Which gear driven sprinkler is better?

[hellfreeze]

I need to beef up the poor sprinkler architecture from the previous occupants, and I've decided to go with gear driven sprinklers, but I'm not sure if to go with Orbit or Rainbird:

Orbit

Rainbird

One website says that the spray pattern on the Rainbird is superior. They're about equally priced, so I'm more concerned with their performance. Are there any professionals here or lawn enthusiasts that can help?

 

[compman25]

Originally posted by: hellfreeze
I need to beef up the poor sprinkler architecture from the previous occupants, and I've decided to go with gear driven sprinklers, but I'm not sure if to go with Orbit or Rainbird:

Orbit

Rainbird

One website says that the spray pattern on the Rainbird is superior. They're about equally priced, so I'm more concerned with their performance. Are there any professionals here or lawn enthusiasts that can help?

I use Hunter sprinklers and get them from Horizon for about $3 each, see if they have a store near you and go in and get them.

 

[iGas]

I'm not sure which make/model is better but IMHO all qualities & performance are all par with each other, except when they change materials/design that requres a few years to iron out the kinks.

Several years ago irrigation companies went into a consolidation mode thus there are now less than a handfull of manufactures that make irrigation sprinklers for dozens of make/models (and offen the exact same model carries different maker label).

Cliff, buy which ever make model that suit your need and return it if it fail within the first year (most carry a 1 year warranty or longer).

 

[BoomerD]

I don't think there's a hell of a lot of difference in any of them anymore.

I have a mix of Toro, Rainbird, and Orbit sprinklers in my landscape...

One landscape guy we used replaced any broken sprinklers with Orbit Professional. Metal heads...more-or-less lawnmower proof...

Since you're looking at gear-driven, IMO, there's just not a lot of difference. Personally, I prefer Rainbird sprinklers out of all that I have.

 

[alkemyst]

I get K-Rain as they are made locally...I also have toro and others.

I like the toro popups the best as they are easily adjusted, the gear driven I have bought all seem about the same. I do like the K-Rain Select-A-Nozzle deal.

 

[boomerang]

I use a brand called mother nature.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: boomerang
I use a brand called mother nature.

meh...not always reliable and terribly difficult to adjust.

 

[Tobolo]

Horizon carries some good heads, you might want to check Ewing as well. They have some new rotary heads that are really great and provide massive soaking in minimum time.

 

[iGas]

Originally posted by: Tobolo
Horizon carries some good heads, you might want to check Ewing as well. They have some new rotary heads that are really great and provide massive soaking in minimum time.

New doesn't mean that it is better. It just mean that there are problems to be iron out.

Geared sprinklers are pretty much all the same, and the head come with interchangeable nozzles that deliver x amount of volume if the flow rate is met.

Water can't be force to flow greater than 9 feet per second in plastic pipes and no more than 7 f/s in copper pipe. Average service water speed is 5-7 f/s due to the copper connection between the city and your residential service connection. Most jurisdiction single home service water line is 3/4", and some may have 1" supply line.

Volume can not be greater than 7 * 60s * 3/4" * 2 * 3.14 / 231 = 8.56 GPM, or 7 * 60s * 1" * 2 * 3.14 / 231 = 11.41 GPM.

But in reality with friction lost at the end of your 3/4" irrigation pipe, therefore 5 * 60s * .75" * 2 * 3.14 / 231 = 6.11 GPM is about the max volume that you can get with a residential service line.

As the calculation above indicated, it doesn't matter what you have for spray head for size because your pipping can not deliver greater than 6 GPM.

 

[hellfreeze]

Thanks everyone for your input on this. I'm think I'm going to try out the Horizon sprinkler if the price is significantly cheaper than the others.

 

[Nik]

I used to install / maintain Rainbirds. They're prone to mud clogging. They don't always drop back into socket if there's any sort of overwatering and they get muddy. Then you have to walk around and step on every head to retract it or you'll end up mowing over them and completely destroying them. Consequently, I did have a little trouble with infrequently used Rainbirds that I had to step on as previously mentioned. The mud will dry and basically glue them in place, leaving you picking at the head with the water on, trying to break the dirt / new mud free. Then they pop up in your face or soak your clothes.

I'm not a fan of in-ground sprinkler systems.

 

[bloodugly]

Originally posted by: Nik
I used to install / maintain Rainbirds. They're prone to mud clogging. They don't always drop back into socket if there's any sort of overwatering and they get muddy. Then you have to walk around and step on every head to retract it or you'll end up mowing over them and completely destroying them. Consequently, I did have a little trouble with infrequently used Rainbirds that I had to step on as previously mentioned. The mud will dry and basically glue them in place, leaving you picking at the head with the water on, trying to break the dirt / new mud free. Then they pop up in your face or soak your clothes.

I'm not a fan of in-ground sprinkler systems.

My parents have in ground sprinklers combined with the most lush grass you've ever seen...you get tired walking across it and I could probably fall off the house without hurting myself. They get covered all the time by the grass in just a couple of days. However, its a Rainbird system, and I won't say anything bad about the control panel...its quite user friendly.

