Thursday, April 26, 2007

Travelling Tractor Sprinklers - Do I Need One?

These tiny tractors appeal to my childhood obsession with miniatures, AND claim to be a useful garening tool. I was keen on buying one a few years ago, especially the eye-catching John Deere version. Resident-lawnmower-man attempted to destroy this dream, saying that these contraptions probably wouldn't work on our lawn. Our lawn is has some gentle slopes, no jutting rocks (anymore), and a few trees here and there. I can't see any major problems.

These ingenious contraptions can water a large area by motoring along the length of your hose over a few hours, saving you from having to move your sprinkler multiple times. A good article explaining how these tractors work is found here: http://home.howstuffworks.com/traveling-sprinkler1.htm

The yellow one is the Nelson Travelling Tractor Sprinkler, as advertised on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Sprinkler-Nelson-Traveling-Tractor/dp/B0001LF7LU). Several people wrote reviews, saying that this particular model has problematic plastic gears that were stripped when the tractor got hung-up on something, or that other parts malfunctioned. I guess I'd stay away from this model, despite the sale price advertised on Amazon ($105 USD).

The green tractor is the John Deere model. It seems to have the most visual appeal, in my opinion. I hate to say it about a tractor, but "isn't it cute?". Well, perhaps you can guess why my purchase of a new piece of machinery was vetoed by resident-lawnmower-man. I promised to do more research into this before purchasing anything...or wait a minute...did he realize mother's day is coming up soon? Someone send him an email!!!

Craftsman (from Sears) also has a tractor sprinkler. I see that some guy is selling a 1950's cast iron one on ebay. One benefit of buying one from Sears is that they seem to have a good service and returns policy.
Does anyone out there have one of these? Send a comment my way -- it's easy to put comments on my blog. You don't need to give your email address and you can even be anonymous.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love these sprinklers, I bought the 1950's cast iron one from EBAY last summer and absolutely love how it works as I have a large irregularly shaped yard and a large above ground pool that a can make the sprinkle travel around and get every inch of the yard with no effort. I also have purchased a timer that shuts the sprinkler off after a 2 hour trip around my yard so I dont have to remember to shut it off. My yard is viewable at http://24.72.68.194:8081 if youre totally bored and want to have a look

Kandace said...

I will see what I can do about R.L.M. getting you one for mother's day. Although, I think you deserve a bit more than a lawn sprinkler! Wait a minute....I forgot who we were talking about here. That would be an ideal gift for you wouldn't it. :)

Anonymous said...

HI: I do have a craftman traveling sprinkler, but it doesnt look like that mine has the model number stamped underneath on the motor housing. I am looking for the wand and the motor housing for it. This unit belonged to my granparents, and I am trying to find original craftsman parts for it. I do have a diagram of the unit. but no parts are available for it through craftsman.

pressure washer hose said...

Well, I think I also need "Travelling Tractor Sprinklers" like you. Thanks for sharing. I've got an idea.

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