Location: Western Massachusetts, New England

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, but I think I want answers from people that "Tinker" with their equipment.

First off, I'm a big DIYer, change my own oil, brakes, home plumbing/carpentry repairs, etc. I like to describe myself as a "professional hack" LOL.

So I got a nice lawn, got the pro-fertilizers, got the milorganite, got the Dimension and Tenacity while overseeding, learned all that. Now, I have a 100x130 foot front lawn, 13,000 sqft, pretty big by most standards.

Here's the part where you tell me I'm nuts:
I did some googling on DIY trenchless irrigation, I found the lawn belt, seems like a good concept, some parts cheap, no reviews at all. Looked at the Eurpean Gardena and Colibri systems briefly, seems most pro's are going Trenchless too which is what most people want. I researched water pressure, mines at 60 PSI, great pressure, seperate lines, spigots and meter for outside irrigation. 1" pipe iirc. Looked at poly versus PVC, PVC seems to be old school......So I want to go poly....trenchless.....Someone who is smart tell me why PEX tubing 4 inches down would not work. I'm going to drain it in the fall anyways right? My only concern with the trenchless DIY idea right now is aeration, and I figure I would do all perimeter sprinklers with one line down the center of the lawn, maybe 3 zones to keep pressure if I need to. Am I the first whacko on the internet to think of PEX tubing to be used for lawn irrigation lines???

You mostly want to get below the freeze thaw line. You don't want the constant freeze and thaw to push the pipe up.

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I'm not that smart, but I would probably stick to what Simpson said on depth.

Pros use PEX all the time.

The flaw I see with the lawn belt, didn't even google the others, is the pipe size. You want to use big pipe. 1" is a minimum, IMO. For 13,000 sq. ft., I would think about making a mainline 1.5".

Small pipe kills pressure. You would use up 60 psi quick with the lawn belt. Especially off a hose bib.

Read this link, and you can't go wrong.

Click here for more information

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And another way to look at "old school" is "time tested" or "proven".

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Michael Wise wrote:And another way to look at "old school" is "time tested" or "proven".

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I agree, and I am of that mentality. 90% of the time I'm for good, old, made in the USA products that are tried and true, but the more I look at PEX the more I think it can be done. What saves these near-surface poly units like the lawn belt is the self draining.

PEX versus old school PVC with expansion and contraction, PEX will win every time.

LOL, I'm going through all this simply because I don't want to dig a trench.

To add:

I also agree on the line constriction, I'm thinking 1" PEX right now. Not sure if that's ID or OD, we'll have to see what else they have, I'm sure there's larger stuff.

There are also pipe puller machines that will put the PEX deeper into the ground. Gives you the benefit of minimal turf disturbance, but you can use your PEX.

I just wanted to stress again the importance of pipe size. Small pipe will result in high pressure losses. If you want to use rotors or run very many heads per zone, you'll want to use appropriately sized pipe. Erring on the side of too big is a good thing here.

Check it.

Click here for more information

Looks like "normal" PEX goes to 1" and is always measured OD, so probably 5/8's ID.

What is the standard for PVC and poly? or does that depend on the run length? ( I guess I should know right if I've done my diligence!)

I'll be having some 150' + runs.

wow mike, that is a cool machine, now you got me thinking.......LOL...But to have a company run that thing across my yard for a few hours will cost me THOUSANDS!

What do you mean by "standard"?

paulr wrote:wow mike, that is a cool machine, now you got me thinking.......LOL...But to have a company run that thing across my yard for a few hours will cost me THOUSANDS!

Rent it, and DIY.

I've only ever rented a trencher, but I'd imagine it is around $250 a day to rent one of those machines.

Hmmm, 1.5 hours away has a Ditchwich 255SX Pipe Puller, $225 a day.

Hmmmm, then I could still aerate and not worry, this may be doable, and it's all Michael Wise's fault!!

Nah, hang around awhile and they will talk you out of core aerating too !!!!

1" PEX seems to be cheaper than 1" Polyethelene, I must be missing something here.

Click here for more information

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Or even cheaper here, Click here for more information

60 psi max working pressure may limit the 150 ft length your looking for??

I can't remember exactly, but I think I remember the Gas line guy telling me that they use pex for the gas line (its more flexible, non corrosive and has a higher max psi)

I started to dig my trench line deep enough for code, then it came to me; no freakin way an I digging that deep. I went 6" and called it good.

Don't worry about core aerating, i doubt it goes that deep anyways. I say go for 4" and do it!!

I've been looking around this morning and trying to find why polyethelene is used instead of PEX for irrigation, I still don't see why, I think I'm going to brave going over to Lawnsite dot com and ask the professional industry guys over there. I know they usually bark when homeowners chime in...here I go....

I think you are backwards.

PEX is used more instead of polyethylene. Polyethylene has a very low pressure rating. The mainline is barely rated for your existing static pressure. May be used more for drip laterals?

Here. This excerpt should be worded to your liking : "Using polyethylene for mainlines is somewhat outdated now."

Click here for more information

You should really check out that irrigation tutorial. It has everything you need to build a successful irrigation system.

AhhHA!!

That is exactly what I was looking for. I did in fact find that sight and peruse it, I just did not find that exact passage. Thank you again Michael. However it's still amazing to me that Google does not bring up any other references to using PEX instead of poly in irrigation, even on the lawnsite (dot com) where the pro's hang out. I guess I should get off the computer and get out there in the real world to find my answers.

I will continue to read that site, thanks again! P

I've built a 1/2 acre system myself using that tutorial, and assisted on 2 other. One was another 1/2 acre, and the other over 3/4 acre. All work properly and water evenly. All based off that tutorial.

Mine is built entirely of 1" sch40, and the most I can safely run at one time is 18 gpm. I actually think that is pushing it and will probably reduce the flow through those zones to 12-15 gpm.

Then look at my neighbors who chose to use 1.5" looped mainlines and properly built laterals, and they are able to run up to 30 gpm. They can put down the same amount of water as me in about 1/2 the time.

When you are trying to irrigate a larger property, size matters. There are only so many hours in the day to water.