Im thinking about putting a rain bird sprinkler system and need help!?
April 9, 2010 by
Filed under Concrete Bird Baths
What are the kind of rainbird sprinkler that are in the devil strip I would need about 15 of them. And how do you put a pipe under concrete without ripping it up?
A tunnel
In portland or. there is a rental outfit called neff rentals…they have boring machings that you can rent…they run themselves off compressed air…its like a torpedo….and it hammers its way under the cement….very easy to use…and then put a sleeve through the bored hole to protect your irrigation line…and i would use the rainbird 1806 series…and dont forget some kind of backflow prevention to protect your drinking water…and quicksilver valves are the best for your irr. system….call neff rentals and maybe they can suggest a local rental store for you…its called a hammer bore…goodluck….and call for locates like gas and electrical you dont want to hit any lines underground and check city regulations for instal on backflow prevention…and testing…good luck
MASTER GARDENER TO THE RESCUE.
Question? Why Rainbird? Are you installing for yourself or are you putting this in for someone else to make a buck?
Because if it is for your own use, why Rainbird? Rainbird is a homeowner grade product like you find at depot type home centers. You get a couple of seasons out of it & it’s time to replace it.
Why not go with professional grade products like Hunter or Hardie? Made for agricultural use, you get long term, care free operation for almost the same cost. Warranty alone is worth it. Sprinkler head gets run over bt the lawn mower or even if your dog uses it as a chew toy, you get full replacement, no questions asked for full year. what will rainbird do for you?
The ag type heads are fully adjustable… from 0 to 360 deg pattern. no more buying 1/2, 1/4, 2/3 & full spray heads. Even flow rate ajustable from head to head. Can use less water in shady area then in the sun running on the same line.
Ag grade valves outlast homeowner grade by 3 times. When ag valve goes bad, the heads can be replaced on the body still on the pipe. Rainbird, you have to cut them off the pipe to replace.
The cool thing is that the ag grade costs only pennys more then homeowner grade & at some outlets they cost the same.
during the drought in 1991 i did a story for cbs news on the instalation of a new irrigation system. i spoke with the owner of that system last may. Over the past 15 years, he has replaced only 3 heads. The original valves are stll working fine. His neighbor has dug up & replaced his entire system twice during the same period.
I don’t know about you, but i have better things to do then waste time messing with irrigation parts & repairs?
You can buy Hardy, Hunter and the other ag grade parts at any good irrigation / landscape supply company in the yellow pages.
ps. high pressure brass hose nozzel (home depot $1.75) and your garden hose to blast out under the concrete for the pvc pipe.
Not sure what a “devil strip” is, but if you are tunneling under a sidewalk there is another way you might be able to do that is cheaper, though the previous suggestion works well.
Get a 1/2″ or 3/4 galvanized pipe that is at least a few inches longer than the concrete you are tunneling under, but not too much longer. You will need to dig a trench a little longer than the pipe up to the concrete, then with a pick or even by hand dig as far as you can underneath the concrete, then attach the pipe to a water hose with a special adapter you can find at a hardware store (hose and pipe have different threads). It’ll be messy, but if you align it right you can turn on the water and push it through with some elbow grease (if the soil is very rocky this will be much more difficult).
Once through, you can tape the irrigation pipe to the galvanized one and pull it through. It’s not super easy but not too difficult either and isn’t very expensive. You also have the option of using a hammer to pound the galvanized pipe through, but be careful not to get it stuck (use vise-grips to turn it back and forth and pull it out if it does). Do not pound the PVC pipe with a hammer, it will crack and be useless. Likely you will only need a 1/2″ irrigation pipe, but you MUST use the heavier schedule 40 pipe.
I’ve done this several times so I know it works well, but the other method will be much better if you need to go under a driveway.
i go along with garden dok. i used rainbird for years and had problrms all the time. I started useing Hunter heads & parts & i have no problems. in fact they are fun to ajust & reajust. Hardy made my time clock & its works great too. I thinf my hunter heads cost the same as rainbird. I won’t go back to rainbird
Stay away from rainbird. junk. Hunter makes the best
go with garden dok!