With severe drought crippling a significant portion of the U.S. this summer, lawn irrigation is an art every Toolmonger with a yard has considered. While I don’t have an in-ground irrigation system, I’ve been somewhat successful using a few Nelson’s Raintrain traveling sprinklers. They can cover a significant portion of the average yard in the limited hours available for best watering, saving money and allowing you a full night’s sleep. However, just like any car or household machinery, these suburban practice farm machines sometimes break. Fortunately, with an online part order and a little time, they can be brought back to life to water again another day.
I’ve had one of these traveling sprinklers since the first full summer in my house. Once the lawn was quasi-established to the point where the wheels wouldn’t dig a rut into the mud, each sprinkler proved useful to water about 1/8 of my lawn overnight. I’ve seen them available for $60-$120 and I’m convinced most of the cost is directly due to the heavy metal body.
The Nelson 1865 Raintrains are incredibly useful, but they are far from perfect. I’ve had them jump the guide hose overnight, only to find them watering the neighbor’s yard in the morning — or attempting to climb up my cedar fence. I’ve learned not to pick them up by the sprinkler arms since they bend and break easily. I’ve had them pulling too much hose, forcing them to stop and water only two spots in the yard for hours. Recently I’ve also had them push the ramp forward instead of hitting the shutoff valve, then dig into the yard, stripping the plastic gears in the process.
Repairing the sprinklers has proven cost effective and relatively easy. Most parts are simply plug-and-play. The biggest difficulty I had was detaching the rear drive wheels while I was replacing the rear drive unit. The wheels were attached with those nasty toy axle caps. They were ultimately destroyed in the process, but Nelson must have figured that’d be the case since they provided two new ones with the drive unit.
Once the wheels were removed from the body, I could finally find out what drove this machine. Of course, I was less than thrilled to find out that plastic gears were at the heart of it, but I eventually realized plastic is probably the only thing that would work long-term in an irrigation environment where the gears could be exposed to water. Fortunately, the drive unit is only $30 with shipping, so it’s really no big deal.
Perhaps the biggest accessory I need to invest in to ensure trouble-free operation would be a watering timer. I had some old mechanical Melnor timers a while back, but they ended up not working correctly after a few months. My next step is to research the newer digital timers. Hopefully that will prevent the wandering sprinkler in the middle of the night.
Overall, I still enjoy using the Raintrains. For the cost and with some precautions, they’re definitely worth it to help save the lawn. Do you have any experience with the Nelson Raintrains? I’ve love to hear about it!
Nelson 1865 Raintrain Traveling Sprinkler [What’s This?] [Via Amazon]
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20 Responses to Traveling Sprinkler Repair
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Wow, I haven’t seen one of those in a long time. My father watered our lawn with one that looked similar but was made out of cast iron and aluminum. The thing weighted a ton and I believe he still uses it. It had a little rust on it but however it happened never seemed to rust away to nothing as I always expected it to do.
I’ve had a Raintrain for about 5 years with no repairs needed. It waters like real rain, but yes it will skip off the hose once and a while. I payed about $50 new at Menards.
Obviously it’d add a lot (maybe $10/sprinkler?) to the cost of the drive gears, but wouldn’t stainless steel or even brass hold up pretty well to most municipal water? It works for the fittings…
Be interested to know what it’d cost to get a set of replacement gears machined in brass, too.
cl
Having gears machined would probably cost $20-$30. They would last a very long time.
Chris/Jeremiah> Since I have a small fleet of them I’d be interested in checking that option out. Any thoughts on where to go to see if I could get brass or stainless steal replacement drive gears machined?
I use these all the time but do not use the shut-off ramp. Instead I use an Orbit Timer(one that allows up to 6 hours per period – see link)to shut it off when it gets to where I want. I set it to run during my local watering hours.
Thanks for the take-apart! Good to know how to fix it if it breaks.
missing link for Orbit Timer:
http://www.amazon.com/Orbit-62001-Garden-Digital-Watering/dp/B0006ZI6H8
I had a couple run-away Raintrains this week and invested in a couple of Orbit timers from Lowes. http://www.lowes.com/pd_159978-53852-27729W_0__?productId=3713890&Ntt=orbit+timer&pl=1¤tURL=&facetInfo= Unfortunately they only allow for a 4 hour time period not 6 hours. BUT they did save me a couple of times already with two more runaway Raintrains. I’m thinking I need to find a better guide hose but since I never see the Raintrain derail overnight in the dark I have no idea what’s causing it.
You can get these with a steel gear.
http://www.nationalwalkingsprinkler.com/
John> I like how you can get the option of buying steal gear for $10 more. I also like how you can buy a different model for different lengths of hoses that it is meant to pull. You definitely pay more for the base models – more than twice as much as a Raintrain. My neighbor had the discontinued JD model. He’s also had to perform maintenance on his but also loves it. And for what its worth his lawn is much nicer and bigger than mine.
Before we installed in-ground sprinklers my dad used this all the time. I recall adjusting the pitch of the sprinkler arms to do narrow areas, and pointing them downward even further to work in grass seed when over-seeding.
I wish the thing had something on the nose that when it hits an obstruction it would put it in neutral.
You are just wasting money with the Nelson Raintrain. The plastic drive gear SHOULD be a $2.00 repair part, not a $30 replacement of the entire gear train. Expect a Nelson to last no more than 2 years, less if you have kids.
Buy the real thing instead. See http://www.nationalwalkingsprinkler.com/
The National Walking Sprinkler is the original, American made deal, designed before the second world war, made from steel, brass, and cast iron, and darn near bombproof.
This is the kind your grandma had, and she’s probably still using it. They are indestructible.
What is the scrap value of that thing?
If you don’t know off the top of your head, your neighborhood meth freak probably already knows what he can get for it at the scrap metal dealer.
I was going to say that I have been repairing these for years, but the implication that I can’t do it correctly is too close to the mark. In the dim distant past, I might have paid retail for one, but since then I have collected several by getting to the curb before the trash men. I posted pictures of my favorite in the Toolmonger flickr group.
Some may call me cheap, but the 6 minute JB weld works great to repair a worn gear. Clean up the gear with hot soapy water. Apply the JB Weld liberally to where the gear is stripped out. As it cures, use a WD-40 soaked toohpick to mold the new teeth. Sand / file to final shape once fully cured. I’m on year two with just that repair. Picked up another for $5 at a garage sale and completing the same repair tonight.
Good day Where can i buy this raintrain sprinkler in south africa and price please thx
Spend the extra money and buy a the national walking sprinkler, http://www.nationalwalkingsprinkler.com.
Where can I buy replacements for the little black ends on the arms?
thanks, Janet Autry
Can anyone tell me how to get the gear box open? After I remove the screws it still will not open.
I just found one of these very old Nelson sprinklers. The rear wheels do not move they seemed to be locked. I have not found any posting that mentions this problem. I figured I would ask just in case I am doing something wrong before I tear it apart to see what the problem is. I would hate to do this if it is just something I am doing wrong. Without water I can not spin the rear wheels, with water and arms positioned correctly it will sprinkle but not move. I bet this sprinkler is at least 30 years old. Thanks hope somebody can help me out.