SPRINKLER TALK FORUM - You Got Questions, We've Got Answers

Without a doubt Hunter's a better product than Toro.

If I had to chose between Hunter pop ups and Rainbird pop ups I'd go with the Rainbird. Especially on 6" or higher.

Let me clarify that I'm talking about the Rainbird 1800 series only. The rest of their pop ups are crap.

Beg to differ with mrfixit. I've seen too many leaky Hunter rotors to say they are better than Toro's, and Toro's new Precision spray nozzle is probably the best on the market, though they make them to fit Hunter spray heads too. Sadly, Toro no longer makes the TMC 2-12 controller and I'm not completely sold on the Evolution. The Hunter Pro-C is a pretty good clock. For valves, I prefer the Toro EZ Flo, but the Hunter PGV is a pretty reliable valve.

Toro products are cheaply made in my opinion. The plastic of the 570 pop ups is a hard plastic that cracks. Toro tries to copy others. Look at their crap rotors. A cheap version of the Hunter PGP.
I believe the Rainbird precision type nozzles do a much better job of covering than Toro or Hunter. I've seen numerous Toro precision type nozzles just stop turning in a short amount of time.
I don't see leaky Hunter Pro Sprays.
I would never install a Toro Easy Flo. I'm not a jartop fan at all.
I also think the Toro TMZ controller is one of the most confusing controllers for home owners. I personally can't stand how the buttons operate. You have to visually verify the controller knows when you've clicked on a button. Half the time you'll hear it click and nothing happens.
Opinos vary. =)

Nearly all plastic popup heads are made from ABS plastic, which, by its full name, works out to something like a blend of model airplane plastic and rubber. Toro used a brand name ABS called Cycolac, and could advertise their heads as being made from the exact same plastic that made football helmets.

Toro is kind of an also-ran in the residential market nowadays. They do better in golf course and athletic field markets. That doesn't mean that an all-Toro lawn sprinkler system can't be as good or better than the competition. (but that isn't going to happen unless the installer cherry-picks from their products and that will run into money)

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

Nearly all plastic popup heads are made from ABS plastic, which, by its full name, works out to something like a blend of model airplane plastic and rubber. Toro used a brand name ABS called Cycolac, and could advertise their heads as being made from the exact same plastic that made football helmets.

So you're saying that the 570 is just as good as the Pro-Spray and the 1800 series?

The plastics are not the same. Rainbird is much softer plastic than Toro. You know it for a fact. Hunter's not the same either. Plus the material in the 570 is much thinner. The caps crack at a much higher rate. The threads break off as well.

They all use ABS for sprinkler heads, but there can be different blends of the three basic components in the ABS chosen for use, besides which, parts can always be made with thicker dimensions, such as the caps on Hunter I-20 heads, versus their PGP. ABS has good low-temperature properties, and it's an easy plastic to mold, in contrast to something like PVC, which can attack the metals of some molds. ABS is also cheaper than other suitable plastics choices.

There are two examples of alternate plastics choices in lawn sprinkler products. There is Acetal (one trade name is Delrin) that gets used for brand-name fittings for swing pipe. Since acetal is self-lubricating, those MPT x barb elbows thread easily into other plastics, a difference that will be very apparent if you try an off-brand elbow made of ABS in the same application. Another plastic choice is Polycarbonate (trade name Lexan) that one company used for the cover plate of one of their heads, and which is still used today for the top cover of a Wilkins 720 PVB.

The big knock against the Toro 570 popups for me is the wiper seal leaving the heads stuck in a popped-up position. They couldn't copy Rainbird's seal so long as it had patent protection, but that protection might have ended by now.

Exacerbating

I could have mentioned the polypropylene used in early Nelson brand heads.

We aren't seeing Toro head failures from breakage, and we don't see them suffering damage during winterizing, which sometimes kills an off-brand popup spray like an Orbit. Of course freezing water will kill any sprinkler head.