Brand Opinions

[QuadRacer041]

I own a Landscape maintenance company and i'm starting to getting to irragation sysytem maintenance/repair. What are some of your opinions on brand of products to use.....rotor heads, spray heads, valves and controllers?
The system in my yard has WM heads, Nelson valves and a Nelson Controller. I have done some repairs for customers and think the Rain Birds heads are nice peices.

[Mike Leary]

irragation sysytem peices.

Use spell check, pal. :hammerhead:

[Armadillolawncare]

I think more important then brand is your dealer or distributer. I was in you shoes until very recently. I was trying to decide on brands to install since I am a brand new irrigator. I was referred to the Longhorn dealer by another irrigator and I gave them a call. The dealer rep took the time to drive out 45 miutes and meet with me on the day I called. We spoke at my house for about an hour and he assured me he would give me good service, a fair price and was more then happy to assist with any problems I encountered. I drove out to meet with him a few days later at the warehouse, got some catalogs and placed a small order. While there he looked over my first real design made some suggestions and was very helpful. As long as he provides good customer service I will sell what he carries. He happens to be a Rainbird dealer so now I will primarily install Rainbird.

[Mike Leary]

Can't go wrong with RB products, though their clocks are junk.

[Kiril]

Choose the best of the best .... who makes it does not matter.

[FIMCO-MEISTER]

What city are you near in NEW JERSEY? We have several Jersey posters and they may have a supply house recommendation.

I have three words of advice.
(Unless they are on social security and using oxygen tanks)

UPGRADE UPGRADE UPGRADE

[hoskm01]

Choose the best of the best .... who makes it does not matter.
Agreed.

Each brand has some good stuff, some "best" stuff.

My personal preference is
RB valves, rotors, spray bodies.
MP Rotator nozzles.
Most any "SMART" controller.
Inline drip tubing, RB or Netafim, same same.

[Wet_Boots]

two words ~ Lawn Genie

[QuadRacer041]

Choose the best of the best .... who makes it does not matter.

I thought thats what I was asking?

[QuadRacer041]

What city are you near in NEW JERSEY? We have several Jersey posters and they may have a supply house recommendation.

I have three words of advice.
(Unless they are on social security and using oxygen tanks)

UPGRADE UPGRADE UPGRADE



I'm in Bergen county.

What do you mean UPGRADE UPGRADE UPGRADE???

[QuadRacer041]

Agreed.

Each brand has some good stuff, some "best" stuff.

My personal preference is
RB valves, rotors, spray bodies.
MP Rotator nozzles.
Most any "SMART" controller.
Inline drip tubing, RB or Netafim, same same.


So other companies nozzles are interchangable with prayers??

[FIMCO-MEISTER]

I'm in Bergen county.

What do you mean UPGRADE UPGRADE UPGRADE???

Ah YES! An opening...I can hear the groans rolling across the Adirondacks.

In general sprinklers systems are installed at low bids with inferior parts and generally poor design. The service guy gets to slowly over time fix all that and make it a watering marvel.

Eliminate low head drainage
If the pressure is excessive choke the valves down and/or install pressure reducing heads.
If the runoff is excessive install MP rotators or reset the controller to multicycle
Use smart/ET controllers

These are just a few but there are many more....

[Mike Leary]

These are just a few but there are many more....

Really?.......Let us know.

[Without A Drought]

Bergen Co. has Central, Atlantic, and JDL. I also think Aquarius has a branch just over the border, but can't remember. The Central branch is good for a wide variety of product in stock. JDL never seemed to have what I wanted, unless it was a PGP or something else very common.

[WalkGood]

What city are you near in NEW JERSEY?

The proper question is, "What exit"?

[Sprinkus]

Rainbird 1800 series heads, Rainbird 5000 series rotors, Irritrol 200 series valves, MP Rotators (in certain circumstances), 14 gauge wire (or jacketed 2-wire if 2 wire system), Hunter ICC controller, Toro DL2000 drip (if needed), Febco backflow preventer, Armour (Ametek) valve boxes, 3M or Wade dri-slpice connectors, any pipe except the pipe Ewing sells, Spears or Lasco fittings, buncha other stuff I'm too tired to remember.

