Orbit 58322 Traveling Sprinkler, Green (Traveling Sprinkler)

This cast iron tractor was originally invented by John “Jack” Wilson in 1930 and it was called the "Automotive Traveling Sprinkler" in North Platte, Nebraska. A patent was applied for in Oct 19, 1937 and approved on March 1, 1939. Throughout 1930 to 1941, Wilson was an engineer and custodian at the senior high school and frequently used the invention to water school grounds. Wilson applied for a patent on October 19,1937 and it was approved March 1,1939. The inventor’s description : "A purpose of the invention is a sprinkler that is movable over a lawn. Due to water being forced through the sprinkler, the sprinkler is moved along the route of a hose through a motor-like interchange,".The Tractor Sprinkler was easy to set up and use. I had the Tractor Sprinkler running and functioning immediately out of the box. Very little assembly is required. One of the most striking features of this machine is that if ANY part breaks or fails, ever, you can simply replace that piece for a very little cost. I am 56 and have never had any of them fail on me, ever. They are heavy and work so incredibly well. I do recommend this for your lawn and it saves you so much money and time with anything else. It has a perfectly operation out shut off feature so you can let the Tractor run on it’s own and know for certain that when the cycle is complete, the Tractor Sprinkler and water has shutoff right where you want it to. Perfectly. You get a very nicely watered lawn to your exact desire, where you want it and also, when and where you want it to stop. No wasted water running forever, should you forget. This systems is excellent in that you do not have to worry about shutting it off after the cycle is complete. The Tractor will easy follow the exact trail of hose you lay down out for it to follow and watering all along the way. The diameter of the water or spread area is easily changed or adjusted. It is really the easiest, most reliable, accurate and precise watering systems without having a Professional install a in ground irrigation systems which could cost you a lot more than it’s worth. This Orbit Tractor will last you a lifetime. I certainly like mine.

First off, cast iron, not sure what internal gears are made of, assume plastic, but that shouldn't be an issue as they are internal with very low gearing so shouldn't be much stress. My only dislike is High gear moves slower than I would prefer. What I do like is very easy setup, lay out hose, turn on water, adjust pitch of heads and let it run.One clarification from poor instructions: When setting up heads, if they don't rotate in Clockwise direction it won't move forward. Tip, facing rear to front, angle the left head backward and right head forwardUpdate: Now that I've been using a few months, this machine is seriously cool, set and forget! Not sure where all the complaints about not shutting off with ramp come from, it hasn't failed once, guessing they didn't push stake into ground? Only minor change I would make is for high speed to be a little faster, but Orbit probably knows better than me how much water is needed

I have struggled with watering my backyard for many years. The lawn is asymmetrical with many shrubbery plantings and a massive mature oak tree in the center. The process of repositioning a sprinkler to get water to all the yard used to take me hours. It still takes hours with this thing but it does the work for me. No more moving the sprinkler around every few hours It took me a few attempts to get the hose pattern worked out so that the tractor could follow it without getting hung up or derailed. I learned that simpler is better and keeping curves gentle is important. I also learned that a metal hose does not work nor do one those collapsible hoses. A new good quality 3/4" hose works just fine for me. Don't use more hose than is needed because whatever length is hooked to the tractor it has to pull--very heavy with the water. I put a little piece of fluorescent orange tape on one of the wheels in order to make it easier to see that the tractor was still moving properly. Sometimes it is hard to tell because it moves so slowly. When it gets to the rear of my yard that is about the only way I can quickly check its status. It is true as some of these comments mention that the tractor will not pull through a new lawn. When it encounters such a situation the mud causes it to just spin its wheels. This happened to me when the route took it over a small reseeding patch area of my yard. Changed the route and solved the problem. Sprinkler throws water far enough to wet the patch without needing to traverse it. This has to be one of the best tools I have ever purchased. Really wish I had bought one decades ago! Strongly recommended.