New 2017 irrigation system

The place to discuss irrigation systems, sprinkers and watering
Riverpilot
Posts: 254
Joined: December 21st, 2016, 1:56 pm
Location: Quad Cities, IA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: New 2017 irrigation system

Post by Riverpilot » April 13th, 2017, 10:42 am

Yeah, I was thinking the MP rotators as well, but this company seems not to use them that often. I'm not exactly sure what they'll use on my side lawn, which only has about 12 foot width.

Ric, no. Has not been installed yet. Waiting on favorable weather. We've been getting the typical April showers here. The install company wants to ensure the lawn isn't REALLY wet and end up tearing things up with the equipment.

I will take pictures before, during, after and post a few of them here. A big reason I want to take pics is to make a map of where they put everything. That way I can reference if needed, and pass it along to the new owners down the line.

Riverpilot
Posts: 254
Joined: December 21st, 2016, 1:56 pm
Location: Quad Cities, IA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: New 2017 irrigation system

Post by Riverpilot » April 24th, 2017, 7:09 pm

Still waiting for this project to be completed. The weather hasn't cooperated very well. :) They prefer to have 2-3 days of dry weather and so far we haven't had that, other than including the weekends.

With that in mind.. I'm really not sure when this is going to get done. Weather people are calling for up to 5 inches of rain starting Wednesday, which I going to make everything sloppy.

Patience, patience, patience.

Riverpilot
Posts: 254
Joined: December 21st, 2016, 1:56 pm
Location: Quad Cities, IA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: New 2017 irrigation system

Post by Riverpilot » April 30th, 2017, 8:21 pm

Looks like this coming week is going to be the week! :yahoo:
Other than Monday, the rest of the week is looking to be dry and mild conditions. Crossing my fingers. :clapping:

Riverpilot
Posts: 254
Joined: December 21st, 2016, 1:56 pm
Location: Quad Cities, IA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: New 2017 irrigation system

Post by Riverpilot » May 2nd, 2017, 6:39 pm

Progress! Received THE call this morning. Install will be either Thursday or Friday. They called the location survey right after we spoke, and the first surveyor was here within 3 hours to mark things up. Main sewer line. Figured it would be closer to the street than it actually was.

I figure tomorrow will be the day the rest of the surveyors stop by. Hoping that ALL of them show up. Cable and telephone have a bad habit around here of not doing anything, and then having to run new lines.

Riverpilot
Posts: 254
Joined: December 21st, 2016, 1:56 pm
Location: Quad Cities, IA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: New 2017 irrigation system

Post by Riverpilot » May 5th, 2017, 7:26 pm

Ended up having to call the contractor again when only one utility was marked. They did an emergency locate late yesterday afternoon.

The guys, Jose and Jose, showed up later than I was hoping. 11:30... hence they'll be back tomorrow morning to finish everything up.

I'll post a few pictures tomorrow for those wanting to take a look. Where they pulled the irrigation line was different than what I was thinking. Instead of basically one long pull, they did all kinds of shorter pulls going this way and that way.. lol.

I found out Jose (#1) was the real brains in the irrigation department. The "boss" showed up at the same time as the Jose's, asked Jose how he would do everything and then left. Jose then took the next hour walking over everything, measuring, marking, etc... Both Jose' were great guys! :)

They nailed a chunk of wood, must have been left over from construction of the house 20 years ago, that really did a number on a section of front lawn. By the time they left this afternoon, you couldn't even tell it had been messed up.

They also hand dug a number of areas, around the gas line, power, etc... they didn't want to risk hitting ANY line, regardless what it was. Professional guys through and through. More tomorrow! :)


Riverpilot
Posts: 254
Joined: December 21st, 2016, 1:56 pm
Location: Quad Cities, IA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: New 2017 irrigation system

Post by Riverpilot » May 6th, 2017, 11:31 pm

Day two started at 7:30a.m and ended at 4:00p.m..... irrigation installed! :)

Team Jose was back and did a fantastic job. Ended up with 5 zones, 2 in back, 2 on side and 1 in front. The front lawn would have used 2 zones if I wanted to water the parking strip. With all the salt from winter, and the normal crap during the summer... I don't care about the parking strip enough to add a zone for it.

Back lawn and front lawn are using Hunter PGP, while the side lawn is using Hunter Pro-Spray with Pro Fixed Nozzles.

Controller is the Hunter Pro-HC with I believe the 1" PGV valves. Using the hydrawise web site for the controller is very cool. I definitely need to experiment with it.

Tomorrow I'll dial everything in a bit better in terms of how often/long to water, etc... which will also include the multiple posts on this site on irrigation.

I'll post pictures at a later time, as well as updates on how things are progressing with testing etc... :)

Riverpilot
Posts: 254
Joined: December 21st, 2016, 1:56 pm
Location: Quad Cities, IA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: New 2017 irrigation system

Post by Riverpilot » May 10th, 2017, 3:35 pm

I've been testing the irrigation system the last few days. I'm almost wishing they/I would have gone with 6 zones total (2 in the front) just to help out on pressure etc...

After testing, which I need to re-test the front lawn again, I've gotten different precipitation rates for each zone, which I expected due to different sized areas being covered.

I ran the system 5 minutes for each zone. Checked levels after each zone run, and again after overlapping areas.
The highest was 1.5", lowest was .1"

Interesting results. :) Now, I've looked at past threads, etc.. and I know each lawn is different, soaking time, etc... but any up to date hints, ideas on figuring out the time to get the moisture down to the 4"-6" area? I'll be using a screwdriver to test. Perhaps find a moisture meter/sensor that I can tie into the Hunter controller.

Riverpilot
Posts: 254
Joined: December 21st, 2016, 1:56 pm
Location: Quad Cities, IA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: New 2017 irrigation system

Post by Riverpilot » January 31st, 2018, 2:08 pm

Just curious what the actual reach of a spray head is? Say I have a sprayer with nozzle claiming 30'... I know that when tested it's usually with zero wind, or indoors to get that 30'. Would a real world distance be closer to say 70% or 80% of that distance?

I'm going to replace a few heads this spring with more I20's that come with the check valve. The original nozzles that team Jose used were all 40' distance, then they just used the screw to dial it down to the distance they wanted. Which created a few wet spots on different zones.

Riverpilot
Posts: 254
Joined: December 21st, 2016, 1:56 pm
Location: Quad Cities, IA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: New 2017 irrigation system

Post by Riverpilot » April 3rd, 2018, 3:40 pm

Found out the answer to my question.

Maximum spacing distance is 60% of the diameter of the head. If you have wind, closer to 45%.

If the head is rated for 10' radius, then 10*2 = 20 * .6 = 12 feet, or 9 feet if you have windy conditions.

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