DIY outdoor arena sprinkler system

[FrittSkritt]

Okay, I’m officially fed up with my barn’s dusty arena. Dragging hoses and impact sprinklers around takes close to an hour and the surface dries up within about 15 minutes… and with my RAO horse, I can’t afford for him to be breathing in much dust! :no:

Here are the specs: 80x170 foot ring, 3 foot high fence on all sides but only two of them (short end and long side) are immediately adjacent to the ring. The other two sides have a 5 foot drop down to the paddock fenceline, so I can’t mount anything on them since the top of the fence is below the sand.

I’ve looked into water reels and they’re out of our budget. The barn is on a well system and has really good water pressure, so I’m wondering if there’s a way I can set up 3 or 4 sprinkler heads mounted on the one long side. However… I have no idea where to start!

I’m guessing I need some PVC piping, a way to mount it to the fence, and some seriously powerful sprinkler heads (since I can only mount it to one side of the fence). Honestly, even if I can only get 3/4 of the width of the arena wet, I’d be happy!

Has anyone tried this? Any suggestions/advice/warnings?

[Xanthoria]

Our barn set up a hose along the perimeter with brass impulse sprinkler heads daisy-chained along it: one mounted at each end, and three along each side. Each can be adjusted to sprinkle in an arc, and yes - great water pressure a must to run them all at once!

These can have great range - 150’ plus! But the ones we have basically water about 20’ around the rail. And in fact we’ve been in a years long drought so they are never used.

[Bluey]

You could ask here:

http://www.nelsonirrigation.com/products/application/arena

[dressagegirl123]

I have irrigation sprinklers in FL for my outdoor. But, instead of trying to run them all at once, do half of the arena, then the other. I have 3 down one side, and one at A on one cycle, and 3 on the other side and one at C on the second cycle. A company that does irrigation could do it for you. The problem is, if you get freezes in the winter, the pipes will have to be self draining and buried below the frostline. An alternative is a water tank, but they are a pain in the butt!

[csaper58]

Check your codes, you will probably need a licensed plumber to hook your sprinkler system up. You must have backflow prevention.

[airhorse]

If you have a tractor that will lift a ton on pallet forks, get a 250 gallon tote, some pvc and a drill bit. Makes a pretty good watering unit for under $100. I can get stuff done while it is filling and then gravity “sprinkle” in a few minutes. Our 70X170 indoor usually needs 1,000 gallons to get good and wet.

Of course you do need the tractor and forks.

[FrittSkritt]

Is there a way I can do it all above ground? Meaning putting up small pvc pipe along the fence and then attach the sprinklers on the fenceposts… then just attach the hose to the pvc pipe as needed. If I just daisy chain hoses from sprinkler to sprinkler on the fenceposts it’ll be hard to mount them so they’re not tilting all over the place.

[Xanthoria]

[QUOTE=FrittSkritt;8705530]
Is there a way I can do it all above ground? Meaning putting up small pvc pipe along the fence and then attach the sprinklers on the fenceposts… then just attach the hose to the pvc pipe as needed. If I just daisy chain hoses from sprinkler to sprinkler on the fenceposts it’ll be hard to mount them so they’re not tilting all over the place.[/QUOTE]

Yes white PVC pipe along the fence works - you would need a solid fastener at each fence post top for the sprinkler as well as hose tho. In my world that means huge zip ties

[FrittSkritt]

Okay, so this is what I’m envisioning… let’s see if I can do it with text.

++____+
==|==|==|==|==| <–fence

The + are the sprinkler heads, and the ___ between them is the pvc “line.” Then the hose would attach to the pvc line on the far left.

[Xanthoria]

Yup! Just text that to your BM and off you go!

[moving_to_dc]

[QUOTE=FrittSkritt;8705751]
The + are the sprinkler heads, and the ___ between them is the pvc “line.” Then the hose would attach to the pvc line on the far left.[/QUOTE]

If you live somewhere with a winter, you will want a way to “blow out” the lines or drain them or you will be busting PVC & sprinkler heads when it freezes.

[Jim_in_PA]

The barn where we board just put in a sprinkler system for the outdoor arena last fall. There are “pop-up” spray heads attached to fence posts at intervals around the arena and they are adjusted so that there is an overlapping spray pattern that only hits the inside of the arena.

[FrittSkritt]

Okay, so after a little research, I think I could possibly get away with one sprinkler. (Remember, I can only put them on two sides max since the one long side fence is at least 10 feet back and 6 feet down from the arena!)

Since the ring is about 80 feet wide, I need to use a sprinkler that can reach the other side from the other… meaning it needs to have a radius of 80 feet. Therefore the sprinkler itself has to have a diameter reach of 160 feet, which is nearly the length of the ring. (I remeasured – thanks, google maps! – and it’s closer to 170 feet.)

