Troubleshooting Pivots After Harvest

By: Dave Mowitz

Fields laid bare from harvest offer a great opportunity to inspect center pivots for repairs or to evaluate their performance before putting them to bed for the winter. Steve Melvin of the University of Nebraska says many suppliers feature excellent off-season service specials at this time.

A key performance check that is often overlooked is sizing up a pivot’s operating pressure. Also, measuring a system’s flow will help with diagnostics.

In order to check pressure, you’ll need a working pressure gauge and an understanding of operating pressure design for your system, Melvin explains. The best place to find designed operating pressure and flow is to reference the sprinkler chart, which came with the sprinkler package when it was purchased new with the pivot or as a replacement package. This information is often placed in the center pivot’s panel.

The sprinkler chart is different for almost every pivot because every package is custom designed for that system’s flow rate and length. The sprinkler chart contains a lot of information, including:

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