[mitchgo]

Here's the ticker :)

Scheduled 40 piping

[SC Irrigator]

rb heads, mist, valves are good
hunter mist, valves, controllers are good also
weathermatic controllers are starting to grow on me

everything else is junk imo

[hoskm01]

rb heads, mist, valves are good
hunter mist, valves, controllers are good also
weathermatic controllers are starting to grow on me

everything else is junk imo
They're called spray heads. If they mist, your pressure is too high. Mist floats away, spray goes into the turf, if done properly.

Waste not, mist not.

[Mike Leary]

They're called spray heads.

Oddly enough, years ago, they were called mist heads and a few old timers still call them by that term.

[Wet_Boots]

"Mist Heads" sounds cooler, even if it is obvious you'd really do better with bigger drops of water. Rain Jet, where are you when we need you? :)

[Kiril]

Back in the really old days we used to call them water throwing thingamajigs

[GreenLight]

I feel about the same way everybody else does. The two big name players in our area are obviously RB and hunter. That being said, over the past 2 years I have become a huge fan of mp rotators for a lot of reasons (hunter I believe owns MP now, not that it matters.) I will list some drawbacks and positives of what I like.

Hunter
PGP and PGJ rotors - I find these to be more accurate with their stops than rainbird rotors. Hunters do occasionally have leak problems but I like them overall.

Rainbird
5004 - Very good head and extremely common, the only thing that irks me is the stops on them seem to be questionable. Example, set the left and right stop to get all the way to the edges of a hardscape by hand, then do some tests and the head always seems to stop short by a foot or two or what you initially set.

Sprays
Rainbird owns it in my opinion. Almost every residential job with a lot of sprays is loaded with rainbird nozzles. Hunter is way behind in this area and their van style nozzles seem user friendly, but often times you spin the nozzle right off just trying to make adjustments...

Spray drawbacks - Rainbird VAN nozzles are weak on the edges. Generally you have to overspray about a foot on both your left and right side in order to reach their full potential. Hunters are a lot stronger to the edges, but once again, I still prefer rainbird.

MP rotators - Awesome nozzle in my opinion and has a wide application range.
I love MP 3000 and like the 2000 model as well. The 1000 model is a little bit suspect imo, but still usable. The matched precipitation across the board is truly a selling point for me. It takes a lot of homework out of your approach.

MP drawbacks - 3000 nozzle, not very many - They don't like wind, but what irrigation part does?
2000 - still pretty impressed by it, but the 2000 and 1000 are pretty weak on the edges as well. A lot of times you have to do a fair amount of overspraying in order to get your full range (head to head, etc).

Mp strips - Marginal, but at least they are trying to be fully dynamic.

[hoskm01]

I feel about the same way everybody else does. The two big name players in our area are obviously RB and hunter. That being said, over the past 2 years I have become a huge fan of mp rotators for a lot of reasons (hunter I believe owns MP now, not that it matters.) I will list some drawbacks and positives of what I like.

Hunter
PGP and PGJ rotors - I find these to be more accurate with their stops than rainbird rotors. Hunters do occasionally have leak problems but I like them overall.

Rainbird
5004 - Very good head and extremely common, the only thing that irks me is the stops on them seem to be questionable. Example, set the left and right stop to get all the way to the edges of a hardscape by hand, then do some tests and the head always seems to stop short by a foot or two or what you initially set.

Sprays
Rainbird owns it in my opinion. Almost every residential job with a lot of sprays is loaded with rainbird nozzles. Hunter is way behind in this area and their van style nozzles seem user friendly, but often times you spin the nozzle right off just trying to make adjustments...

Spray drawbacks - Rainbird VAN nozzles are weak on the edges. Generally you have to overspray about a foot on both your left and right side in order to reach their full potential. Hunters are a lot stronger to the edges, but once again, I still prefer rainbird.