Here are a few candidates:
http://www.underhill.us/markets/sportfields/mirage/sprinklers/271-mirage-mtg-180

https://www.bigsprinkler.com/products/sime-jolly-sprinkler

The hydrant where the water is coming from has a max PSI of about 125 – I doubt it actually gets to that point, but as a result we have some pretty serious water pressure and flow that might be able to cover that reach. Either way, using one very long hose and attaching the gun at the middle point of the long side should be sufficient. (Emphasis on should. We’ll see. :lol:) However, I’m not sure of the current GPM coming from the hydrant – it may not be the huge volume that these sprinklers require – so it’s entirely possible I’m completely wrong about all this!

[gumtree]

[QUOTE=FrittSkritt;8707257]
Okay, so after a little research, I think I could possibly get away with one sprinkler. (Remember, I can only put them on two sides max since the one long side fence is at least 10 feet back and 6 feet down from the arena!)

Since the ring is about 80 feet wide, I need to use a sprinkler that can reach the other side from the other… meaning it needs to have a radius of 80 feet. Therefore the sprinkler itself has to have a diameter reach of 160 feet, which is nearly the length of the ring. (I remeasured – thanks, google maps! – and it’s closer to 170 feet.)

Here are a few candidates:
http://www.underhill.us/markets/sportfields/mirage/sprinklers/271-mirage-mtg-180

https://www.bigsprinkler.com/products/sime-jolly-sprinkler

The hydrant where the water is coming from has a max PSI of about 125 – I doubt it actually gets to that point, but as a result we have some pretty serious water pressure and flow that might be able to cover that reach. Either way, using one very long hose and attaching the gun at the middle point of the long side should be sufficient. (Emphasis on should. We’ll see. :lol:) However, I’m not sure of the current GPM coming from the hydrant – it may not be the huge volume that these sprinklers require – so it’s entirely possible I’m completely wrong about all this![/QUOTE]

This can be a bit more complicated than face value.

Unless you are on a “city” water system which I have heard can deliver up to 125 lbs of water pressure the norm in more in the 45 to 60 lbs.

The hydrant can handle up to 125 lbs but I doubt the water pressure at the hydrant is anywhere near that. Especially if you are on a well.

Most residential well pumps can handle/put out 40 to 60 lbs depending on the size of the pump and the depth of the well plus the “rise” how much elevation from the well head to the hydrant if any.

At location where the well line is connected to the cutoff switch and pressure tank there should be a pressure gauge witch will tell you what the water pressure is. This is controlled by the pressure switch. Depending on the switch and well pump the water pressure can be set very low to a high of around 60 lbs.

But this is 60 lbs right at the gauge. The farther the hydrant is from this point the lower the water pressure as a rule for a non commercial set up.

Any sprinkler head is going to give maximum output and range. I have rarely seen a spec sheet that give output based on various GPM and pressure.

The first one you linked to gives water pressure of 60-155 lbs. Min 55, Max140. AND needs a flow rate of 70-267 GPM. It would take a VERY expensive well pump to put out that much water at that pressure and a well with a very high recharge rate. Most residential wells don’t come anywhere near that.

The usual 1/2 to 1 hp well pump delivers around 10-15+ GPM

A simple way to calculate GPM at the hydrant is to take a 1-5-10 gallon bucket and time how long it takes to fill it. Then do the math.

If you are not on a Well the above is moot. But might be useful to those who are.

To find out what the water pressure is at the hydrant you can buy an inexpensive pressure gauge
http://www.homedepot.com/p/3-4-in-Plastic-Water-Pressure-Test-Gauge-DP-IWTG/100175467

You can buy one of these sprinklers attach with the shortest hose to place it where you need and see how well it works. If you get disappointing results you know where you stand. You can always return it.

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/2637516218673642445?lsf=seller:8740,store:908051618891558071&prds=oid:4701234214571203471&q=water+sprinklers+at+home+depot&hl=en&ei=-kVkV9vsGcPXeurOtVg&lsft=cm_mmc:Shopping--LIAs--D28I-_-202051577

Just guessing at the above but I am on a well and have a 100 X 200 ring I’ve used 2 of the tripod sprinkles and they do a decent job if given enough time. I put them on a timer so the ring was reasonably well water by the time we used it. On the recommendation of 2 people who install rings I added saw dust to the sand. The saw dust holds the moisture longer than the sand and adds to the footing. As they said a “big bang for the buck”.

[FrittSkritt]

Good to know! After further research that big sprinkler will NOT work. It looks like I might be able to get away with using one of the larger diameter (This one or this one) and then a 80’ diameter one at the short end, it’ll cover about 3/4 of the arena. Also, putting in a valve switch to allow for them to be run independently might help.

