No way- Marlex's suck
You only need a marlex in certain situations
If your funny pipe fun is 15-18" and you have dug deeper then the head you can position that sprinkler head anyway you need it..
If 75% of spring start up breaks are stupid marlexs... when rarely the head needs them
Home Depot marlex elbows don't count. It has to be a quality item. The Spears or Dura or Lasco marlex elbows break only a minute fraction of the times a funny pipe elbow does, when one is threaded directly to a sprinkler head.
Most importantly, the best reason for a sight-unseen recommendation to add the marlex ells is that the "funny pipe elbow" being used here is not necessarily a quality brand-name fitting. Toro and Rainbird use a self-lubricating plastic for their swing elbows. Off brands use cheaper material. The marlex ell makes up for any misfit between head and swing pipe elbow.
This post has been edited 1 times, last edit by "Wet_Boots" (Aug 24th 2011, 10:03am)