saturday project

[londonrain]

Switched my entire system over to MProtators. When we moved into our house, over 15 years ago, I just put in a half assed systems since we have house water and irrigation off a well and I did not want to run our well dry.

Saturday I reworked the entire front yard into two zones with 6 heads on each zone. Using a total of 6.65gpm on each zone while maintaining 30psi out of my 1/2hp pump. Switched the controller to a Hunter Pro-c so I could use the delay between zones feature and will be installing a Hunter ET system this week. The main reason for the redo was so I can evaluate the ET system on my own yard.

Killed all the grass in the front and plan on seeding fescue, side yard has St. Augustine and back yard has Bermuda. The ultimate testing ground..lol.

Started trenching at 10:30am, cut the phone line at 11:00am, repaired phone line and started trenching again at 11:30am. Tested the front yard at 4:00pm.

http://webpages.charter.net/nixdiecast/yard1.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/nixdiecast/yard2.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/nixdiecast/yard3.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/nixdiecast/yard4.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/nixdiecast/mp1.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/nixdiecast/mp2.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/nixdiecast/mp3.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/nixdiecast/mp4.jpg

[Mike Leary]

Jeez....a sprinkler guy who works on his own system on the weekend????
Who woulda thought? Nice pics, London.:)

[londonrain]

Jeez....a sprinkler guy who works on his own system on the weekend????
Who woulda thought? Nice pics, London.:)Last thing I really wanted to do but since ET is the new Buzz word I figured I would get one more leg up on the competition.

[FIMCO-MEISTER]

Went Hunter ET after all that raving I've done on the WM!? Oh well. We can compare notes. They have more features on their sensor apparatus. That I know.

[londonrain]

Went Hunter ET after all that raving I've done on the WM!? Oh well. We can compare notes. They have more features on their sensor apparatus. That I know.I use the pro-c on most of my installs and I needed the delay function. I am going to see if I can get a free ET from the Hunter rep.

[EagleLandscape]

Went Hunter ET after all that raving I've done on the WM!? Oh well. We can compare notes. They have more features on their sensor apparatus. That I know.

This is true, but when it boils down to water savings and what is necessary to determine how much water to apply, WM takes the cake!

[londonrain]

This is true, but when it boils down to water savings and what is necessary to determine how much water to apply, WM takes the cake!What is the advantage of using WM over the Hunter ET system?

[FIMCO-MEISTER]

What is the advantage of using WM over the Hunter ET system?

Don't know because I've never used the Hunter version. But for future info the WM has a time delay between zones. The WM ET is part of the Controller. The Hunter I believe is a stand alone unit.

[londonrain]

Don't know because I've never used the Hunter version. But for future info the WM has a time delay between zones. The WM ET is part of the Controller. The Hunter I believe is a stand alone unit.Peter thanks for the info, I will check the price of the WM and the weather station if it is about the same as the Hunter ET then I might just get the WM controller and station.

[FIMCO-MEISTER]

I've yet to see anybody praise the Hunter ET system on Lawnsite. I'm going to post a thread and see if we can't get some feedback.

[londonrain]

This redo was mainly for ET purposes, front yard is now broken into a full sun zone and the other is part sun with two oak trees. Both zones have the same head and nozzle layout and should use the same amount of water give or take a little. Should be a good test for understanding how the ET system will work under different scenarios.

[londonrain]

When I was in the supply house last week I was talking with the Rain Bird rep about ET systems. I asked if many contractors are asking him about ET and he said no not really.
After talking for a little more I asked about the Rain Bird ESP Mod controller problems and this is when he started pulling the new boards out of his truck, gave me four and left two with the supplier and told them Rain Bird will be shipping them more.....
also 8' van nozzles are on hold, Rain Bird's new testing facility is being tough on spec's from what I could gather.

[FIMCO-MEISTER]

When I was in the supply house last week I was talking with the Rain Bird rep about ET systems. I asked if many contractors are asking him about ET and he said no not really.
After talking for a little more I asked about the Rain Bird ESP Mod controller problems and this is when he started pulling the new boards out of his truck, gave me four and left two with the supplier and told them Rain Bird will be shipping them more.....
also 8' van nozzles are on hold, Rain Bird's new testing facility is being tough on spec's from what I could gather.

I'm not surprised RB would downplay ET since they have nothing for the homeowner. What I like about the WM is that the ET and the timer are integrated. Acts as a water manager as well. Not sure how the Hunter works so I can't comment. I know their monitor has a radiant screen. If you have a lot of installed pro-cs you might want to consider the Hunter since it can be added to the existing clock. I decided to go the ET route because I liked the water management concept which is the biggest issue I have with my customers. I always try to be ahead of the curve. I started using the WM SL pretty soon after they came out after going to a class. I rarely jump on a new product because of fear they haven't gotten all the bugs out. This was one I knew I had to be early on.

[PurpHaze]

The home is the best place to evaluate new system components. My back yard has been "renovated" four times in the past 15 years testing new sprinklers. Alas... no ET on it though.

[koster_irrigation]

ITS A MCCULLOUGH COVER UP MACHINE!!!
http://webpages.charter.net/nixdiecast/mp4.jpg

[londonrain]

ITS A MCCULLOUGH COVER UP MACHINE!!!
http://webpages.charter.net/nixdiecast/mp4.jpgYou know it......

[londonrain]

Went Hunter ET after all that raving I've done on the WM!? Oh well. We can compare notes. They have more features on their sensor apparatus. That I know.I went with WM controller and weather monitor.....

[FIMCO-MEISTER]

I went with WM controller and weather monitor.....

Fire away with questions when you have them, I feel very accountable here.

[Wet_Boots]

Hmmmm, I think I could plow poly pipe into that soil, maybe even better with a thin-bladed dinky plow. But I like my knees the way they are (semi-functional) so I'm willing to never find out.

[londonrain]

Hmmmm, I think I could plow poly pipe into that soil, maybe even better with a thin-bladed dinky plow. But I like my knees the way they are (semi-functional) so I'm willing to never find out.

I think you could on my property, which was a old dairy farm so my soil is great the first 8" then it is red clay below.....the norm is all red clay.


http://silverleafgreer.com/history/

[Wet_Boots]

It's all about diminishing returns when you plow in clay. Most of the clay-ey stuff I see is still slightly wet, which is a lot different than it would be if it dried out. If you did manage to plow into dry clay, I expect you'd leave a hump behind, if you were using a standard 3/4-inch-thick plow blade.