I have a tractor style traveling sprinkler also but when I was a kid in the ‘60s we had a Melnor Roll n Reel traveling sprinkler that was taller because it had a hose roller built into it and it rolled the hose up automatically as it traveled. It was also easier to lay out the hose as you tilted the sprinkler up at the end where the caster that guides its way around the hose is up and walk the hose out by pushing the sprinkler around like a shopping cart.
I have two of these sprinklers and I've never have to keep an eye on them I don't know if you're using a large hose and your yard is really uneven but I've never had that problem. They come with a little ramp you put on the hose to where you want the tractor to stop so once it gets to that it will go under that tractor and hit that button stop the watering. I have a little cheap timer I put on the spigot outside of my house and I have it set go on at a certain time and go off at a certain time I just have to make sure I have the sprinklers set and ready to go before that time is ready. I also have these little cast iron things called pound of rain those are really cool the way the water comes out and lets it go airborne for a while looks like a tornado.
Yeah I think it’s a combo of using a thicker hose, uneven yard, and height of my grass. Hence my feedback. Folks like you may not have those particular problems. I haven’t bought a hose time to use it with, but that’s a good point
Do you ever have a problem with the dragged hose getting a kink? Or with the weight of dragged hose becoming too much for the tractor to keep pulling it?
I love those sprinklers! Never had one and I've never seen one in person, but innately love them. From some of the other fellows comments, sucks you may have to downgrade and hoses to work it..
You really should have put the nozzles pointing a bit upward, so you don't abuse the grass as much, or flowers as you pass by. It would give you wider coverage and more of a downward droplet like rain with less impact. Or maybe you just did that to protect the camera? If you have that issue with the water turning off frequently, you could save some steps and frustration by getting an Underhill ball valve that you can put at the end of your hose. I ran a side business for 10 years doing roof and exterior cleaning, and these Underhill ball valves last, and they have the largest opening ball that I could find so it won't restrict your gallons per minute water flow. Besides that, it makes working with hoses so much easier. Great video though!
I have the same basic traveling sprinkler but mine is the Melnore red firetruck but the Orbit, Nelson and Melnor all have the same mechanism, just a different shape and color cast iron body. The problem you are having is you are using too thick of a hose. It will work way better with a 5/8th inch or 1/2 inch hose and you won't need to babysit it. That hose s probably too heavy for it too. Go buy a 5/8 or 1/2 inch lightweight hose and it will work almost flawlessly. I have a lot of experience with traveling or "walking" sprinklers. My parents had a National Walking Sprinkler when I was a kid and it was the way they watered our whole lawn before they finally put in a sprinkler system. Those walking sprinklers were the best and were made by the same company from the 1940's until just last year! They were tanks! They were all cast iron with cast iron wheels and metal gears. When the company went out of business last year, they were selling for between $140 and $160. Now that they are no longer made, they are selling for over $1200 on ebay! I'm so mad I found out too late that they went out of business! I would have bought a new one for sure. It was my job as a kid to set the track of the hose for it on our front lawn. It even had a shut off thing that you put where you wanted it to stop. As I mentioned in a reply below, I currently has a similar problem with a leak I can't get to so bought the Melnor use it to water that zone.
Same nostalgia for me. My grandpa was too cheap to put in irrigation, so every time I visited guess who’s job it was to set the hose in the backyard. 🤣 Thanks for watching!
These say they can use a 200 ft hose. I'm using a 100ft 5/8 hose and it goes INCREDIBLY SLOW :( really saturates maybe 1000 sqft over 2 hours... don't feel like it should take more than 2 hours to do 6000sqft, and mine is only getting 1000 over 2 hours.
@@dfa1 They do need to travel slow get enough water down. These traveling sprinklers have 2 speeds that you adjust with the little lever on top. How much water your sprinkler puts down is dependent on your water pressure and hose width. It is optimum for it to water at least a half of an inch to your lawn with one pass. Put some empty tuna cans or other type of straight sided shallow can or tray in the sprinkler’s path and see how much water it’s putting down. Mine puts down about a half of an inch on fast speed and almost an inch at slow speed. I use the slow speed because it is best to water your lawn deeply and infrequently instead of lightly and daily.
