CAD users?

[koster_irrigation]

Anybody using CAD for irrigation? whats the best program?

[greenworldh20]

don't know...i hear rain cad is goood....let me know what ya find out

brian

[pokemon]

I have been playing around with Rain Cad Software for a while and the learning cure is challenging for me at this time. I need in the field experience. But you may have a easier time than I since you have an irrigation back ground and you are expose to it daily.
thats my .02

Pokemon

[MOlawnman]

I have been using RainCad and I like it. Although it is kinda pricey it does work quite efficiently. I have found it easier to plan a system since I don't have to go back and erase what I drew because I drew something in the wrong spot! Haven't gotten a chance to try much of the landscaping portion but I will post when I discover how it works.

[HBFOXJr]

Rain CAD. WE also used it for landscape design when we did design build.

[koster_irrigation]

what version of raincad do you use?

[HBFOXJr]

Using 6.0

[Jroctx]

Can anyone else share their experience with Rain Cad? We are in the market.

Thanks in advance!

[MOlawnman]

Have found that rain-cad is good for landscape design as well. Easy to change locations of plants and such as that. I do like the material take-off feature. Although it does take a while to input all of your prices and get it set up the way you want it. I like it so far, makes estimating easier, however I still go back and double check by hand just to make sure all my ducks are in a row.

Like I said in my earlier post, it is pricey (I paid right at $1000 I think) but if you want to use a computer to do irrigation design I know of no better way.

[aquamtic]

For those of you just starting out-- Microsoft Visio has decent landscape capabilties with some irrigation tools.

I have not yet seen a reason to upgrade to Autocad or Raincad just yet.

Even Autocad Lite is more affordable but it its still technical. I will

I have attached a layout done in Visio

[Tom M]

That design seems abit off to me. Am I reading it right? There are only 4 heads in the back? And they seem to spray beyond the boundaries of the yard?

[aquamtic]

Looks that way, but final layout had head to head coverage and distances were adjusted . This is was only a partiallly done layout.

I am just showing you the tools available in Visio in this

[aquamtic]

I have attched another one. Now please note that these are just basic residentials and are usually just layed out in about an hour. I do not spend hours precisely down to the T putting some project plans together. This is just an observation tool used to show the customer what they can expect for coverage and how many heads and zones. Fianl arches are adjusted on site. Obviously based on some sprays I would not shoot water into the house. One of the limitations to visio in fixed arches

You will see that in this lay out towards the back does not justify head to head coverage into the center because of the large shaded tree areas and also budget contraints on the customer.

On the sides of the house we also use a triangle layout verses head to head due to also heavy shaded area an the no need for extra heads.

Front of house is more critical to coverage due to full day exposure to east to west

[TimLawn]

Do you use the Visio Standard or Professional version? If you use the professional version do you know if the standard version has these features?

[Jroctx]

Thanks aquamtic for that introduction to Visio. We will take a closer look to see if it can service our current need.

[aquamtic]

You can download a FREE trial from Microsofts Web site