5 Best Tripod Sprinkler Review and Buying Guide

Maintaining a pristine garden is no easy feat, but having the best tripod sprinkler helps get the job done without hassle. Plants and grass need daily watering to grow well and survive, especially during the summer season. Doing this is taxing and time-consuming, but a tripod sprinkler can do it without effort from your end.

Tripod sprinklers not only water the lawn, but reaches taller plants as well, and the Melnor 65115 Oscillating Sprinkler with tripod does the job well. The all-metal tripod base can extend up to 41 inches to cover a massive full-size garden up to 4,000 square feet, perfect for expansive gardens. The material is high-quality and durable to withstand harsh outdoor conditions.

This unit’s sprinkler head is impressive as well, with its 3D four-way adjustment for precise and even watering coverage. It also supports 360 degrees oscillation for optimum coverage and a patented turbo motor for smooth operation without puddling issues.

Best Tripod Sprinkler

Melnor 65115 AMZ MiniMax Turbo Oscillating Sprinkler

Features:

• Full-size sprinkler coverage up to 4,000 square feet
• Sturdy and stable metal tripod base adjustable from 27 inches to 41 inches
• QuickConnect Product Adapter included for hassle-free connect and disconnect of sprinkler
• Four-way sprinkler adjustment for precise and full-size watering coverage with zoom control
• Ultra-adjustable up to 360 degrees for optimum watering control
• Infinity Turbo-Drive motor for smooth watering operation without puddling

What We Like

Melnor is known for producing the best tripod sprinkler with optimum versatility and functionality, and the 65115 AMZ MiniMax Turbo is no different. It is one of the versatile sprinkler heads in the market mounted on a sturdy metal tripod to reach taller plants. The tripod legs feature an all-metal construction for maximum durability and long service life even under severe weather conditions.

The tripod legs of this unit have 27 inches base height, which extends up to 41 inches to cater to growing plants.

Another advantage that makes it the best tripod sprinkler is its control capabilities to shape and extend the water flow for both expansive and narrow gardens. The sprinkler head features a 4-way adjustment, controlling the range, width, flow or zoom control, and angle adjustability, for a 3D watering effect. This oscillating sprinkler head can rotate up to 360 degrees to cover full-size garden areas up to 4,000 square feet.

The Infinity Turbo-Drive motor of the Melnor 65115 AMZ sprinkler ensures smooth watering even in high water pressures without puddling.

What Can be Improved?

The Melnor 65115 AMZ tripod sprinkler is excellent for high precision watering. The only downside of this product is the durability of the sprinkler head. Instead of an all-metal design, the sprinkler head uses plastic material. The attachment of the sprinkler is also plastic, which is flimsy and is challenging to connect to the hose.

Melnor 65066 AMZ Metal Pulsating Sprinkler

Features:

• The adjustable tripod extends up to 48 inches above the ground
• Premium metal tripod construction with folding design for compact storage
• Extensive garden coverage up to 85 feet diameter
• Adjustable pulsating sprinkler head for precise watering
• All-metal sprinkler head construction for durability to withstand most weather conditions
• With QuickConnect Product Adapter for secure connection of sprinkler head to the tripod base
• Foldable tripod design for space-saving storage

What We Like

The Melnor 65066 AMZ is a pulsating sprinkler ideal for vast land areas with an impressive watering coverage of up to 85 feet diameter. Setting up the tripod on the ground is quick and hassle-free with the metal wings attachment on the sides of the unit.

The tripod legs’ design is convenient with its premium metal construction for optimum durability even under severe weather conditions. The tripod legs feature a folding design, which is easier to uproot when necessary. The legs also extend up to 48 inches to cater to growing plants.

The Melnor 65066 AMZ comes with a massive deflector, which is efficient for precise and even watering. The tabs are also easy to adjust to cover up to 360 degrees. The sprinkler head has an all-metal design for optimum durability to withstand most weather conditions.

This sprinkler unit supports an easy and quick connection with the QuickConnect Product Adapter in between the tripod and the sprinkler head. While it’s a great sprinkler system by itself, the Melnor 65066 AMZ also supports combining other sprinklers through the efficient daisy-chain system.

What Can be Improved?

The Melnor 65066 AMZ is a heavy-duty tripod garden sprinkler. However, there are issues about its diffuser pin. It is a bit too tight to adjust the screw, which modifies the watering coverage of the sprinkler head.