I don’t have a well so I can’t comment one way or another. I will say I’ve seen similar sprinklers used on my family’s property who are on well water and it seems to be fine
I am by no means someone to take advice from about water line leaks. Seems to me you may just have to dig up where the valves are for your zones, cut the water line and reditch the line from your zone three to the sprinklers in that zone. We are currently about to start ditching some water lines at our new build and it’s pretty simple. I hope you find what works best for you!
@@theyardfreako I would check each head just to make sure it just isn't at one of the heads and not involving your line under the driveway. If it isn't at the head, most sprinkler repair companies like Colorado Sprinkler Co will come out and give you a free estimate and they have a tool that can find where the leak is electronically. I have a similar problem to yours. My leak is in the middle of my front lawn affecting that zone. I thought it would be an easy fix but I discovered the leak is below my maple tree roots and I can't access it. I haven't gotten an estimate yet but I am using the same solution as you for that zone; a traveling sprinkler!
Not sure how long it would’ve taken for the plastic wear out on its own. But it did break… because my kids stood on top of it at one point. Nothing that can be done about it. I did enjoy the sprinkler filling in the gap while my in ground was being repaired
Had one of the nelson brand around five years. It sits in Texas heat most of the summer. Hasn't broke yet. They have their place. I call the lawn life support.
I have a tractor style traveling sprinkler also but when I was a kid in the ‘60s we had a Melnor Roll n Reel traveling sprinkler that was taller because it had a hose roller built into it and it rolled the hose up automatically as it traveled. It was also easier to lay out the hose as you tilted the sprinkler up at the end where the caster that guides its way around the hose is up and walk the hose out by pushing the sprinkler around like a shopping cart.
The musical score made this the most entertaining thing I’ve experienced today
I’m probably the only one commenting on the nice music from Jupiter composed by Gustav Holst.
Gotta bring some class to the channel.
Apparently it’s public domain, so it was great to use it
That is a pretty cool set up. Gets the job done in the meantime and hope you figure out your leak problem
I have two of these sprinklers and I've never have to keep an eye on them I don't know if you're using a large hose and your yard is really uneven but I've never had that problem. They come with a little ramp you put on the hose to where you want the tractor to stop so once it gets to that it will go under that tractor and hit that button stop the watering. I have a little cheap timer I put on the spigot outside of my house and I have it set go on at a certain time and go off at a certain time I just have to make sure I have the sprinklers set and ready to go before that time is ready. I also have these little cast iron things called pound of rain those are really cool the way the water comes out and lets it go airborne for a while looks like a tornado.
Yeah I think it’s a combo of using a thicker hose, uneven yard, and height of my grass. Hence my feedback. Folks like you may not have those particular problems.
I haven’t bought a hose time to use it with, but that’s a good point
Do you ever have a problem with the dragged hose getting a kink? Or with the weight of dragged hose becoming too much for the tractor to keep pulling it?
I love those sprinklers! Never had one and I've never seen one in person, but innately love them. From some of the other fellows comments, sucks you may have to downgrade and hoses to work it..
I’ll fix the irrigation eventually, but life is busy so it’ll take a while. And I’m too cheap to hire out the fix. Until then…. Tractoring
You really should have put the nozzles pointing a bit upward, so you don't abuse the grass as much, or flowers as you pass by. It would give you wider coverage and more of a downward droplet like rain with less impact. Or maybe you just did that to protect the camera? If you have that issue with the water turning off frequently, you could save some steps and frustration by getting an Underhill ball valve that you can put at the end of your hose. I ran a side business for 10 years doing roof and exterior cleaning, and these Underhill ball valves last, and they have the largest opening ball that I could find so it won't restrict your gallons per minute water flow. Besides that, it makes working with hoses so much easier. Great video though!
Will it travel over the metal joint between 2 attached hoses?
