Over the winter I re-worked my settings and looked up my soil type again and I’m actually clay loam. Not sure if the survey website updates periodically, but I’m 95% sure I was Sandy Loam a couple years ago when I first set things up. That made the biggest difference…
Consider replacing the MP Rotators with Rain Bird Rotary RVAns. They have an application rate of .6 and they offer a new selection of many arcs and distances.
@robertokc, just did a quick research on these…really worth the change from MP’s? I’ve been very happy with my MP’s. My only issue has been running them on zones originally designed for traditional spray nozzles. I’ve got a total of 8 zones running the MP’s, and I really need to take the time and combine some of the zones (via re-pipe) to cut that down. That or go back to sprays, which I have no desire to do…
The Rain Bird rotary nozzles work the same as MP Rotators - on top of spray heads. Since their precipitation rate is higher, your run times will be shorter. If you are pleased with MP Rotators, then stay with them. I have them installed in my front yard. Personally, I like the stronger stream of the Rain Bird product. You can also adjust without a tool and flush them easily. But I have MP Rotators in the back beds and they work just fine. I guess it is like comparing Chevy and Ford.
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Just curious. Why did you remove the spray nozzles? Eight zones with rotating nozzles is a lot of run time. Lately i have been won over by the performance of Hunter nozzles after attending a contractor event at a distributor.
I didn’t. Previous owner did, and I do like them more than the standard spray nozzles in the backyard. I think the coverage is more even since I can adjust the radius without creating bad precipitation rates. I seem to have less issues with clogged or damaged heads with the rotators as well. I do plan on combining zones in the front yard since I’m guessing the original design was spray nozzles.
I currently only have 5-7 sprinklers per zone, and I can manually turn on up to 3 zones without dropping pressure too low, and gpm calculations confirm that I can support that, I’ll just have to adjust the spray on the heads a bit…My front yard consist of 3 separate grass areas, two currently with 3 zones, and one with 2 zones. My plan is to combine each grass area into one zone and leave the rotator type nozzles in place.