Orbit 62120 Garden Enforcer Motion Activated Sprinkler

Features:

• Adjustable and stable metal tripod from 22 inches up to 54 inches to reach tall plants
• Smart sensor technology for maximum water and battery savings
• 120-degrees sensor with three activation modes: day only, night only, and always on
• Adjustable impact sprinkler up to 35-foot reach
• Up to 30 minutes timed watering setting
• Doubles up as animal deterrent against cats, dogs, raccoons, deer, rabbits, and birds
• Infrared motion sensor with 40 feet distance and 120-degree field covering

What We Like

The Orbit 6212 Garden Enforcer takes the cake when it comes to functionality in the garden. It’s a 2-in-1 unit that can water an extensive lawn and act as an animal deterrent at the same time.

This Garden Enforcer can detect cats, dogs, deer, and raccoons, among others, from 40 feet away through its infrared motion detector covering a 120-degree field. Once it detects an intruder in the garden, the sprinkler head starts spurting water in 10-second gusts.

As a watering system for growing plants, the Orbit 62120 also does well with its 25 to 35 feet spray distance, which is excellent for small to medium-sized lawns. The tripod legs are retractable from its 22 inches base height up to 54 inches to reach growing plants.

Another selling point of the Orbit 62120 Garden Enforcer is its smart sensor technology, which helps save water and battery. Its built-in sensor comes with three activation settings that cover a 120-degree range. The Garden Enforcer is also a set-and-forget watering unit with its 20-minute water cycle timer.

The Orbit 62120 has a gooseneck attachment that makes hose connections effortless.

What Can be Improved?

Overall, Orbit 62120 is an excellent sprinkler system. However, the material could be more durable. Instead of all-metal construction, the unit comes with a sprinkler head with a combination of metal and ABS plastic.

Orbit 58308 Tripod Base

Features:

• Watering coverage of 100 feet diameter or 6,360 square-feet area suitable for large lawns
• Heavy-duty and rust-resistant brass construction for long service life under severe weather conditions
• Adjustable watering coverage up to 360 degrees
• Weighted metal tripod base for stability, which extends from 25 to 48 inches
• Customizable spray distance radius
• Flow-through design to resist clogs
• Easy and quick gooseneck connection
• Folding tripod design for compact storage
• Anti-tipping design for optimum stability to withstand high-impact spraying

What We Like

What makes the Orbit 58308 stand out when it comes to a** **tripod sprinkler is its ultimate watering flexibility. This brass impact sprinkler features a brass sprinkler head that can cover 100-feet distances, which is perfect for extensive lawns.

The tripod sprinkler can meet the needs of a growing garden with its fully adjustable design. The arc radius of the sprinkler head can cover up to 360 degrees of the lawn with excellent coverage near and far.

The Orbit 58308 sprinkler’s tripod legs are adjustable from 25 inches to 48 inches with ergonomically designed clamps for hassle-free adjustments. The tripod also has an anti-tipping design to make it stable in resisting high impact spraying up to 80 psi operating range. The heavy-duty construction of the tripod makes it durable for long service life even under severe weather conditions.

Another selling point of the Orbit 58308 sprinkler is its convenient swivel attachment. The gooseneck design eliminates awkward fiddling when attaching a hose to the sprinkler. The entire unit features a folding design as well, for easy and space-saving storage.

What Can be Improved?

Although the Orbit 58308 sprinkler features a flow-through design to resist clogs, it doesn’t do well when using hard well water. Minerals and other particles can build up in the sprinkler head and prevents it from oscillating correctly.

Gardena 8138 High-Rise Pulsating Sprinkler

Features:

• 5-meters to 12.5-meters spray range depending on the height
• High-level pulse sprinkler to cover from 75 square meters up to 490 square meter area
• Folding tripod legs design for fast assembly and convenient storage
• 1.0 meter tripod legs base height
• Exceptional watering range with irrigation sector from 25 degrees to 360 degrees
• High-precision brass nozzle and metal hammer for long service life
• Large adjustment knob for convenience and infinite spray range modification

What We Like

Watering tall plants is convenient with the Gardena 8138 High-Rise Pulsating Sprinkler with its 1-meter base height. The tripod legs feature a folding design for fast assembly, no tools required, and space-saving storage. Plus, it has metal construction for optimum durability and long service life against most weather conditions.

Aside from the collapsible tripod legs, another advantage about the Gardena 8138 is its high-quality sprinkler head. It is a premium high-level pulse sprinkler that covers up to 490 square meters evenly. The sprinkler nozzle features brass material with a metal hammer for durability.

When it comes to watering range, this small pulsating sprinkler can reach five to 12.5 meters away with a 25-degrees to 360 degrees irrigation sector. The rotary knob of the unit is big enough to make it easy to modify the spray range.

Attaching the sprinkler unit to a hose is hassle-free with the ready-to-connect design of the Gardena system connector.

What Can be Improved?

