How to Set Up Overhead Irrigation on Your Market Garden: Wobbler vs. MegaNet Sprinklers
By Jonathan Dysinger and John Dysinger
Updated on
Show Transcript
0:00Hi guys, Jonathan here with Farmers Friend. I'm at Bountiful Blessings Farm today with my dad, John, and we're going over some questions that have been submitted by our customers. We have a
0:09question from Tony. He says, "In the video tour at John's Farm, they quickly referenced the sprinkler system and setup, wondering if you could go into
0:17more detail on how they are irrigating with the wobbler system." So, what's the the the breakdown on the irrigation system?
0:26Yeah. Well, irrigation is is hugely important and you know, there's not one solution that fits all. Um, you
0:35know, obviously there's overhead and there's drip. You know, we try to use overhead whenever we can because it's so much easier to set up and deal with.
0:46Yeah. And less expensive definitely in the long run. So, um, we have chosen the wobbler and actually we've used the
0:54wobblers for 27 years now, I guess. Um, we had the
1:03original wobblers and then they came out with the XL wobblers, but we use the wobblers
1:10because we have low pressure. And I think it's important to emphasize wobblers work best with lower pressures.
1:18And I don't know, I haven't read any kind of line of where that's too
1:25much pressure, but from my knowledge and experience, I would say if you're getting above 25 PSI, certainly I think
1:34above 30, the wobbler doesn't work well cuz it spins so fast at those pressures that it
1:41kind of atomizes the the water. And if you have any kind of wind or anything, it's it doesn't work well. Yeah.
1:50Depending on how recently the line was primed, um our our pressure ranges
1:56between 15 and 20 PSI.
2:01Uh so if you have higher pressures, I think the better option is the Netaphim
2:09Megaet, which I think Farmer's Friend also sells. But we have friends who have
2:16higher pressure that think those are the way to go. Um, and the one nice thing
2:23about the Mega Nets is they do have a built-in filter, which is easily cleaned
2:30by hand, whereas the wobblers, if you get anything too big in there, it'll clog the nozzle and you got to kind of use a pliers and take the thing apart.
2:42So that's that's one nice little feature of the mega nets. But for us with our low pressure, we found the mega nets did
2:50not cover as uniformly as the wobbler did. So anyway, that's that's kind of a
2:56background of the wobblers. So we have our tunnels and our fields all basically
3:0530 feet wide. And that width is largely because of the irrigation. Uh one row of
3:14sprinklers down the center will water that 30 ft quite nicely.
3:21How how far apart do you space them? We space them 25 ft apart. You know, and I think it's important for people to
3:29understand they're designed for most even coverage by
3:35having 100% overlap. That means this sprinkler covers over to the next sprinkler and this sprinkler is covering
3:44over to that sprinkler. So that's why we have gone with five sprinklers per 100
3:50ft rather than four. A lot of people use four, but that means going in 12 feet approximately for your first sprinkler.
4:02So that outside 12 12 1/2 ft is only going to get half the amount of water as
4:10everything in the middle. So in order to get the most even coverage, you really need to go with five sprinkler heads.
4:18For sure. that that would be, you know, manufacturers recommendations on that.
4:23And so that all of the farmer's friend uh field irrigation kits with wobblers or uh megaets have five five st
4:33sprinkler stands and and risers and all that. So yeah, for I should say for a 100 foot bed. Um so yeah, and and you
4:42can put the the road guards they call them on the on the megaets. I don't know about wobblers. Do they have I don't think we
4:50have a cover like that, but that keeps it from spraying out uh past the the ends of your beds too much, but you know
4:58Yeah. I I mean, I've experimented with those. The thing I don't like about those, it it
5:05just it diverts the water from spraying out this way and kind of just dumps it
5:11right at the base of the sprinkler. So I yeah it's you know it might be useful in your particular situation. We've just
5:20set up our fields far enough apart that you know we've got space for that that
5:29overspray I guess you'd call it. Um another thing to just point out is that
5:36with the wobbler there's different nozzles. We use a lavender nozzle. Um,
5:42I've got, you know, any good irrigation company will have these charts. Maybe
5:49they can get a closeup of this, but it it gives you the your pressure across
5:56the top, and then it tells you with the different nozzles. It goes from gold, which is 332 of an inch, up to blue,
6:06which is 732 of an inch. So, obviously the bigger the nozzle, the more water you're putting out. And technically,
6:16it'll go a little further, but we like the lavender. We found with if you go too big with the nozzles, you end up
6:25with bigger drops, which start giving you issues with soil compaction and more splash on the leaves and stuff. Water.
6:34Yeah. So, lavender has worked well for us. And lavender gets depending on your
6:41pressure, it's going to be around 2 gall per minute per sprinkler. Yeah. So, just the
6:51the overview for for your system, you guys have a header that's running along the the top edge of all of your field
6:59plots that's what 3 in uh lay flat or what are you doing? No, we well we have underground to each plot and at the
7:08corner of each plot we have a valve box and an inch and a half line which again for those who saw the farm
7:17tour, you know, we only went with inch and a half because of our our gravity flow and we wanted as
7:25we wanted to keep the pressure up as much as possible. Um, I think one inch is plenty for for most people. So, we
7:35would then come up with a a header line out of the valve box that's
7:41approximately 15 ft long. And we use quick couplings in the valve box. And
7:48then at the top of the the field and then we just have a 100 ft piece of of
7:56blue orchard tubing kind of or what do they call it? The blue stripe hose.
