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  • Review body

  • About the Orbit Traveling Sprinkler

  • What we like

  • What we don’t like

  • Warranty

  • What owners are saying

  • Should you buy the Orbit Traveling Sprinkler?

  • Related content

  • Review body
  • About the Orbit Traveling Sprinkler
  • What we like
  • What we don’t like
  • Warranty
  • What owners are saying
  • Should you buy the Orbit Traveling Sprinkler?
  • Related content

Pros

  • Simple set up

  • Automatic shut off

  • Durable construction

Cons

  • Not for new seed

Review body

Setup is easy and straightforward. The sprinkler rides along your garden hose which you lay out in a pattern that allows it to reach your entire lawn. The track doesn’t need to be straight, but turns and bends should be gradual so the sprinkler doesn’t jump off the hose. And while it can move some objects out of the way—it pushed a rake laying in its path for about 10 minutes —you do want to clear any obstacles before you start it up.

Unless you have a full irrigation system in your yard, this traveling sprinkler is better than however you’re watering your lawn now.

Attach the included stopper ramp onto the hose where you want the sprinkler to shut down. The sprinkler climbs over the ramp, which depresses a valve in the back, shutting down water supply to the spray arms and drive gears. Make sure that the stopper ramp is on a straight section of the hose. In my tests, the sprinkler fell off when the ramp was on a curve.

Once the track is set up, place the sprinkler with the front wheel sitting on the hose, about four feet from the end. Attach the hose to the coupler on the back of the sprinkler. The water pressure drives both the spinning sprayer heads and the wheels. Then all you have left is to turn on the water.

One note: The Orbit Traveling Sprinkler moves remarkably slowly, even on its “fast” setting. So slowly, in fact, that we spent 15 minutes trying to figure out why it wasn’t moving before we realized that it was moving, just almost imperceptibly. Once it’s up and running, there’s nothing left to do. When it reaches the ramp at the end, the valve closes, the sprinkler shuts off, and you can go put it away at your leisure. Short of a fully automatic sprinkler system, this is the best way that I’ve found to water a lawn.

About the Orbit Traveling Sprinkler

Weight: 18.8 pounds Spray diameter: 15 feet to 50 feet Coverage area: Up to 13,500 feet Speed settings: High (37 feet/hr); Neutral (stationary); Low (15 feet/hr) Required hose diameter: ⅝ inches Material: Cast iron Pressure rating: 15 to 65 PSI

What we like

Close up of the Orbit sprinkler running on grass.
Credit: Orbit

You can set this sprinkler up and totally forget about it while it waters your lawn.

Setup is easy and fast

The sprinkler is incredibly easy to set up. All you have to do is expand it to its full length and lay it down on the ground.

The sprinkler moves around bends and turns easily, so close enough is good enough. Just make sure that the path allows the sprinkler to reach your entire yard, and that the bends aren’t too sharp.

It takes me less than five minutes to lay out my 100-foot garden hose.

The automatic shutoff means you don’t have to watch it

The simple shutoff ramp at the end of the track really makes this product viable. You can set it up, completely forget about it for an hour or two, and it shuts down when the job is finished.

I wouldn’t recommend leaving it going when you’re not home just in case it does drive off the hose, but as long as you’re home to glance at it every hour or so, there shouldn’t be an issue.

Durable construction promises a long life

This thing is heavy. It ought to be—it’s made almost entirely of cast iron. But this weight suggests that it will last a long time.

What’s more, the weight helps to hold it in place, even if there are bumps or small obstacles in your yard. I see nothing about this product that suggests it won’t last for years and years.

What we don’t like

Closeup shots of the Orbit sprinkler against a white backdrop.
Credit: Orbit

The sprinkler is made almost entirely of cast iron

It’s not good for new grass

The assembly instructions come right out and say this, and it’s easy to see why. Between the spikes on the wheels and the fact that it drags your entire hose behind it, this sprinkler would tear up a lot of grass seed.

Wait until your lawn is mature enough to use it.

Warranty

Orbit offers a limited 6-year warranty on the traveling sprinkler, which promises that the product will be free from defects in material and workmanship. It will replace, free of charge, the defective part or parts, subject to inspection as needed.

What owners are saying

A close up of the Orbit sprinkler against a white background.
Credit: Orbit

Wait until your lawn is mature to utilize this sprinkler.

Owners of Orbit’s traveling sprinkler have given it a 4.5-star rating on Amazon out of over 3,200 reviews. They cite the reliability, spray distance, and durable construction as major benefits. Some users noticed that it can get bogged down in soft ground, and some have had issues with parts, though several of them updated their review to say that Orbit had honored the warranty.

Should you buy the Orbit Traveling Sprinkler?

Yes, it is one of the easiest ways to water the grass.

Unless you have a full irrigation system in your yard, this traveling sprinkler is better than whatever method you’re using to water your lawn now. It does an excellent job, and it does it without your help or interference.

Just lay out your hose, set it running, and go about your day. The Orbit Traveling Sprinkler will do the rest, keeping your lawn green and growing through even the hottest days of summer.

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Meet the tester

Jean Levasseur

Jean Levasseur

Contributor

Jean Levasseur became a professional writer over a decade-long career in marketing, public relations, and technical writing. After leaving that career to stay home to care for his twin boys, Jean has continued to write in a variety of freelance roles, as well as teaching academic writing at a local university. When he's not reviewing tools or chasing toddlers around the house, he's also an avid fiction writer and a growing woodworker.

See all of Jean Levasseur's reviews

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