[QUOTE=slc2;3289766]
Oh boy. Where to start.
One does have to be very careful and follow the instructions rather well. Or one will flood one’s arena. Some will flood one’s arena multiple times, and gradually discover additional instructions and guidelines that need to be followed.
If one gets any sand, say, or grit or anything like that in one’s hose, or say, in the threads that connect the hose to the sprinkler, one can count on it clogging the sprayer and having an alarming effect on where the water goes, or if it goes out of the sprinkler at all. And if it doesn’t go out of the sprinkler, it will burst some connection somewhere else.
If one were to forget, say, to re-engage the gear and tighten down the knurled knob after setting out the sprinkler, one would find, when one came back an hour later, that the sprinkler had stayed in the original position and completely flooded the arena.
Or, one might not put the main unit on a stable surface (a plastic box lid under the main unit may prevent this), it may tip down the slightest bit and the lever will not turn off the sprinkler, and it will completely flood the area NEXT to the unit.
Or say, one might for example not have enough water pressure at some point, or the turbine might at some point not be sufficiently lubricated, and the hose will stop at some point and flood THAT area of the arena.
Then there is the possibility that you will forget to maintain it over the winter, and the water turbine will cease turning at all.
Then there’s the problem of disassembling the sprinkler if it gets clogged with above dirt. That can take some time, and there’s a certain inscrutable nothingness that makes the sprinkler work, that takes a long time to discover, especially if you reassemble it incorrectly. Oh and keep plenty of spare parts and teflon tape around if you take the sprinkler off the delivery pipe to maintain it.
Oh. Don’t overtighten any of the parts. Lots of the parts are plastic. And some are plastic parts that screw on to the metal delivery tube, and it’s VERY easy to overtighten them and have them crack, and then you have to try to figure out where to get spare parts.
All in all, it will help you discover how many different ways you can flood your arena.
Then there is the issue of how the width it sprays changes mysteriously. Grit in the sprayer? Change in water pressure? You may wind up going down the track on both sides of the ring, and spraying them with a hose after the waterer has done, and you may also need to spray your corners, because the sprayer makes a circular pattern, and misses them.
Oh. Don’t leave it out in an unheated area if it gets cold. Don’t store it in an unheated area. And it won’t work if it’s very cold, but water probably won’t help you much then anyway, unless you add something to keep it from freezing.
I’m really kidding. It is a very nice piece of equipment overall, well made and decently sturdy.
But unless you really are into following directions - unless you really LOVE the concept of following directions, and set it up exactly the same every time, and plan to maintain it a few times a year and especially before storing it, you are going to get frustrated.[/QUOTE]
Hahahahaha I couldn’t agree more! We had one…it seemed like a great idea at the time. It just wasn’t idiot proof enough, heck it wasn’t even “gadget handy, can fix anything and everything, barn manager” proof. No matter what we did, no matter how careful we were…either it ended up shutting off when we thought it was watering or flooding the arena. Now it’s sitting in the storage area collecting dust, could probably give you a great deal on it. lol
