SOFT HOSE VS HARD HOSE TRAVELLING IRRIGATOR
Farming is hard work and you deserve to use the best equipment to maximise your profitability. We will compare the two most popular travelling irrigators in order to find out the most suitable travelling irrigators for your land.
SOFT HOSE TRAVELLING IRRIGATORS
The main requirement for a soft hose irrigator is the main hydrant that needs to be placed in the centre of the irrigated area. Simply by connecting the end of the hose to the hydrant and unwinding the lay flat hose off the reel, then the cart is moved manually away from the hydrant in each direction to irrigate. As a result, a soft hose irrigator can travel up to twice the length of the hose.
Advantages:
- Flexibility and Portability – it can cover irregular shape area
- Less friction loss in the system – as the hydrant is in the centre, the water is flowing through shorter hose, therefore the friction loss is less as well
- Great will lower pressure
- Less initial cost – obviously the price is less than hard hose irrigator
Disadvantages:
- Labour intensive – A tractor is required to pull the machine and a cable secured to two anchor points to roll the cart along
- Damage to crops – the full hose length must be pulled out to start the irrigation. This can cause additional crop damage,
- Hose can be damaged – Travel path must be cleared of debris that can catch and damage the hose as it is dragged behind the cart.
- Require more space – as the hose must be fully laid out, a soft hose irrigator requires a wider travel path
HARD HOSE TRAVELLING IRRIGATORS
On the other hand, the hard hose irrigator is designed to sit at the edge of a paddock where it is attached to a hydrant. The trolley or sprinkler cart is then pulled out, the leftover hose can be left on the reel. As the machine irrigates, the reel winds the cart back into the machine.
Advantages:
- Flexibility with the run lengths – allowing irrigation in many different paddock sizes with one machine
- Easy to set up
- Advanced technology and innovation – automatic travel shut-off mechanism, solar energy power computer hose retraction, sensitive speed control, 4-speed gear box, etc
- Reduce chance of crop damage – as an extra hose is stored on reel
- Require less space – therefore can be used in a narrow travelling lane
- Labour efficient and cost saving
Disadvantages:
- Heavy when transporting – as the water is left in hose unless pumped out with a purge pump
- Higher centre gravity – This gives the machine less stability on very rough ground.
In conclusion, a soft hose irrigator would be suitable if you have the labour to manually move the trolley and struggle with low pressure. However, the friction loss can be overcome in a hard hose irrigator by increasing the hose diameter. This allows the machine to run with lower pressure.
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Hydrant placement | need to be placed in the centre of the | can be placed at the end of the paddock |
Time | Require more time as there is a hose to | no hose to reel in and cable to unwind |
Pressure | Less pressure required and less pressure | Require more pressure to operate as |
Cost | Cheaper initial cost | More expensive capital cost than a soft |
Coverage | will cover twice the length of the hose | will cover larger areas, twice of the |
Weight | Lighter than a hard hose irrigator and can be easily dragged along the paddock | Heavier, however, very flexible with the run length |
Choosing the correct irrigation system is very important, and whether you are irrigating a small garden or huge acreages, IrrigationBox offers the highest quality irrigation solution possible which suit your requirements and will bring the most efficiency and profitability in the end. Save time, money, labour, and most importantly save water! Call us now on (07)3088 8096 and let us know your pressure and flow rate, we will be able to help you with the prefect irrigators for your system.