8:03Yeah. And um and then we have the grommets every well at the beginning and then
8:12every 25 ft, right? And um and then you just plug your your sprinkler assembly
8:20into those grommets. It's so simple and easy. You know, I first saw this at JM's farm and it was like, "Wow, this is
8:29revolutionary." because we were pounding in rebars and zip tying sprinklers to the stakes and all that.
8:38This you just push the stake in, plug the the tubing into that grommet, and you're
8:46ready to go. Yeah, super simple. It's a simple system. It works great. Um, and for those watching, the the system that
8:54you guys use here on the farm, I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, is exactly what Farmers Friend sells is as our field irrigation kits with the one
9:02exception being you're doing inch and a half poly pipe for your for your main line and we supply it with 1 in um main
9:10line. I don't think you don't have the quick couplers, do you? We don't have the quick couplers. We we can do that.
9:18Sure, why not? Um, you know, we have male quick coupler ends on both ends of
9:24the 100 ft, so we can easily connect into it from either end. Okay? You know,
9:31cuz well, it's just it's hard to explain without looking at our fields. But, you know, we've got one field above another,
9:39so we can just pull it down um and hook into it from the bottom or Okay. from
9:45the top. Okay. They just have a cap on one end. Exactly. Yeah. Cool. All righty. Well, if you've been listening
9:53and you have a question on your mind that you would like us to discuss in a future conversation, feel free to click that link down below and submit your question. And until next time, happy growing.
For overhead irrigation on a market farm, choose your sprinkler head based on water pressure: wobblers work best at low pressure (10–25 PSI), while Netafim MegaNets perform better at higher pressure (25–43 PSI). Space five sprinkler heads per 100-foot bed at 25-foot intervals for full overlap coverage, run a single line down the center of a 30-foot-wide plot, and use the lavender nozzle on wobblers for the best balance of coverage and gentle droplet size.
Irrigation is one of the most important systems on your farm, and it's one of the first things you need to get right. Get it wrong and your crops suffer. Get it right and you barely have to think about it — just turn a valve and walk away.
In a recent video, a customer named Tony asked us to go into detail on the sprinkler system at Bountiful Blessings Farm. My dad, John Dysinger, has been using the wobbler system for all 27 years he's been farming, and he's tested enough alternatives to have a strong opinion on what works and what doesn't.
Here's the full breakdown of how his overhead irrigation is set up and how to choose the right system for your farm.
What Is Overhead Irrigation and When Should You Use It?
Overhead irrigation uses sprinkler heads mounted on stakes to water crops from above, simulating rainfall. The alternative is drip irrigation, which delivers water directly to the root zone through emitter lines.
My dad prefers overhead irrigation whenever possible because it's simpler to set up, easier to manage, and less expensive in the long run than drip. Drip has its place — particularly for disease-prone crops like tomatoes where you want to keep moisture off the foliage — but for the majority of crops on a market farm, overhead is the way to go.
The key is choosing the right sprinkler head for your water pressure, spacing them correctly for even coverage, and setting up your system so that irrigating any section of the farm is as simple as turning a valve.
What Is the Difference Between Wobblers and MegaNets?
These are the two main overhead sprinkler head options for market farm irrigation, and the choice between them comes down to water pressure.
Wobblers (Best for Low Pressure: 10–25 PSI)
Wobblers have been my dad's go-to for 27 years. They work by deflecting water off a wobbling plate, creating an even, gentle spray pattern that covers a wide area.
The critical thing to understand about wobblers is that they work best with lower water pressure — roughly 10 to 25 PSI. At Bountiful Blessings Farm, the system runs on gravity flow with pressure between 15 and 20 PSI, and the wobblers perform beautifully in that range.
If your pressure gets above 25 PSI — and certainly above 30 — the wobbler plate spins too fast and atomizes the water into a fine mist. Any wind at all will carry that mist away from your beds, and you end up with poor, uneven coverage.
Nozzle selection matters. Wobblers come with color-coded nozzles ranging from gold (3/32") to blue (7/32"). My dad uses the lavender nozzle, which puts out approximately 2 gallons per minute per sprinkler head at his pressure range. He's found that going too large on the nozzle creates bigger droplets that cause soil compaction and excessive leaf splash — two things you want to avoid. The lavender strikes the right balance of coverage and gentle water delivery.
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MegaNets (Best for Higher Pressure: 25–43 PSI)
The Netafim MegaNet is the better choice if your water pressure is higher — roughly 25 to 43 PSI. My dad has friends with higher-pressure systems who swear by Meganets.
