Hi Slowpoke,

I have been playing around with my irrigation system too. I have been experimenting with more drip irrigation this year.

Generally, I have always used the old fashioned sprinklers and hoses with electric timers. I have found the timers are a real time saver once the system is installed regardless of what type of sprinklers you use.

I am really liking the drip irrigation because no water is wasted and it gets deep into the root zone much more efficiently. I have been trying out all sorts of different heads to determine which ones are the best for any given application. It has been alot of fun testing this system and it is not really that expensive.

My best find this year year has been a 4 valve timer made by Orbit. I can water 4 different zones at different times and on 3 different starting cycles. I really like this timer because I am on a well and pressure can be low at times which makes watering my whole garden at the same time very difficult. This little jewel has solved this problem because I can do one zone at a time without severe drop in pressure. I loved it so much I ordered another one after I installed the first one.

Now I can easily get most all of my gardens watered without much effort.

Bruce

Bruce,

I am glad to get this info on the timer. I was looking at walmart yesterday trying to make up my mind which one to buy, but not knowing anything about them, I thought I would do a little research first.

What triggered this test was, I went out to water yesterday, turned on the first 7 rows, goofed around for a few min., then went in to cool off and went to sleep.

To make a long story short, I could have made a pretty good down payment on a timer with the water that ran across
my yard and into the pasture next to me.

I sure hope Rip Van Winkle turned his water off before he took his nap.

Would you mind sharing the model # of the timer you like?

Thanks, Larry

I just hook all my soaker hoses from one faucet. It is the only one that is an old style, and doesn't have that little hole built in to drain the water out of the frost free faucet. which means, it won't leak if the water is turned on to only a fast drip.

That is what I use for my soaker hoses. A fast drip. I turn it on in early June, and leave it on 24/7. It shows on the ground ever so slightly through the mulch, where the hoses are burried. It's just a tiny bit wet/damp.

I have a multitude of hoses hooked together, even with a section of regular hose here and there between, to bridge an area where I don't need watering. I also have lots of Y connectors, and some are almost turned off, to keep an area from getting wetter than needed.

This works GREAT for me.

Moni

Larry,

You can get the Orbit timer at Dripworks.com. There I believe it is $75 and comes with two valves and a nice 4 way brass splitter. You can buy extra valves and if I remember they were $17 each.

I got lucky and found one at Lumber 2 in Midwest City for $65. I loved it so much I bought another one. Unfortunately Lumber 2 only had one and I could not find it anywhere else so I ordered from dripworks.com. I got it in 3-4 days.

i know it is a little pricey but you can run 4 different zones from one timer. And a decent single timer runs $25-$30, so it all works out in the end.

Good Luck
Bruce