MP rotators - Awesome nozzle in my opinion and has a wide application range.
I love MP 3000 and like the 2000 model as well. The 1000 model is a little bit suspect imo, but still usable. The matched precipitation across the board is truly a selling point for me. It takes a lot of homework out of your approach.

MP drawbacks - 3000 nozzle, not very many - They don't like wind, but what irrigation part does?
2000 - still pretty impressed by it, but the 2000 and 1000 are pretty weak on the edges as well. A lot of times you have to do a fair amount of overspraying in order to get your full range (head to head, etc).

Mp strips - Marginal, but at least they are trying to be fully dynamic.
I like your evaluation, GreenLight.

I use the MP A LOT. I think that looking at the fingers coming out of the MP, it is hard to believe that they have good DU and actually cover what they say they do. The results speak for themselves, IMO. Efficiency is way up and their reliability is so far so good. They don't like dirty water.

Ive gone pretty much 100% to rotators under 30'. RB 5000's and up for 30' plus.

[Kiril]

I'll also cast my vote for MPRotators for the short-mid range "rotor" category.

[QuadRacer041]

Ok, I was on a site that sells sprinkler supplies. I am looking at the the RB spray nozzles, can someone help me understand some things? They have fixed pattern and variable arc.....what's the differance? In the fixed nozzles they have the 8, 10, 12, 15 series. From what I can see it just looks like the higher the series number the further the ft radius, that correct? Does variable arc mean you can manually adjust the arc anywhere from 0* to its max of say 90* or 180*? What is the trajectory? Looks like the variable arc nozzles have a much lower trajectory then the fixed.

[Kiril]

Ok, I was on a site that sells sprinkler supplies. I am looking at the the RB spray nozzles, can someone help me understand some things? They have fixed pattern and variable arc.....what's the differance? In the fixed nozzles they have the 8, 10, 12, 15 series. From what I can see it just looks like the higher the series number the further the ft radius, that correct? Does variable arc mean you can manually adjust the arc anywhere from 0* to its max of say 90* or 180*? What is the trajectory? Looks like the variable arc nozzles have a much lower trajectory then the fixed.

The Rainbird site has all that information.

http://www.rainbird.com/landscape/products/sprays/index.htm

[mitchgo]

That's correct. The larger the nozzle the larger the radius .
The VAN comes in the same sizes 5,8,10,12 and 15 they just allow you to adjust the angle. VANS are not as good as fixed sprays but can be helpful given layout of the landscaping

[QuadRacer041]

Thanks guys, I dont see anything on the rainbird site about trajectory though, can anyone help?

[Wet_Boots]

And why is trajectory important? The best work with sprays won't include VAN nozzles, except for special applications.

[Kiril]

Thanks guys, I dont see anything on the rainbird site about trajectory though, can anyone help?

You are not looking very hard are you?

http://www.rainbird.com/pdf/turf/ts_MPRNozzles.pdf

[Mike Leary]

Looks like the variable arc nozzles have a much lower trajectory then the fixed.

Avoid VANs if at all possible; they are junk.

[QuadRacer041]

And why is trajectory important? The best work with sprays won't include VAN nozzles, except for special applications.

I don't know if its important but the nozzles come with diffrent trajectory and I was just curious what it meant.

[GreenLight]

Like Hoskm and Kiril said:
30' feet and under or basically the short to mid range rotor applications, I have basically scratched completely and gone to mps. Life is just a lot easier that way imo. You don't have to do all the countless Gpm nozzling factors that come into play with irregular shaped yards when one rotor is throwing 180 and another may be throwing 210 and yet another is only covering a small triangular area of 90 degrees. You eliminate that whole factor and it's a really big factor.

[CAPT Stream Rotar]

hunter-Clocks,pgp,SRC, MP RotAr,sprays

Rainbird-Valves, all sizes of sprays (fixed nozzle)

Netafim-drip pipe, reducer/filter setup

Lesco-fittings

[Mike Leary]

We bought into (and did factory testing) for the MP, originally made up here. I liked it, and installed plenty. Over the years, the slow precipitation rate has made us back-off and return to our favorite Toro Stream-Rotors.

