Irrigation Conversion Cancel The title field is required!

1. Curtis Nickerson

   

   0 posts
   
   1/8/2014 7:01 PM

   Hello all,
   We are about to undertake an irrigation conversion in-house (me and my big mouth)converting from 20yo toro hydro to electric. We plan to replace the clocks (obviously) all the heads from 670 to 850-55 and fresh power supply. We will also be installing more isolation valves to allow better control during future repairs. Years of iffy repairs have heads scattered about sharing the same station making it difficult to really control our moisture levels as well as I would like. We also continue to find capped heads that must have needed repairs that were never made. We intend to plow/pull the wires to help minimize the disruption to the course. My question is there anything else I should be looking for, any tips/tricks or ideas I may be missing (other than contracting it out! Lol)?
   
   The idea is to "buy" a few more years until our total renovation.

   
   
   
   
2. David Stout

   

   0 posts
   
   1/9/2014 8:01 AM

   I would say unless your pipes are your weak point, or if a new pump station is needed you "bought" yourself another 20 years. If simply swapping heads and going electric is enough to get you by, this is not necessarily a bad thing! I will say I don't like the newer DT toro heads as much as the 800 or even 700 series (750/780 were my favorite). Nozzling and just setup can go a long ways with these heads.

   
   
   
   
3. Kleckner Alexander J

   
   1/9/2014 11:01 AM

   Here at my course in CO we have a similar situation. This past spring the newly hired superintendent and myself, a newly hired assistant, inherited a poorly maintained Toro Network 8000 system with an inefficient Site-Pro program and minimal record keeping. To remedy this course-wide irrigation inefficiency problem we essentially did an audit of every single head (approximately 1500 of them). We turned on each head individually, watched it run and made notes on the as-built next to the head as to what type of adjustment it needed, i.e.: replace nozzles, swap for a part circle head, etc... I guess I would recommend you do this prior to replacing all of the 670's because we had/still have a lot of them and in the right location do an adequate job. This could save you money to use somewhere else as opposed to replacing 670 regardless of how its functioning. It actually doesn't take as long as you might think. Doing this will get you an accurate number in regards to the products you need to order to make necessary changes/repairs.
   
   In addition to that we documented man hours spent as well as cost of parts throughout this past season for all irrigation repairs and improvements. We then presented these records to our membership showing them the cost to maintain an outdated, inefficient system. The result is that we are currently working on a course master plan and a new irrigation system is one of the top priorities. Just my suggestion, hopefully you find it useful.

   
   
   
   
4. Melvin Waldron

   

   43 posts
   
   1/9/2014 12:01 PM

   Alex,
   
   did the audit include catch cans or was it just a visual observation?
   
   Myself I have watched heads throw the required distance but I couldn't really tell the difference in the sheet of water on the nozzles. I have replaced brass nozzles on 20 year old Rain Bird 51 heads with either plastic rain bird nozzles or profile nozzles and I couldn't really tell the difference visually, but I do have old eyes and wonder some if I was getting a true representation when I only had a few heads on and pumps might not have been pushing water like a normal irrigation cycle.
   
   I think you guys did the right thing.
   
   Thanks!
   
   Mel

   
   Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO
   
   
5. Curtis Nickerson

   

   0 posts
   
   1/9/2014 12:01 PM

   Alexander J Kleckner said: Here at my course in CO we have a similar situation. This past spring the newly hired superintendent and myself, a newly hired assistant, inherited a poorly maintained Toro Network 8000 system with an inefficient Site-Pro program and minimal record keeping. To remedy this course-wide irrigation inefficiency problem we essentially did an audit of every single head (approximately 1500 of them). We turned on each head individually, watched it run and made notes on the as-built next to the head as to what type of adjustment it needed, i.e.: replace nozzles, swap for a part circle head, etc... I guess I would recommend you do this prior to replacing all of the 670's because we had/still have a lot of them and in the right location do an adequate job. This could save you money to use somewhere else as opposed to replacing 670 regardless of how its functioning. It actually doesn't take as long as you might think. Doing this will get you an accurate number in regards to the products you need to order to make necessary changes/repairs.
   
   In addition to that we documented man hours spent as well as cost of parts throughout this past season for all irrigation repairs and improvements. We then presented these records to our membership showing them the cost to maintain an outdated, inefficient system. The result is that we are currently working on a course master plan and a new irrigation system is one of the top priorities. Just my suggestion, hopefully you find it useful.

   
   
   Alex,
   Thanks for the insight and input, but keeping any existing heads is not going to work for us as we are converting from hydraulic to electric.
   
   I should have mentioned that a complete and thorough audit was completed using catch cans and a certified irrigation consultant, doing nearly exactly as you described. That is what got us the approval for the conversion.

   
   
   
   
6. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   1/9/2014 12:01 PM

   Alexander J Kleckner said: Here at my course in CO we have a similar situation. This past spring the newly hired superintendent and myself, a newly hired assistant, inherited a poorly maintained Toro Network 8000 system with an inefficient Site-Pro program and minimal record keeping. To remedy this course-wide irrigation inefficiency problem we essentially did an audit of every single head (approximately 1500 of them). We turned on each head individually, watched it run and made notes on the as-built next to the head as to what type of adjustment it needed, i.e.: replace nozzles, swap for a part circle head, etc... I guess I would recommend you do this prior to replacing all of the 670's because we had/still have a lot of them and in the right location do an adequate job. This could save you money to use somewhere else as opposed to replacing 670 regardless of how its functioning. It actually doesn't take as long as you might think. Doing this will get you an accurate number in regards to the products you need to order to make necessary changes/repairs.
   
   In addition to that we documented man hours spent as well as cost of parts throughout this past season for all irrigation repairs and improvements. We then presented these records to our membership showing them the cost to maintain an outdated, inefficient system. The result is that we are currently working on a course master plan and a new irrigation system is one of the top priorities. Just my suggestion, hopefully you find it useful.

   
   
   I think the main issue with trying to keep any older heads is the fact that he will be going from Hyfraulic to electric heads and it would probably cost more to have the older hyd. heads fitted with the electric parts.
   
   I do agree with doing a course aduit like yall did because it will allow him to see if he may need more heads or different types of heads. I know if I had to chance to redo mine (18years old) the one thing I would make a point to do is add dual heads around my greens. no money and no problems with my current system means we will just keep hand watering.

   
   
   
   
7. Kleckner Alexander J

   
   1/9/2014 12:01 PM

   Mel,
   
   It was a visual test just to make sure that the head was functioning properly. By that I mean we made sure it was oscillating properly, no pinched gaskets, wasn't weeping, etc... Other changes were that we had to make were old Toro 670's and 730's heads along pond banks and out of play boundaries by the native. So basically we were irrigating our native as well as our ponds and as far as I know ponds maintain moisture pretty well on their own. So we swapped out a lot of full circle heads for part circle Toro DT-35's and 55's.
   
   However, making adjustments was an ongoing process throughout the entire season. To your point of using catch cans we didn't use them but as the summer went on the hot spots around some of our heads began showing up, mostly Toro 700 series. So I would run them to make sure they're functioning properly and if they were I usually swapped for different nozzles. But the easiest way to solve it wasn't swapping the head with a Toro DT series if you have that option.