# Garden works impact sprinkler?



## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

I've got a large lawn and no irrigation system, so I am interested in anything that will help me get water down more efficiently (I.e., not having to move a sprinkler 3+ times to cover a section of the yard).

I came across this at TSC yesterday.
Anyone ever use one?


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## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

@TommyTester did some tests on these. The tripod improves the range, but does nothing for uniformity (poor spray pattern). I would get just a tripod (amazon) and put an in-ground sprinkler body to get both portability and uniformity.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Thanks, @adgattoni . Good information. I saw Tommy's post the other day on a different sprinkler and was impressed. That is a valuable YouTube channel.


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## unclebucks06 (Apr 25, 2018)

My TSC had a tripod with the Orbit rotor that tommy had good results with. Kind of pricey though.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

unclebucks06 said:


> My TSC had a tripod with the Orbit rotor that tommy had good results with. Kind of pricey though.


Thanks for that tip. I scrolled through Tommy's videos, but I must have missed that one.
From what I gathered from one of his videos, the addition of a tripod is not really worth it.

What interested me in these from TSC was the price (less than $50). You usually get what you pay for, but there is a wishful part of me that doesn't always pay attention to that :|


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

The reviews on the TSC website  indicate some reliability problems. After testing a variety of impact sprinklers, I think they have 2 main issues:

1. They derive their rotational capability by "slapping" the water stream with an arm, transferring a small about of energy from the stream to the sprinkler's pivot, overcoming the static friction there, moving the mechanism a few degrees, then repeats. The higher mass of zinc and brass models provides a nice gentle rotation, where as you can see in some of my videos, the plastic impacts operate much faster (lower mass to shift). Since impacts are highly mechanical devices, they are prone to have performance and reliability issues relating to wear, dirt, and handling over time..

2. The bigger issue discovered in my testing is that in most cases the "arm slapping" "splatter" dumps too much water near the head, causing poor uniformity and local over-watering (waste of water). The plastic ones have less splatter since their arms have less mass.

The main redeeming quality of impacts, is they provide a "clean" path for the water to flow out and on it's way, like a fireman's hose. They let friction between the stream and the air separate the water into droplets. This doesn't always provide uniformity, but it can offer further ranges and higher precipitation rates to an area.

As for your needs, with a finite PSI level at your spigot, you want to minimize pressure loss by the hose, by using the largest size and the shortest distance you can afford. 1" is far better than 3/4" which is far better than 5/8". Timers also add a restriction to the flow, so don't use one if you don't have to.

Unless your water is free, most want uniformity first, with rate and range as secondary trade-offs. There is no magic sprinkler, however. If it were me, I'd use a traveling sprinkler on 3/4" hoses, tuning the arms to provide uniformity based on your system's capability. You might have to run a cup test like I have to get the arms set "perfectly" for widest range and even distribution. In my test on "high speed", the one I tested covered 800 square feet per hour.

Please share what you end up doing. Thanks.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

TommyTester said:


> The reviews on the TSC website  indicate some reliability problems. After testing a variety of impact sprinklers, I think they have 2 main issues:
> 
> 1. They derive their rotational capability by "slapping" the water stream with an arm, transferring a small about of energy from the stream to the sprinkler's pivot, overcoming the static friction there, moving the mechanism a few degrees, then repeats. The higher mass of zinc and brass models provides a nice gentle rotation, where as you can see in some of my videos, the plastic impacts operate much faster (lower mass to shift). Since impacts are highly mechanical devices, they are prone to have performance and reliability issues relating to wear, dirt, and handling over time..
> 
> ...


Thank you for the input here, especially this information:


TommyTester said:


> As for your needs, with a finite PSI level at your spigot, you want to minimize pressure loss by the hose, by using the largest size and the shortest distance you can afford. 1" is far better than 3/4" which is far better than 5/8". Timers also add a restriction to the flow, so don't use one if you don't have to.


I have been looking for simple 'cheats' to improve water pressure (and thereby improve coverage distance). All of my hoses are 5/8,'' so you've given me a very simple strategy for improving the current state of my 'sprinkler system.' Unfortunately, I bought 10 or so hoses last year, so I won't be making that upgrade immediately.

Also, shortly after creating this thread, I was convinced by another member to ditch the impact sprinklers. They put out a lot of water and are user-friendly (at least for me), but I now see how uneven coverage is (the comment in your videos about how humans are terrible judges of coverage is certainly true of me).

Going forward, my plan is to utilize what I currently have: 5/8'' hoses and Orbit gear drive sprinklers. As this equipment wears, I plan to slowly upgrade with 1'' hoses and MP rotators.


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## HortGuy (Aug 3, 2018)

"As for your needs, with a finite PSI level at your spigot, you want to minimize pressure loss by the hose, by using the largest size and the shortest distance you can afford. 1" is far better than 3/4" which is far better than 5/8". Timers also add a restriction to the flow, so don't use one if you don't have to."

