# Sprays or Rotors for side yard



## Utk03analyst (Jun 8, 2019)

My side yard is roughly 12 x 72. I currently have a setup in my backyard that's running off my hose bib to a timer and then into poly buried into the ground I've been able to run 4 sprays off of my hose bib and I'm currently trenching to run my setup off of my main water line versus hose bib.

Enough of the background below are my sketches. I would like to run sprays because it would be less trenching one vs. the horizontal runs to the rotors. This side of my yard also has my utilities lined so I would have to hand trench which isn't a problem I've dug about 200 feet in my backyard for my current setup and and probably around 50 thus far connecting to my main line. Thoughts or ideals?


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

For uniform coverage, the 14-head square pattern would be proper regardless of the type of head you choose (spray, rotary or rotor). Also, the minimum radius I've seen for most rotors is 15ft, so I would do the 14-head square pattern with either traditional sprays or rotary nozzles (MP Rotator or R-VAN).


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

I just did an install of a rectangle and I went with the left-hand layout.


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## Utk03analyst (Jun 8, 2019)

Thanks for the replies. I still can't get over the extra trenching. I got the below from Orbits Free online tool. The other side of my yard is 39 x 131 And it's showing covering 39 feet with a rotor that has a 52 foot radius if my math is right that's 26 feet and 13 short of head to head coverage.

I also thought it's best to put your 90s on 1 zone your 180s on 1 zone etc. in the back I have 4 90s on 1 zone and 4 180s on 1 zone and a spray in the middle.

I think I'm going to stick with one trench and vs spraying in a 12 ft circle I'll expand to 13 or more which will spray a portion of the house and my neighbors yard to prevent dry spots. I spray a lot of the house today when dragging hoses.


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## Utk03analyst (Jun 8, 2019)

I thought of one more question if you where to run 90's and 180's on the same zone I would have to nozzle down the 90's or nozzle up the 180's to match the precipitation rates? For example, since the 180's have twice the area to cover I could go with a 4.0 gpm nozzle on the 180 and then go 2.0 gpm on the 90's and with the same run time they should put out the same amount of water?


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

The narrow area is on the lower right, correct? Is that area shaded by the house and/or a fence? If so, then the water requirements will be much less. Also, how much slope away from the house does it have?

I hate to suggest a non-optimal solution. But if the area is both shaded and the water drains away from your house slightly (but no more than about 15°), you might consider a single row of Hunter MP 2000 series against the house with tons of overlap. You'd waste some water spraying down the fence. But I'd rather do that than reverse the direction and spray down your house. By overlapping the patterns 4 to 6 feet, you'd reduce the gaps to almost nothing and the slope will ensure the fence area gets water.


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## Utk03analyst (Jun 8, 2019)

Thanks for the advice "hsv" the narrow side is on the right and does slope away from the house. It does receive a fair amount of shade due to my house and the neighbors and it also is the east side of the house. Last summer, first year in the home new construction, it took the heat better than any other side with less inputs and stayed the greenest and grew the fastest. I will more than likely go the route you suggested and leave a spot in my valve box to expand. If I go down one side and decide to change to the optimal solution at a later date I will at least have half of the trenching done versus going down the middle.

The only problem I have with this side of the house is after the neighbors home was built his side yard is more narrow and banks higher than mine, his gutter shoots down that side and I got a fungus that took out part of the yard. It was the only area I lost to a few battles of fungus last summer. I plan on trenching deeper and routing my gutters into drainage pipes that carriers the water to the front of the house to at least keep my downspouts for compounding the problem as well as amending the clay soil some so I get better drainage.


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## Utk03analyst (Jun 8, 2019)

So I would do something like the third drawing, since the min distance on a rotor is 15 feet I would overshoot my yard by 3 feet but should have minimal to zero dry spots.


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Yes, I think your third sketch is best especially if that is a low area along your property line.



Utk03analyst said:


> ...his gutter shoots down that side and I got a fungus that took out part of the yard.


Now it sounds like you have the opposite problem along the outer property line: it's too wet. In that case, you can probably "cheat" and omit those outer spray heads. In fact, you may not even need to overlap spray patterns much. You may want to spray several feet short of your property line if that area is often soggy. Rain detection and a "smart" controller will be your best friends.


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## quadmasta (Apr 3, 2019)

Why not sprayers with rotor nozzles? You'd have to worry less about zoning off different coverage sweeps as they're all metered to throw the same amount of water.


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## Utk03analyst (Jun 8, 2019)

I tried a few on the system that's current run by hose bib and I don't really like them. I'm not sure why but I like the flexibility of being able to nozzle up or down and dial in the coverage. I may just not know what I'm doing with the rotor sprays but I feel more confident working with rotors.


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Utk03analyst said:


> I tried a few on the system that's current run by hose bib and I don't really like them.


Given your conditions, I'm confident that a single row of Hunter MP 2000 near the house spraying outward will work. Your last layout looked good to me.

I expect you'll have to adjust things based on actual conditions. When "cheating" like this, a lot depends on your slope and soil type. Clay soil and a steeper slope promotes run-off which you can use to your advantage. If your soil is sandy or loamy with little slope, then you can't count on run-off to green up the lower areas.

The driest area will likely be the high ground near your house. If you plan a spray distance of 12 feet to the property line, I think you will achieve 100% even coverage from the house to about 1/2 the distance to the property line. From that 6 to 8 foot point outward, the coverage won't be perfectly even. But the lower areas should get some run-off water. The last few feet near the property line is usually soggy due to your neighbor's downspouts. Factoring in the shade, and you likely won't water the area very often except during drought conditions.

I like your idea to add a "T" with a few feet of stub-out pipe for future expansion. You may decide to hand dig and add a second row of heads someday. If so, I'd experiment with MP 1000 rotors in the lower heads to improve coverage, while not flooding the lower area too much. But I think you have a very good chance of not needing them.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

I would still encourage you to just do it right the first time. It's obviously your decision to make, but there is really no substitute for head-to-head spacing. I don't know of anyone who has ever looked back and said _"Man, I wish I didn't have proper head-to-head coverage. This uniform precipitation rate sucks."_ :thumbup:


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## Utk03analyst (Jun 8, 2019)

The area closer to the house grows the fastest since it gets the most shade usually it's an inch higher when it's time to mow. I agree with doing it right the first time but if it was a one shot deal that I was paying someone else to do I would be all in but leaving room for expansion and giving it a go seems like middle ground.

I hit a couple of snags in my plan. I'm giving up trying to sleeve the driveway. I could have trenched around the house with the time I've wasted trying to find and clear the gravel out the pipe. So my 2 cable box will be to the left of the yard at the back of the house. I'll run a poly line across the back and plug both ends leaving slack in the valve box if I decide to add the second line later.

I also learned after cutting my supply line that it's 0
Pex. I have a slip t holding it now. But I'll buy a crimper in the AM and get my t done the right way. I've learned a lot but I enjoy doing it myself plus with the extra free time from zero commute work from home for two weeks I hope to knock out the entire yard by April.

My last hope which aim going to test before finalizing my plan is that I can shoot 3 pgp ultras at least 35 feet. Which won't give me head to head coverage in the side that's 39 feet wide but should still give me great coverage.


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