Greetings
I received multiple quotes for my lawn sprinkler system. Two of them included Hunter parts and one included Rainbird parts. I read thru some reviews and am currently suffering from buyer's dilemma. I would appreciate your input and comments for my current situation.
Environment:
Backyard is about 14000 sq.ft
Left and Right side yard of about 500 sq.ft each
Front yard has about flower bed and landscaping, divided by concreted walkway
Contractor A (Hunter Parts)
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ZONE Qty Type
Front Landscape 6 12" pop up spray head
Front Yard 6 Rotor Heads
Left Side 6 Rotor Heads
Right Side 6 Rotor Heads
Backyard 5 Rotor Heads
backyard 5 Rotor Heads
backyard 4 Rotor Heads
driveway 5 4" pop up spray heads
1 Pro C Controller
1 Mini Click Rain Sensor
1 RPZ Backflow Preventer
2yr Warranty
Price: 4970
# of heads: 43
Price/head: 115.58
Contractor B (Hunter Parts)
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26 Hunter PGP gear drive heads
7 4" Pop Up Pro-Series Spray Heads
12 12" shrub Pro-Series Spray heads
1 Proc C Controller
1 Rain Sensor
1 RPZ backflow preventer
2yr Warranty
Total # of Heads 45
Total System Price 4715
$/head 104.78
Contractor C (Rainbird parts)
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29 Pop-Up Rainbird 5000 Series Rotary Sprinkler Heads
11 Pop-up Rainbird 1800 Series Rotary Sprinkler Heads
1 Rainbird Electronic Controller
1 Rain Sensor
1 Wilkens RPZ Backflow Preventer
3 Warranty
125 Annual Maintenance
Total # of Heads 40
Total System Price 3900
$/head 97.50
a) I heard that the warranty on hunter and rainbird is more than 2 years. Then why do I get contractors issuing only 2 year warranty ? (3 years in place of riverbird)
b) How long do the sprinkler heads/equip last ? Should I expect to replace the heads in a few years (even after winterization etc) ?
c) I have couple of trees in the backyard that are not specifically addressed by any contractor. Should I be worried ? Do sprinkler systems cater to trees ? If I plan on planting more trees next year, should I pre-design for them now ?
d) Is there any best practice average on head/sq.ft ? All contractors have a 8 zone system but the # of heads vary. So what trade-offs are they making ?
Many *MANY* thanks for your input. I want to do right by my yard