I only know of one 1" hose with 3/4" Hose Thread fittings, here:
https://www.amleo.com/bluehose-1-in-diameter-with-3-4-in-fittings/p/VP-BIRD1/


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

HortGuy said:


> "As for your needs, with a finite PSI level at your spigot, you want to minimize pressure loss by the hose, by using the largest size and the shortest distance you can afford. 1" is far better than 3/4" which is far better than 5/8". Timers also add a restriction to the flow, so don't use one if you don't have to."
> 
> I only know of one 1" hose with 3/4" Hose Thread fittings, here:
> https://www.amleo.com/bluehose-1-in-diameter-with-3-4-in-fittings/p/VP-BIRD1/


Hey, thanks for that tip. When I posted above, I never considered that connection size might be an issue. I figured that I could use something like this https://www.eleyhosereels.com/collections/watering-tools/products/garden-hose-quick-connect-system

I also thought that 1 inch hoses would not be too much pricier than a 5/8. :shock: I don't mind paying that much for a good hose; but with as many hoses as I need, I might as well just install an in-ground system than pay for 10+ hoses.

Honestly, now that I know, I am trying to weigh whether or not I could ditch most of the hoses and use 1 inch pvc cl200 instead. Doing so would address the pressure issue at a fraction of the cost of hoses.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Just wanted to update this thread as I work through solutions to improve my irrigation set-up. I hesitate to call this a DIY thread, because I'm not sure where this is going, and right now I'm experimenting more than anything.

That being said, I'm giving irrigation tutorials a close reading. And I'm trying things as I go (sometimes impulsively).

Currently, I'm trying to do a simple comparison: Orbit gear drive sprinkler distance via 5/8 hose and spigot vs Orbit gear drive sprinkler distance via 1 inch schedule 40 PVC and spigot.

I think I've got this set up for the most part.



I tried it out today. I learned something:


This cannot be securely connect to the spigot.

I know there are adapters. I've looked at this one https://www.homedepot.com/p/3-4-in-Slip-x-FHT-PVC-Hose-Fitting-53360/100130381
But I am not sure that it will be the correct size. My spigot is 3/4, and my PVC is 1 inch. Anyone know how to make this connection work?


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## HortGuy (Aug 3, 2018)

The fitting would fit your spigot, which takes the FHT (Female Hose Thread). but the other end is a slip fit, which means it needs to be glued on. It would also need to be adapted to the 1" PVC because it is 3/4", you would need something like this as well.
https://www.amazon.com/MNPT-Slip-PVC-Reducer-Sched/dp/B004UHHQUQ
Might be easier to get a 3/4" FHT to 1" NPT (National Pipe thread) adapter, but they are hard to find.
https://www.firehosedirect.com/brass-3-4-female-ght-to-1-male-npt


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

I may have found a less expensive solution in pvc (rather than brass)



I'm not yet sure if it will work. I did have some leaking where the thread male connects to the Elbow. 
I'm going to tighten everything down and then cement.

I'm also wondering if that elbow creates friction (pressure loss). If it does, an alternative connection might be worthwhile.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

I got everything tightened down.

I did my comparison. 
25 ft 5/8 garden hose vs 10ft 1 inch pvc (paired to 3/4 nipple, of course)
The was virtually no difference in distance between the two lines in supplying my orbit gear drive. Both threw about 28 ft. I want to say that the coverage was more even when using the one inch pvc, but I did not have a way of measuring this.

This is my final set up.




I've got another connection ready that will allow me to demo an in-ground sprinkler with the one inch pvc.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

I picked up some Hunter PGPs. I put them on my orbit gear drive spikes (1/2 inch).

Compared distance of Hunter PGP with one inch PVC vs 25 ft 5/8 garden hose. Again, virtually no difference in distance between the two supplies. The sprinkler threw a solid 34 ft with both supplies.

I am wondering if the one inch vs 5/8 supplies might start showing differences when using multiple sprinklers fed by one supply rather than a single sprinkler ( i. e., when chaining sprinklers).

I also tried to run 3 PGPs chained together. 100 ft hose to first sprinkler, 25 ft hose from 1st to 2nd sprinkler, and 50 ft hose from 2nd to 3rd sprinkler. All hoses were 5/8. 
I achieved a nice distance from each sprinkler with this set-up, but coverage was terrible, with the majority of the water concentrated at the end of the throw.

I may adjust the sprinklers or possibly use different nozzles to see if I can correct this.


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## HortGuy (Aug 3, 2018)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXYzz3i--QY&feature=youtu.be
Worth a look perhaps.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

HortGuy said:


> Worth a look perhaps.


Very impressive differences shown across hoses.


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

I just did a 5/8" rubber hose test at 0, 50, 100. 150, 200, 250, and 300 feet to measure the impact on GPM with no load attached.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHJOn0ZgygM[/media]


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

TommyTester said:


> I just did a 5/8" rubber hose test at 0, 50, 100. 150, 200, 250, and 300 feet to measure the impact on GPM with no load attached.
> 
> [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHJOn0ZgygM[/media]


Thanks for posting. I've enjoyed watching a good number of your videos over the past several weeks.

The results chart is very useful. I'm going to reference that for a cheat sheet moving forward-for rough estimates.
Was that Leonard Cohen in the background?

And, any plans to repeat this test with larger diameter hoses?


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

social port said:


> Was that Leonard Cohen in the background?
> And, any plans to repeat this test with larger diameter hoses?


Yes, good guess on the background music. :thumbup:

I'd love to test some 3/4" hoses, but I don't have any. Perhaps my video will inspire someone else to repeat the test with their 3/4" hoses.

I also want to test dynamic pressure at each junction with a sprinkler at the end. That's on the list for next week. Thanks for the comments.


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