# Converting to Hunter MP2000 Heads



## Kballen11 (Mar 26, 2018)

Anyone know the easiest way to convert these heads 

To the MP heads?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Easy only is the head spacing is correct for mp (unlikely).


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## Kballen11 (Mar 26, 2018)

You'll have to explain in more detail what you mean by spacing but I believe I can achieve the head to head coverage shown in the picture below.

Also it says it installs on standard pop ups. I don't believe what I have currently is considered a standard pop up. I'm pretty sure they are much larger. Anyone else have any ideas?


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## rrmiller32 (Feb 20, 2018)

It looks like a rotary nozzle head, not a standard spray head. If so you're probably gonna have to swap out the bodies. Screw out the old ones and screw in the new ones.


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## TC2 (Sep 15, 2017)

You have rotors. You'd have to unscrew the entire sprinkler from the pipe and replace with the MP rotator bodies. Unfortunately, the rotors are usually 3/4" FPT threaded whilst the MPs are 1/2" FPT so you'd need an adapter. That could theoretically be done without digging (you'd require an extension riser because the MP rotator bodies are shorter than the rotors) out each sprinkler just by unscrewing the old one and screwing in the new one, however, you run the risk of dropping dirt in the hole and if the sprinkler is on bent funny pipe, it will possibly bend away from a vertical position when you take out the old sprinkler making putting the new one on challenging to impossible. Digging out each one is probably going to be your best option.

The biggest issue, which is what g-man was referring to, is that the rotors usually cover around 30ft+ areas whereas the MP2000 are 18-20ft. So replacing rotors with MP2000 will not cover the required area unless your rotor throw distances were only set up to cover 18-20ft distances. The MP3000s do about 30ft lengths.

On top of all that, you would need to make sure that the GPM for the MP rotators does not exceed your zone maximum. Each rotor uses the same amount of water per minute regardless of the angle, but MP rotators use varying amounts of water depending on what angle you have them set to.


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## Kballen11 (Mar 26, 2018)

TC2 said:


> You have rotors. You'd have to unscrew the entire sprinkler from the pipe and replace with the MP rotator bodies. Unfortunately, the rotors are usually 3/4" FPT threaded whilst the MPs are 1/2" FPT so you'd need an adapter. That could theoretically be done without digging (you'd require an extension riser because the MP rotator bodies are shorter than the rotors) out each sprinkler just by unscrewing the old one and screwing in the new one, however, you run the risk of dropping dirt in the hole and if the sprinkler is on bent funny pipe, it will possibly bend away from a vertical position when you take out the old sprinkler making putting the new one on challenging to impossible. Digging out each one is probably going to be your best option.
> 
> The biggest issue, which is what g-man was referring to, is that the rotors usually cover around 30ft+ areas whereas the MP2000 are 18-20ft. So replacing rotors with MP2000 will not cover the required area unless your rotor throw distances were only set up to cover 18-20ft distances. The MP3000s do about 30ft lengths.
> 
> On top of all that, you would need to make sure that the GPM for the MP rotators does not exceed your zone maximum. Each rotor uses the same amount of water per minute regardless of the angle, but MP rotators use varying amounts of water depending on what angle you have them set to.


Thanks for the response! All of my rotor heads are dialed back as I don't need 30 feet of coverage. I did read about the 3,000 series as an option also. I am not sure it is worth the work of digging everything out. My intrigue in these is that my front yard has a pretty dramatic slope and I always have a lot of run off. I also notice that the grass on the slope grows much slower, which has me wondering if it is due to the slope?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@Kballen11 I was not super clear in my original post. TC2 clarified it. The MP are great for slopes in my opinion. I would start with drawing up your current lawn/head placement and then see the MP placement. The MP are not forgiving to incorrect placement. You will end up with dry spots if not correctly done.

If the head location all work, then just digging around the heads to swap them is not too hard. Soak the heads area the day before so the ground is soft and easier to work it. You will need to install hunter regulated bodies (keep the pressure at 40psi for the nozzles). Normally the MP will use less water per minute compared to the rotors and some times you could merge two rotor zones into one MP zone. The MP will run for a longer time at a lower precipitation rate, thus giving the soil more time to absorb the water instead of running off.


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## Kballen11 (Mar 26, 2018)

g-man said:


> @Kballen11 I was not super clear in my original post. TC2 clarified it. The MP are great for slopes in my opinion. I would start with drawing up your current lawn/head placement and then see the MP placement. The MP are not forgiving to incorrect placement. You will end up with dry spots if not correctly done.
> 
> If the head location all work, then just digging around the heads to swap them is not too hard. Soak the heads area the day before so the ground is soft and easier to work it. You will need to install hunter regulated bodies (keep the pressure at 40psi for the nozzles). Normally the MP will use less water per minute compared to the rotors and some times you could merge two rotor zones into one MP zone. The MP will run for a longer time at a lower precipitation rate, thus giving the soil more time to absorb the water instead of running off.


Thanks g-man!


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## lawndog (May 12, 2018)

The problem I'm running into is I can't find an adapter that will work with the 3/4" original hunter rotator to connect to the new 1/2" pop up head to swap into the MP Rotator. Anyone have a link for the adapter I would need? None of the irrigation stores I've gone to have them.


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## Tincup86 (Mar 24, 2021)

Are they hard piped or on funny piped or a swing joint? If hard piped you can take a 3/4" x 1/2" green nipple and screw the 3/4" into the fitting and then screw the pop up head onto the 1/2" end. If on funny pipe just cut off the 3/4" fitting and insert a new 1/2" fitting Pretty easy. Swing joints are a little more complicated. I would change them all to 1/2". It will require more digging but reduce all the fitting to get from 3/4" to 1/2".


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## Timbo3985 (Mar 19, 2019)

I used these to convert 1 zone of rotors to mp rotators. They also added a little height to the shorter bodies so it was nearly a perfect swap.

https://www.supplyhouse.com/sh/control/product/~product_id=446-074


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