FWIW, the well is at the top of a hill and the barn is downhill from that!

[candico]

My psi was recently measured at 115. My standard size dressage arena takes 12 sprinkler heads doing either 180s or 90s in the corners and my 180 X 75 arena takes 10. Each arena gets watered in four separate quadrants at about 7 minutes per quad. Originally I had them where it ran one half then the other, but that was not enough water pressure to get adequate coverage. That keeps the dust down till noon, but we are in a very dry climate so you might get a longer stretch. Because of the drought, I get all my riding done in the am, but if I were running a commercial facility I would imagine I would need to run it again. Because I don’t have electricity around the arenas, I use the Hunter Node battery operated timers which work great. Keeps me from having to monitor the watering. I just have it pre-programmed for which days I am riding and in which ring. Hope that helps.

[gumtree]

[QUOTE=FrittSkritt;8709366]
Good to know! After further research that big sprinkler will NOT work. It looks like I might be able to get away with using one of the larger diameter (This one or this one) and then a 80’ diameter one at the short end, it’ll cover about 3/4 of the arena. Also, putting in a valve switch to allow for them to be run independently might help.

FWIW, the well is at the top of a hill and the barn is downhill from that! :)[/QUOTE]

That’s a great site, great find worth a bookmark! First one that I have seen that gives specs for different GPM and water pressure and what to expect.

If you want to mount these on the fence I wouldn’t use PVC. I would most likely use Black Poly pipe, nylon or even better brass fittings, connectors, and quick disconnects so as to take the sprinkler heads off in the winter and drain any water left in the line.

If the hydrant is not located next to the fence line you can bury the poly pipe a few inches under the ground to keep it out of the way. If it is not a real long distance I just use a wide spade shovel and spit the turf and push the pipe into and foot tamp closed. Of just buy a quality rubber hose the biggest diameter you can get cut it to the exact length and put a new end on it. Water encounters a lot of resistance in long runs of pipe which drops the pressure. Use quick disconnects on the horse so it is easy to move out of the way when needed.

I am not an expert in fluid dynamics but if installing 3 even 2 nozzles it might give better results by using different diameter pipe to each nozzle. 1" from the hydrant, maybe 1 1/4, 1 1/2, Use 3/4 to the second nozzle and 1/2 to the third. Creating a Venturi effect to maintain water pressure? Might be worth sending an email to Bigspinkler asking.

“FWIW, the well is at the top of a hill and the barn is downhill from that!”

Big plus.

The size of your pressure tank should/will have an effect on performance. Another question worth asking.

I’ve been wanting to MacGyer a similar system for while now, low while.

If you get this worked out let us know and post the “plans”.

Maybe I should and start my own website and sell kits. A lot of people have rings and not big bucks to pay someone to install one.

[Color_of_Light]

Hand, hose and sprinkler, or water wheels can be so labor and time intensive. Do you have electricity or can you run it to the arena?

I’ve done sprinklers in outdoor and indoor arenas. Both have valve controllers and 2 sprinklers per valve/zone. Super easy to program. Coverage should be head to head for most even coverage. Took planning and some re-dos to get it right. Some of the best time and money spent because can water both arenas very quickly.

The outdoor is a bit uphill from the pressure tank. Pressure is 45-50 ppm. Outdoor has brass impact sprinklers (installed 4 years before I installed indoor). Indoor has popups. If I had to do an outdoor now, I’d do popups.

[Color_of_Light]

[QUOTE=candico;8709436]
My psi was recently measured at 115. My standard size dressage arena takes 12 sprinkler heads doing either 180s or 90s in the corners and my 180 X 75 arena takes 10. Each arena gets watered in four separate quadrants at about 7 minutes per quad. Originally I had them where it ran one half then the other, but that was not enough water pressure to get adequate coverage. That keeps the dust down till noon, but we are in a very dry climate so you might get a longer stretch. Because of the drought, I get all my riding done in the am, but if I were running a commercial facility I would imagine I would need to run it again. Because I don’t have electricity around the arenas, I use the Hunter Node battery operated timers which work great. Keeps me from having to monitor the watering. I just have it pre-programmed for which days I am riding and in which ring. Hope that helps.[/QUOTE]

Battery operated timer?! Great idea! This sounds like a great option that I didn’t know existed. Thanks for the idea for my two round pens!

[cjc]

I realize this is an old post, but if by any chance you see this…could you mention which sprinkler heads you are using? Also, I noticed a lot of people doing symmetrical layouts, but it seems like perhaps offsetting the heads on the two long sides will give better results???