# Diameter of garden hose for sprinkler



## h22lude (Jul 24, 2018)

My spigots have low flow and I'm trying to figure out best way to water lawn. Right now I have two 5/8" 50ft hoses and two cheapo Melnor plastic impact sprinklers on spikes. I ran a bunch of tests and wrote down some data:

1) 60psi at spigot
2) 40psi with 50ft of hose
3) 25psi with 50ft of hose and 1 sprinkler, 35ft radius (gauge was attached to the out side of the spike).
4) 20psi with 100ft of hose and 1 spinkler, 34ft radius
5) 10psi with 1 sprinkler at 50ft and second at 100ft inline, 18ft radius

I'm thinking about going with a sprinkler head on PVC stand. Would I benefit using a 3/4" or even 1" diameter hoses? With the hoses and sprinklers I have now, it seems like my best option is to use 1 sprinkler per spigot (I have two) and will have to keep moving them around (18k sq ft yard), which I'd rather not do. I'm hoping if I increase the hose diameter, the inline sprinklers after the 1st one will get enough water so the radius isn't almost cut in half like it is now.

Edit: and another variable is to get a shorter hose. Increase to 3/4" and go with 25" hose maybe? Though this wouldn't help with watering grass far away from the spigots. I'm also thinking about going with MP2000360 in PRS40 body which may help.


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## b0nk3rs (Aug 21, 2017)

I have 45psi at spigot and run PRS40 bodies with MP Rotators using 5/8" garden hoses with no issues. 2 heads per line works 100% and if I add a 3rd to the end, it runs about 75%. I avoid 3 heads per zone unless the 75% is beneficial to my coverage.

To better relate to your situation I can't run two plastic impact sprinklers with this same setup, they simple don't function. The GPM of the MP Rotators sound perfect for your situation. I have a 7 zone/13 head setup right now so if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.


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## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

FWIW - I upgraded to a 3/4" hose this season and it does improve the performance of my impact sprinkler (don't have irrigation yet).


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## sanders4617 (Jul 9, 2018)

3/4" hose was the difference in me running 2 Rotor style heads shooting 35feet a piece vs only 1.

And that was a 3/4" 100ft hose and I had 5/8" 50ft hose at first .So even adding 50 feet, the 3/4" made big difference.


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## h22lude (Jul 24, 2018)

b0nk3rs said:


> I have 45psi at spigot and run PRS40 bodies with MP Rotators using 5/8" garden hoses with no issues. 2 heads per line works 100% and if I add a 3rd to the end, it runs about 75%. I avoid 3 heads per zone unless the 75% is beneficial to my coverage.
> 
> To better relate to your situation I can't run two plastic impact sprinklers with this same setup, they simple don't function. The GPM of the MP Rotators sound perfect for your situation. I have a 7 zone/13 head setup right now so if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.


What MPs do you have? I was thinking about going with PRS40s and MP2000 nozzles.

Do you have in-ground or did you build sprinklers using the PRS40s and MPs and use your spigot? My big concern is the size of my yard. It is roughly 18k sq ft. To put down 1" everywhere, I'd have to be watering 24/7


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## h22lude (Jul 24, 2018)

sanders4617 said:


> 3/4" hose was the difference in me running 2 Rotor style heads shooting 35feet a piece vs only 1.
> 
> And that was a 3/4" 100ft hose and I had 5/8" 50ft hose at first .So even adding 50 feet, the 3/4" made big difference.





adgattoni said:


> FWIW - I upgraded to a 3/4" hose this season and it does improve the performance of my impact sprinkler (don't have irrigation yet).


Awesome, thanks! Sounds like going 3/4" is the way to go. I did also find out the PEX running to the two spigots are 1/2". I think if I increase that to 3/4", get new 3/4" spigots and 3/4" hose, I should be good to use 2 (hopefully 3) sprinklers on each spigot. I would like in-ground but I'm not sure that would work with a 18k sq ft yard.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

Out of curiosity, what would the cost be to add a tap after the meter with a larger diameter pipe? This would be something you could tap into when you want to water, and cover up when you're done.


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## h22lude (Jul 24, 2018)

I have a well water. Thought I mentioned it before but I guess I didn't


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## b0nk3rs (Aug 21, 2017)

h22lude said:


> b0nk3rs said:
> 
> 
> > I have 45psi at spigot and run PRS40 bodies with MP Rotators using 5/8" garden hoses with no issues. 2 heads per line works 100% and if I add a 3rd to the end, it runs about 75%. I avoid 3 heads per zone unless the 75% is beneficial to my coverage.
> ...


I have mostly MP3000 in an above ground setup. I agree, it probably won't work for 18k though.


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## h22lude (Jul 24, 2018)

b0nk3rs said:


> I have mostly MP3000 in an above ground setup. I agree, it probably won't work for 18k though.


I had my well tested again today and recovery rate is awful. I have a lot of reserve in the well but still not enough time in the day to water with 5gpm. I think I'm going to have to be ok with watering less than 1" a week. Luckily I'll have mother nature helping so hopefully it won't be too bad. I may try to water the biggest part of my lawn (side/front yard, about 9k sq ft). We will be adding plant beds and a bigger patio which will decrease the size of the backyard.


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## b0nk3rs (Aug 21, 2017)

Even getting a setup going that would allow you to water in different products or to keep seed moist would be beneficial. Anything is better than nothing.


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## h22lude (Jul 24, 2018)

I'm going to build a few sprinklers using PRS40s and MP2000s to see what they can do. Even if I need 10 zones and have a 10 day rotation, it will at least get some water down on the grass. I think my first step is to build some sprinklers to see what kind of water they put down and see how many zones I need.

I know early morning is best but is there another time that would be ok? Maybe 5pm to give the grass enough time to dry before night. If I could do 1 zone at 5am and another at 5pm, that would give the well time to recover.


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## GrayFox (Apr 17, 2020)

h22lude said:


> I'm going to build a few sprinklers using PRS40s and MP2000s to see what they can do. Even if I need 10 zones and have a 10 day rotation, it will at least get some water down on the grass. I think my first step is to build some sprinklers to see what kind of water they put down and see how many zones I need.
> 
> I know early morning is best but is there another time that would be ok? Maybe 5pm to give the grass enough time to dry before night. If I could do 1 zone at 5am and another at 5pm, that would give the well time to recover.


Nice idea. But tell me one thing, can I achieve something if I'm going to build the same but with traveling sprinklers from this page? thanks in advance.


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