)

    Thank you again for your time. I'll let you know how this turns out. :)

    Carol

  • Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I was under the weather for the past two weeks, so the project has not been completed. I am just getting back to it.

    A couple questions about the two street elbows at the tee:

    1) Would these these both be threaded connections (vs. socket connections), except for the opening on the upper elbow where the vertical pipe gets glued in - which would be socket?

    2) Would these elbows be connected together and to the tee by Teflon tape and threading only - no glue/cement, right? I'm thinking that if I use cement, then I will lose the ability to adjust the angle.

    Thanks for sharing your techniques!

    Carol

  • mike1059
    11 years ago

    What you can get is two elbows male by female thread and one elbow male thread by female socket. By taping the threads and lining up the elbows to the proper angle then glueing the pipe into the female socket you should be able to get the level you need.

  • Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Mike,

    Thanks for your reply. Just to make sure I understand, the threaded connections in the elbows would be attached by the teflon tape and threads, right? Those don't ever get glued/cemented, right? What I mean is that they just go into the ground threaded together and that's how they stay.

    Only the last elbow hole - the pipe going into the female socket - gets glued, right?

    Thanks!
    Carol

  • mike1059
    11 years ago

    You've got it exactly. The tape keeps the threads from leaking then glueing the pipe and the last fitting where the funny pipe fitting for the head will thread in is all it will take.

  • tronman5000
    11 years ago

    Funny how Fl people love PVC and up north no one would touch it! All we use is funny pipe. A 12ft run on funny pipe would be fine for a hunter pgp nozzle 6 or 7....not the best but would work...10X quicker too. I never understood the southern installers on this.

  • Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Very interesting. Well, I only talked to Mike and he is in Zone 8, so you must be referring to me. I am not an installer and I don't "love" either product. I am just a homeowner, an amateur and very ignorant on both. So I was just asking for advice. I will say that I want the most output possible (within reason) and therefore going with the PVC. Not sure I would be satisfied with just a 6 or a 7.

    Carol

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