I have the same basic traveling sprinkler but mine is the Melnore red firetruck but the Orbit, Nelson and Melnor all have the same mechanism, just a different shape and color cast iron body. The problem you are having is you are using too thick of a hose. It will work way better with a 5/8th inch or 1/2 inch hose and you won't need to babysit it. That hose s probably too heavy for it too. Go buy a 5/8 or 1/2 inch lightweight hose and it will work almost flawlessly. I have a lot of experience with traveling or "walking" sprinklers. My parents had a National Walking Sprinkler when I was a kid and it was the way they watered our whole lawn before they finally put in a sprinkler system. Those walking sprinklers were the best and were made by the same company from the 1940's until just last year! They were tanks! They were all cast iron with cast iron wheels and metal gears. When the company went out of business last year, they were selling for between $140 and $160. Now that they are no longer made, they are selling for over $1200 on ebay! I'm so mad I found out too late that they went out of business! I would have bought a new one for sure. It was my job as a kid to set the track of the hose for it on our front lawn. It even had a shut off thing that you put where you wanted it to stop. As I mentioned in a reply below, I currently has a similar problem with a leak I can't get to so bought the Melnor use it to water that zone.
Same nostalgia for me. My grandpa was too cheap to put in irrigation, so every time I visited guess who’s job it was to set the hose in the backyard. 🤣
Thanks for watching!
These say they can use a 200 ft hose. I'm using a 100ft 5/8 hose and it goes INCREDIBLY SLOW :( really saturates maybe 1000 sqft over 2 hours... don't feel like it should take more than 2 hours to do 6000sqft, and mine is only getting 1000 over 2 hours.
@@dfa1 They do need to travel slow get enough water down. These traveling sprinklers have 2 speeds that you adjust with the little lever on top. How much water your sprinkler puts down is dependent on your water pressure and hose width. It is optimum for it to water at least a half of an inch to your lawn with one pass. Put some empty tuna cans or other type of straight sided shallow can or tray in the sprinkler’s path and see how much water it’s putting down. Mine puts down about a half of an inch on fast speed and almost an inch at slow speed. I use the slow speed because it is best to water your lawn deeply and infrequently instead of lightly and daily.
Should one use this on well water? I wonder if it would be a bit much?
What exactly are you worried about?
@@theyardfreako it running for a long time and drying up the well
I don’t have a well so I can’t comment one way or another.
I will say I’ve seen similar sprinklers used on my family’s property who are on well water and it seems to be fine
Love the music you chose lol
do you still believe in the jerry baker TONIC? I tried it and it instantly stopped my fungus.
I am by no means someone to take advice from about water line leaks. Seems to me you may just have to dig up where the valves are for your zones, cut the water line and reditch the line from your zone three to the sprinklers in that zone. We are currently about to start ditching some water lines at our new build and it’s pretty simple. I hope you find what works best for you!
That in theory would work…. If I didn’t have a three car concrete driveway between my valves and the sprinkler lines haha 😜
@@theyardfreako yup that would be a small problem ha🤣 like I said best of luck!
@@theyardfreako I would check each head just to make sure it just isn't at one of the heads and not involving your line under the driveway. If it isn't at the head, most sprinkler repair companies like Colorado Sprinkler Co will come out and give you a free estimate and they have a tool that can find where the leak is electronically. I have a similar problem to yours. My leak is in the middle of my front lawn affecting that zone. I thought it would be an easy fix but I discovered the leak is below my maple tree roots and I can't access it. I haven't gotten an estimate yet but I am using the same solution as you for that zone; a traveling sprinkler!
So how long did it take the Orbit to water your whole front yard on high speed?
For a yard like that, which is about 75 feet long, an hour.
Will this work with those expandable hoses?
thank you for the details of the trouble shooting part, too. Like and sub
Epic music.
Clarkson’s farm inspired me
UPDATE!
Haha… my kids thought it was a toy and destroyed it
Get to the sprinkler we don't care about your yards condition
What a piece of junk. I bet that plastic wears out in no time.
Not sure how long it would’ve taken for the plastic wear out on its own. But it did break… because my kids stood on top of it at one point. Nothing that can be done about it. I did enjoy the sprinkler filling in the gap while my in ground was being repaired
Had one of the nelson brand around five years. It sits in Texas heat most of the summer. Hasn't broke yet. They have their place. I call the lawn life support.
I thought these were made of cast-iron, not plastic
The part that turns is made of plastic, and could easily be broken