[CAPT Stream Rotar]

We bought into (and did factory testing) for the MP, originally made up here. I liked it, and installed plenty. Over the years, the slow precipitation rate has made us back-off and return to our favorite Toro Stream-Rotors.

I love the stream rotors.


I have MP's in my parents front yard and realized the slow precip rates....They are for our lite watering low shrub areas...

pgp for the turff..

nothing like seeing a bunch of stream RotArs in sync...

bes.head.ever.

[Mike Leary]

nothing like seeing a bunch of stream RotArs in sync...

bes.head.ever.

Double ditto.

[Wet_Boots]

In recent years, I've had a few stuck stream rotors, and the gear drive was still good, but the stator had broken.

[Mike Leary]

In recent years, I've had a few stuck stream rotors, and the gear drive was still good, but the stator had broken.

We've got Streamies twenty years+ going strong. The early liquid-filled models are still kicking.

[Wet_Boots]

They fail, too, but not at the same rate the newer ones do. If I were making them, I would put that oil back in the gearcase.

[crazyboy]

Hunter I20 Stainless Rotors, Krain sometimes, Hunter pop ups with rainbird nozzles, Irritrol 2400t valves, Hunter ProC/ICC controllers

[hoskm01]

Hunter I20 Stainless Rotors, Krain sometimes, Hunter pop ups with rainbird nozzles, Irritrol 2400t valves, Hunter ProC/ICC controllers
Thats the oddest selection of material Ive ever heard of.

[DanaMac]

Thats the oddest selection of material Ive ever heard of.

I was thinking the same thing.

[ARGOS]

Took me a minute on Krain...is that pronounced crayon?

[DanaMac]

Took me a minute on Krain...is that pronounced crayon?

No. Pronounced - Krap :laugh:

[FIMCO-MEISTER]

Here is my addition.

Kfraid

[crazyboy]

Took me a minute on Krain...is that pronounced crayon?

:laugh:, whats so odd about it? It's basically all hunter with the exception of the valves.

[ARGOS]

K rain? The missing space took me a minute. Crane?

[bcg]

Like Hoskm and Kiril said:
30' feet and under or basically the short to mid range rotor applications, I have basically scratched completely and gone to mps. Life is just a lot easier that way imo. You don't have to do all the countless Gpm nozzling factors that come into play with irregular shaped yards when one rotor is throwing 180 and another may be throwing 210 and yet another is only covering a small triangular area of 90 degrees. You eliminate that whole factor and it's a really big factor.

Nozzling rotors based on coverage area? That seems strange, I thought you were just supposed to use the same nozzle on them all. :)

It amazes me how often I find them actually installed that way on repair jobs.

[AI Inc]

Nozzling rotors based on coverage area? That seems strange, I thought you were just supposed to use the same nozzle on them all. :)

It amazes me how often I find them actually installed that way on repair jobs.

Yeah a #5 doing a full circle and another #5 doing an inside corner in the shade. And customer wonders why lawn just isnt realy coming along.

[QuadRacer041]

Can anyone reccomend a site sponsor that sells irrigation products?

[Mike Leary]

Can anyone reccomend a site sponsor that sells irrigation products?

Some guy in Texas does, "Flameco" I think.

[Wet_Boots]

You mean Fleemco

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/7816/oxysm.gif

[SC Irrigator]

Oddly enough, years ago, they were called mist heads and a few old timers still call them by that term.

even though im not that old i learned from someone who had been doing it for over 20 years so yea im a little old with my saying.....i still call some of my shovels sharpshooters, try saying that to a new employee and see what he comes back with lol

[DanaMac]

even though im not that old i learned from someone who had been doing it for over 20 years so yea im a little old with my saying.....i still call some of my shovels sharpshooters, try saying that to a new employee and see what he comes back with lol

I call mine a sharpshooter. I've had the same one for about 8-10 years. Pretty worn down.

[ARGOS]

I still call my level a "whiskey stick". Learned it from the "old timers" when I was an apprentice.