 

[Nik]

Originally posted by: bloodugly

Originally posted by: Nik
I used to install / maintain Rainbirds. They're prone to mud clogging. They don't always drop back into socket if there's any sort of overwatering and they get muddy. Then you have to walk around and step on every head to retract it or you'll end up mowing over them and completely destroying them. Consequently, I did have a little trouble with infrequently used Rainbirds that I had to step on as previously mentioned. The mud will dry and basically glue them in place, leaving you picking at the head with the water on, trying to break the dirt / new mud free. Then they pop up in your face or soak your clothes.

I'm not a fan of in-ground sprinkler systems.

My parents have in ground sprinklers combined with the most lush grass you've ever seen...you get tired walking across it and I could probably fall off the house without hurting myself. They get covered all the time by the grass in just a couple of days. However, its a Rainbird system, and I won't say anything bad about the control panel...its quite user friendly.

grass != mud != control panel

 

[hellfreeze]

I ended up trying the Orbit sprinkler and wanted to give my feedback on them.

I installed the Orbit Saturn III on my front yard, which is much smaller than my backyard. For small yards I really like the Orbit sprinkler better than the Rainbird. Here are the things I liked about it:

* Spray pattern on the Orbit is much better for small distances. Instead of being one vertical line of water it sprays it out in a horizontal pattern
* Orbit sprinkler rotates slower than the Rainbird, so together with it's horizontal spray pattern for short distances it gets the grass wetter than the Rainbird without drenching the lawn. I like this because it seems to be enough water to get absorbed in the soil (I have hard-pan here) before it gets wet again, allowing the water to penetrate deeper down which causes the roots to grow further down
* Orbit sprinklers are easier to adjust. I don't need to get out a really skinny flathead screwdriver to adjust it
* Orbit sprinklers advertise a 5 year warranty on the label. I don't know if the Rainbirds have a warranty
* The Rainbird I have in the backyard is leaking after a month of use
* This might be picky, but when it comes to sound, when the Orbit sprinklers are on I just hear the sound of water. When my Rainbird goes on I can here the back & forth sound of a rotating sprinkler

Bottom line? I like the Orbit's for small lawns. I haven't tried using the Orbits for watering at a distance of 20-25 feet, so I can't comment on that. They are about $1 cheaper than the Rainbird sprinklers and advertise a 5 year warranty (again, I don't know if the Rainbirds have a warranty or not) so they seem to be the better option at least as smaller lawns are concerned. I think I might try an Orbit sprinkler on a large lawn, and if I do, I will update this thread.

 

[iGas]

Originally posted by: hellfreeze
I ended up trying the Orbit sprinkler and wanted to give my feedback on them.

I installed the Orbit Saturn III on my front yard, which is much smaller than my backyard. For small yards I really like the Orbit sprinkler better than the Rainbird. Here are the things I liked about it:

* Spray pattern on the Orbit is much better for small distances. Instead of being one vertical line of water it sprays it out in a horizontal pattern
* Orbit sprinkler rotates slower than the Rainbird, so together with it's horizontal spray pattern for short distances it gets the grass wetter than the Rainbird without drenching the lawn. I like this because it seems to be enough water to get absorbed in the soil (I have hard-pan here) before it gets wet again, allowing the water to penetrate deeper down which causes the roots to grow further down
* Orbit sprinklers are easier to adjust. I don't need to get out a really skinny flathead screwdriver to adjust it
* Orbit sprinklers advertise a 5 year warranty on the label. I don't know if the Rainbirds have a warranty
* The Rainbird I have in the backyard is leaking after a month of use
* This might be picky, but when it comes to sound, when the Orbit sprinklers are on I just hear the sound of water. When my Rainbird goes on I can here the back & forth sound of a rotating sprinkler

Bottom line? I like the Orbit's for small lawns. I haven't tried using the Orbits for watering at a distance of 20-25 feet, so I can't comment on that. They are about $1 cheaper than the Rainbird sprinklers and advertise a 5 year warranty (again, I don't know if the Rainbirds have a warranty or not) so they seem to be the better option at least as smaller lawns are concerned. I think I might try an Orbit sprinkler on a large lawn, and if I do, I will update this thread.

It seems that you are comparing Orbit geared sprinkler vs. Rainbird impact sprinkler.

 

[hellfreeze]

Originally posted by: iGas
It seems that you are comparing Orbit geared sprinkler vs. Rainbird impact sprinkler.

No they're both geared sprinklers. I'm just being picky about this part.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: boomerang
I use a brand called mother nature.

Haha tell me about it. Our lawn has not seen a sprinkler in like 3 years.

I remember the days where our summers were actually, summer. Climate change has screwed us over. We don't call it global warming here, we call it "Our summers suck now".

 

[7leisher2]

I work with irrigation professionally and know people in the business. Hands down Hunter makes the best rotors out there. Less call out on Hunter vs Rainbird, Orbit and K-rain. Just buy no smaller than PGP the PGJ do not last as long. The Rainbird MP rotor replacement heads are better than the Hunter MP rotors. Good luck, as far as control clocks Hunter all the way. Find a local supplier. It seems the quality is better than Home Depot.

I need to beef up the poor sprinkler architecture from the previous occupants, and I've decided to go with gear driven sprinklers, but I'm not sure if to go with Orbit or Rainbird:

Orbit

Rainbird

One website says that the spray pattern on the Rainbird is superior. They're about equally priced, so I'm more concerned with their performance. Are there any professionals here or lawn enthusiasts that can help?

It is almost a certainty that, after nearly 8 years, hellfreeze is not still looking.
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