Rainbird IC vs Toro GDC 2-wire Cancel The title field is required!

1. Todd Currie

   

   2 posts
   
   1/7/2019 2:01 PM

   I'm in the beginning research of a self-install of new irrigation controls. We would be replacing old Toro Vari-time II hydraulic controls & heads with either Rainbird IC or Toro GDC 2-wire. Looking for any feeback/information from anyone who has completed this type of project.
   Todd Currie

   
   
   
   
2. Dennis Cook

   

   1 posts
   
   1/11/2019 5:01 AM

   Ive had the RainBird decoder system and it was fantastic. make sure when you install that you have the same person do all the wiring and show that individual how you want it done. The wire splices is the most important factor when installing a two wire system.

   
   
   
   
3. Michael Wagner

   

   0 posts
   
   1/11/2019 6:01 AM

   Dennis Cook said: Ive had the RainBird decoder system and it was fantastic. make sure when you install that you have the same person do all the wiring and show that individual how you want it done. The wire splices is the most important factor when installing a two wire system.

   
   
   A number of years ago I changed a watermation decoder system over to a rainbird decoder system and I did all of the wiring. I did it a couple stations at a time then tested them to make sure everything was good. Sometimes even doing everything perfectly there were failures. Some of the issues we had were caused by the lack of an "as built" drawing so figuring out the wiring was difficult in some places. When you have thousands of wire connections in the ground you are bound to have a failure or two the first time around. That being said the IC system is way better. Less connections so less problems. Plus the diagnostics are supposed to be way better and unlike the decoder systems if one station fails its not supposed to interfere with other stations due to the amount of draw on the line. If I get the chance to upgrade that is what I'm going with.

   
   
   
   
4. Aaron Jeffery

   

   0 posts
   
   1/12/2019 4:01 PM

   We made the switch from Toro hydraulic to the Rainbird IC 3 years ago and it's been nothing short of phenomenal. The canisters / heads are very easy to troubleshoot / fix, the topside control is a great tool, and the diagnostics have been super helpful. We have 975 heads and I can run a status poll on every head and get feedback in under 45 seconds.

   
   
   
   
5. John Vice

   

   7 posts
   
   1/24/2019 9:01 AM

   We are currently looking into replacing our hydraulic system to either the Rainbird IC or Toro GDC 2-wire. Waiting to hear if the county will approve this upgrade, then we will dig into researching both heavily. Both I've heard good and bad on both. I've worked with Toro my whole career and lean in that direction. But great to read the responses here to help with our decision. Hope either way you go, works for you.