# New irrigation design. Noob with CAD.



## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

Hey guys,

Im in the process of designing an irrigation system for my yard. its a small yard with many irregularies. Its a pie shaped lot with a lagoon shaped pool and some elevation changes.

Im trying to design a dry area into its own zone in the rear yard because of a large tree as I understand it is best practice since the shaded area hasn't needed irrigation like the area that is sloped with sun.

Question is... what would you do regarding number of sprinkler heads to reduce water spray onto surfaces that are not grassed? I can reduce the head count while maintaining the head to head coverage if I allow some water to go on areas it would be wasted like the pool skirt.

Im designing and chatting with an installer to have Hunter MP rotators installed but I would feel better in providing him a design that Ive QC checked.... because the designs from the installers here seem to have as few heads as possible.

Here is the CAD I have of the bare lot for now. 









I have played with the design to put some sprinklers on but it seems like im getting out of control with the head count to manage the head to head coverage without dry spots or a whole lot of water wasting. (i.e., below.)








red- 11 heads (covering ~850 ft^2)
blue- 10 heads (covering ~800 ft^2)
green -9 heads (covering ~1550 ft^2, watering over the sidewalk because of aggressive winter maintenance on my hell strip being that it is a grassed bus stop)

what are your takes on this?

cheers,
Matt


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

I received the RainBird Design. They were using a lot of spray heads instead of the R-Van. How interchangeable are these designs if I went with R-Van or MP rotator?

Here is the plan they provided.


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

So I have taken the RainBird design, the Orbit designer and put it into CAD.









Here is what I am thinking of doing. All standard Mp rotator heads for all but the smallest side yard where I have two side strips at 5'x35' (this area doesn't need very much irrigation based on my observations)


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

and here is the above design with sprayer coverage on it. the side yard on the north side I have spaced out the heads to provide less coverage on purpose. the side yard doesn't need as much as the front and it lets me use the same zone with less water being put down than compared to the same side yard but adjacent to the driveway.

edit: don't worry about the colors of the sprayer radius's vs zone label. they were just really hard to see all in the same color on the computer.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

My main comment. The shape of the property makes this hard. Second, the heads on the side and front need to have heads on the other side.


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## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

The Rainbird design looks very good to me. Yes, lots of heads but complete coverage and little water waste. Other than initial cost, is there a reason you don't like it?


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

g-man said:


> My main comment. The shape of the property makes this hard. Second, the heads on the side and front need to have heads on the other side.


thanks for the commentary. here are my thoughts on it, let me know if I really should reconsider.

the heads on the front lawn in the hell strip: that area is a bus stop so the public works crew comes in with a 30ton tractor and plows it. no sprayer body would last there I wouldn't think unless there is a solution by removing them every fall.

The side is green right now without irrigation, so im not terribly worried about coverage there. plus there are complications being that is where the house service trench is.


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

Delmarva Keith said:


> The Rainbird design looks very good to me. Yes, lots of heads but complete coverage and little water waste. Other than initial cost, is there a reason you don't like it?


I didn't include it on the drawing but the north side of the house has the gas regulator, the AC condenser, a compost bin, etc. which is an area that doesn't need to be watered.... explaining the heads a few feet off the wall there.

the rainbird rear yard and bulk of the front yard are the same positioning and throw.

as mentioned to @g-man if I really need to put sprinkler heads in my hellstrip I will... but I would rather not because it will be an ongoing maintenance issue.


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

few really amateur questions:

1. how deep do irrigation lines need to be? there is no way anyone is putting them below freezing up here. freezing depth is iirc 4 feet. im trying to gauge if I can do this on my own, really.

2. How do you guide your sprinkler body height choice? Would you use 6", 8" or 12" in areas that are on a slope for example?


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## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

No one puts them below frost line. There's no need to water your lawn in freezing temps. They need to be blown out at the end of season


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

right. I was reading a lot about it on sprinkler tutorial site and they were advising of that.

so what...6" deep is fine? doing that with a trenching shovel is a lot more manageable than digging 18" deep or something.

ANOTHER QUESTION... can I place several pipes in one trench if im digging by hand? like in my draft above where I have 4 pipes beside each other... can that be one dig?

ive decided to change that a bit, but will still be placing two pipes in one trench through there.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Yes to multiple per trench. I like to go to 8in to avoid any pipe heaving up and avoid most shovel/aerator. Remember that in an 8in the top of a 1in pipe will be at 7in.


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