Photo courtesy of Rain BirdRotary sprinklers are not a new idea. They are sort of a cross between spray heads, which broadcast water in a full or part circle pattern all at once, and rotors, which rotate over a full or part circle with a single stream of water.
Toro's 300/ 340 series Stream Rotors are a gear-driven version of this idea. They've been around since the 1980s. The newer take on this concept, from both MP Rotator (as of April 2007 part of Hunter Industries) and Rain Bird, features nozzles that thread onto a standard sprayhead body, and far fewer moving parts.
This seems to be another head-to-head (get it, head-to-head?) competition between these two irrigation manufacturing leaders. Both brands claim matched precipitation regardless of distance, water pressure (between 20 and 55 PSI) or pattern selected, as long as spacing is head- to-head. Both appear to be good solutions where water pressure is on the low side, or where excess water run-off is an issue due to slopes.
A few words of caution regarding these nozzles: (1) all sprinklers on the same line should be the same brand and model, and (2) watering times need to be extended to up to 2.5 times what conventional sprayheads require. The longer watering time is due to a lower precipitation rate, which is also how they avoid runoff.
One unintended consequence of rotary nozzle designs is that lots of people seem to like watching their sprinklers in action. Something about the rotating streams of water is soothing. They also might be fun for kids to play in. One customer admitted to me that he likes to run through the zones with his hand held remote control and keep the kids guessing which sprinklers will come on next. Good water conservation guidelines recommend watering before 9:00 AM and after 7:00 PM, but these sprinklers you might be tempted to make and exception now and then, like sitting on a patio with a cold drink on your hand and watching the "dancing waters" on a late summer afternoon.
Photo courtesy of MP Rotator