One nice advantage of MegaNets is a built-in filter that's easily cleaned by hand. Wobblers don't have this — if debris gets in the nozzle, you need pliers to disassemble the head and clear it. The MegaNet's filter makes maintenance noticeably easier.
MegaNets also offer optional road guards — shields that prevent the spray pattern from extending past the edges of your beds. My dad has experimented with these and found that while they work in concept, they tend to dump water at the base of the sprinkler rather than truly redirecting it. His solution is simpler: space your plots far enough apart to accommodate the overspray.
The trade-off? At Bountiful Blessings Farm's low pressure, MegaNets didn't cover as uniformly as wobblers. So the choice really is pressure-dependent — use the head that matches your water system.
How Do You Space Sprinkler Heads for Even Coverage?
This is where a lot of people make a mistake that costs them uniformity.
Use five sprinkler heads per 100-foot bed, spaced 25 feet apart. Many people use four heads, but the math doesn't work for even coverage.
Here's why: overhead sprinklers are designed for 100% overlap — meaning each sprinkler's coverage pattern should reach all the way to the next sprinkler head. When you space four heads across 100 feet, your first and last sprinklers are roughly 12 feet in from each end. That outside 12 feet on each end only gets water from one direction — half the coverage of everything in the middle.
With five heads spaced at 25-foot intervals starting at the beginning of the bed, you get full overlap across the entire length. It's the manufacturer's recommendation, and it's what makes the difference between even watering and dry edges. Every Farmers Friend field irrigation kit includes five sprinkler stands and risers for exactly this reason.
How Is the Bountiful Blessings Farm System Set Up?
The system is simple, and that's what makes it work. Here's the layout:
Plot width: 30 feet. This width is driven by the irrigation — a single row of sprinklers down the center of a 30-foot-wide plot provides even coverage edge to edge.
Underground mains run to each plot, with a valve box at the corner of each one. My dad used 1½-inch pipe for his main lines because of the gravity-flow system — the larger diameter helps maintain pressure. For most farms with standard water pressure, 1-inch pipe is plenty.
A 15-foot header line comes out of the valve box with quick couplings, connecting to the sprinkler line.
A 100-foot piece of blue polyethylene tubing (sometimes called blue stripe hose or orchard tubing) runs the length of the plot with grommets punched at the starting point and every 25 feet. The sprinkler assemblies — stake, riser, and head — simply plug into these grommets.
Quick couplers on both ends of the 100-foot line allow connection from either direction, which gives flexibility on sloped ground where fields sit above one another.
My dad first saw this grommet-and-stake system at Jean-Martin Fortier's farm, and he says it was revolutionary compared to their old method of pounding in rebar and zip-tying sprinklers to stakes. Now it's push a stake in, plug the tubing into the grommet, and you're watering. The Farmers Friend field irrigation kit is built on this same system.
The Takeaway
Good irrigation doesn't have to be complicated. Match your sprinkler head to your water pressure — Wobblers for low pressure, MegaNets for higher pressure. Use five heads per 100-foot bed for even coverage. Run a single centerline through a 30-foot-wide plot. And set up your system with valves so that watering any section of your farm is as simple as turning a handle.
The goal is irrigation that's so easy you never skip it — because skipping irrigation is one of the fastest ways to lose a crop.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on your water pressure. Wobblers work best at low pressure (10–25 PSI) and provide excellent, gentle coverage. Meganets perform better at higher pressure (25–43 PSI) and include a convenient built-in filter. If your pressure is above 25 PSI, wobblers may atomize the water and provide poor coverage in windy conditions.
Five heads, spaced 25 feet apart. This provides the 100% overlap that sprinkler manufacturers recommend for even coverage. Using four heads leaves the outer edges of your bed with only half the water coverage, leading to dry spots and uneven growth.
The lavender nozzle is a good all-around choice, delivering approximately 2 gallons per minute per head at 15–20 PSI. Larger nozzles put out more water but create bigger droplets that can cause soil compaction and excessive leaf splash. Unless you have a specific reason to go larger, the lavender nozzle provides the best balance.
Thirty feet is a standard width that works well with a single row of sprinklers down the center. Both wobbler and Meganet heads will cover the full 30-foot width, giving you edge-to-edge watering from one line of sprinklers.
Overhead irrigation is simpler to set up, easier to manage, and less expensive long-term. It's the preferred option for most crops on a market farm. Drip irrigation is better for disease-prone crops like tomatoes where keeping moisture off the foliage is important, but for the majority of vegetable production, overhead is more practical.
Run underground main lines to each plot with a valve box at each one, so watering any section requires nothing more than turning a valve. Use polyethylene tubing with grommets for your sprinkler line — the Farmers Friend field irrigation kit includes everything needed for a 30' × 100' area. The goal is a system so simple you never find excuses to skip watering.
They work in concept — preventing spray from extending past your bed edges — but they tend to dump the redirected water at the base of the sprinkler rather than distributing it evenly. A simpler solution is to space your plots far enough apart to accommodate the overspray. Road guards may be useful in specific tight-space situations, but they're not essential for most setups.
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