The quality of the Gardena 8138 unit is impressive, including its watering range. However, the pulsating sprinkler head tends to get stuck. Minerals and debris can accumulate in the sprinkler over time, which needs frequent cleaning for the best performance. The plastic material of the sprinkler is also less durable than the rest of its parts, which uses metal and brass.

Best Tripod Sprinkler Buying Guide

The best tripod sprinkler will depend on the specific garden and plant needs, but there are things to watch out for when investing in sprinkler systems.

Types of Sprinklers

For a tripod watering system, there can be different types of sprinkler heads attached on top. There are 4 common types of water sprinklers in the market.

Stationary or Rotary Sprinklers

Rotating sprinklers come with several sprinkler tips attached to a single sprinkle head, which spins when turned on. Another variation of this type of sprinkler is stationary one, which features multiple spray patterns.

Rotary and stationary sprinklers are ideal for squared-off and small lawns. They also work well with low water pressure.

Oscillating Sprinklers

The typical feature of an oscillating sprinkler is a long tube with sprinkler holes on the surface. With the right pressure, water starts spurting out of these holes and wave back and forth due to the water’s force.

This type of garden sprinkler is best for high water pressure. Otherwise, oscillating sprinklers may not spray water far enough. On the other hand, this type is the best tripod sprinkler for evenly watering rectangular areas.

Traveling Sprinklers

This type of sprinkler works similarly with a rotary sprinkler, except that its base moves and rolls based on a pre-set pattern. Traveling sprinklers are the best for expansive lawn settings and require high water pressure to operate.

Impact Sprinklers

Impact sprinklers are best known for their hammering sound as it spurts water in successive intervals. The bursts of water from the spray head are due to the impact hammer. Coverage areas for this type of sprinkler can be partial or full circle.

This type is the best tripod sprinkler for expansive lawns and park settings but requires high water pressure sources. The spray of water from the sprinkler is high-powered, which is not ideal for freshly seeded gardens.

Area Coverage

Tripod sprinklers can reach taller plants and broader areas compared to above-ground watering systems. However, depending on the type and model, a tripod sprinkler can cover small to large-sized lawns.

Spray Jets

The more spray jets there is, the sprinkler will have better watering coverage.

Rotating sprinklers should have at least 4 spray holes in every arm, while oscillating sprinkles should have a minimum of 15 spray jets.

Spray Pattern

Spray jets are not visible in stationary sprinklers, so when buying one, the best bet is to choose a unit with multiple spray patterns. Common coverage patterns for garden sprinklers include half-round, full-round, square, rectangular, and fan-shaped.

With multiple spray patterns available, it’s convenient to set the mode that best suits specific garden needs.

Durability

In terms of durability for tripod sprinklers, it will depend on the material used, which can either be all-metal or a combination of metal and plastic.

All-metal sprinkler designs will last longer under most outdoor weather conditions. However, the type of metal should be rust-resistant like aluminum, zinc, stainless steel, and brass for long service life.

On the other hand, plastic sprinklers are not the most durable, although they tend to be more affordable. Especially for low-quality plastic materials, it can go brittle with extensive exposure to direct sunlight.

Design and Construction

For a tripod sprinkler, the legs should be stable and can hold through the water pressure without knocking over. Heavier sprinklers are less convenient to carry but are less prone to getting toppled over when the water’s force is too strong. On the other hand, lighter weight options are less sturdy and won’t last for a long time.

Tripod legs that extend to a certain height also helps to cater to watering tall plants as they grow.

When there are moving parts in the sprinkler unit, it has to be sturdy and durable and won’t break easily. Metal connections are better than plastic as well, as the latter tend to get brittle over time.

Adjustable Modes

A tripod sprinkler should offer apple adjustable modes for even and precise watering coverage. Standard adjustments provided by tripod sprinklers include the width, range, and angle of watering coverage. Other units also have modes for choosing output type from the sprinkler head, like water droplets or continuous jet stream.

Extra Features

Extra features that are useful for a tripod sprinkler is a water filter, especially when using hard water. Without a screen, minerals and dirt particles can accumulate and clog the sprinkler head.

Another useful feature is a timer, which helps in conserving water. A built-in motion sensor in the unit is also a bonus for the sprinkler to double-up as an animal deterrent.

Conclusion

While watering a lawn, especially tall plants, is a chore, a tripod sprinkler like the Melnor 65115 makes the job easier. It can extend up to 41 inches from the ground to cover large areas up to 4,000 square feet.

Buying the best tripod sprinkler with the ideal coverage area and durable design and construction, maintaining a pristine and growing garden becomes hassle-free.

Last update on 2024-06-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API