February 17, 2006, Newsletter Issue #77: Poor Man´s Sprinkler System

Tip of the Week

You can build your own sprinkler system for a fraction of the cost of expensive, commercially installed systems.

Equipment list:

3 or 4 impact sprinkler heads and the aluminum spikes they attach to.
Enough garden hoses to go between them.
One additional hose for the loop. This one needs to be as long or longer than the other hose lengths added together.
A T-connector with all three outside diameters (OD) matching the inside diameter (ID) of your hoses.
3 screw down hose clamps to fit the hose OD.

Assembly:

Remove the screw-on caps from each spike. Attach a sprinkler head to each spike top and tighten securely.

Screw the male hose end into the female connector on one side of the first spike. Screw the female end of a second hose to the male side of the first spike. Screw the male end of the second hose into the female end of the second spike. Continue until you have connected all of the spikes together.

Connect the female end of the last hose (the "loopback") to the male connector on the last spike. Cut the first hose in half, and cut off the male connector from the loopback hose. Insert the top two ends of the T-connector to each half of the first hose and insert the cut-off end of the loopback hose to the last end of the T.

Set your sprinkler heads where you want´em in the lawn, connect the hose to the water faucet, and let´er rip. The loopback hose helps equalize the water pressure between the sprinkler heads. If you only use two heads, you may not need it. If you use 3, 4 or more and the last head barely trickles, the loopback insures even distribution.

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