Center Pivot Irrigator For Your Lawn

Center Pivot Irrigator For Your Lawn IRRIGATION Irrigation Systems 3-3-20 The miniature center pivot irrigator on the lawn of a Nebraska farmer may look like a toy or a decoration, but it's a real working lawn sprinkling system. The unusual rig was designed and built by Kent Theobald, a high school senior in Geneva, Neb. Kent is no stranger to irrigation as his father puts artificial rain on 900 acres of corn and milo on their farm. The project was part of a school project done in partnership with a school friend, Dick Fessler. The new lawn irrigator is electrically-driven with controls in the garage. The motor runs on direct current which is changed with a transformer. The DC motor is weather proof and shock proof. The boom is 40 ft. long with sprinkler tips of various sizes to make sure that grass close to the pivot receives the same amount of spray as grass at the far end. The boom is 1-in. diameter galvanized pipe. The whole rig runs at 40-60 p.s.i. When the boom approaches the house, it makes contact with two metal stakes that cause it to reverse itself. The system can be set up to sprinkle just about any size and shape of lawn. Kent Theobald got the idea for the irrigation rig because he has about an acre of lawn to take care of. "The grass grows so fast under irrigation," Kent says, "that I had to design a lawn vacuum cleaner to pick up the clippings. That's another invention that might interest readers. For information write Kent Theobald, Route 1, Box 105, Geneva, Neb. 68361.

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