The old fashion cast iron ones that could pull hose, not the new plastic ones with tiny gears.
I bought my Craftsman Traveling Sprinkler a couple of decades ago and was disappointed it had nylon gears instead of metal gears like my grandpas' water tractors. We don't need it much where I live and it's not a water toy, getting whacked in the shins by spinning wands hurt. My kids found out like I did. I had it greased and in the pump house. When the pump house was rebuilt, it got stuck outside on its side and forgotten.
Drought's on and my friend needs irrigation options for the first time ever. He'd never seen one but he likes tractors! He grumbled about "another project" and I offered to throw it back in the trunk of my car. He smiled and set it on the work bench. We had fun with WD-40 a hammer and other assorted tools breaking it down and getting it moving. I was assuring him we could still get replacements, repair parts and kits. We had fun playing with it in the yard, like Tonka then got wet. It ran about a foot , 5 clinks before interior assembly became it's own sprinkler and it stopped.
Yes, I can order Craftsman replacement parts online." We can do this!
Of course Sears and Craftsman stores list the model # and have a parts list, but "part no longer available, go suck eggs" when you click on the part.
One idea that popped up at the work bench was having new metal gears machined instead of plastic. Lookin' good! I read it as the ONLY option on the internet last night. Oh my! We need bushings, bearings, O-rings, gaskets, washers...over my head..... Keep looking for options. My job is to drop complete parts for a rebuild on the workbench asap.
Then I found this site:
http://walkingsprinkler.blogspot.com...craftsman.html
Which led me to here:
http://www.nationalwalkingsprinkler.com/shop
Yes, we can do this! They even have steel worm gears!
Anyway I was surprised to meet a farmer who'd never seen one of these types of light duty irrigators or heavy duty lawn sprinklers. Maybe some folks here haven't either.
For the rest of us who don't live in the disposable world, a guy on the internet says we can use National parts to rebuild our old Craftsman and other cast iron water tractors. Has anyone here done it?
How 'bout your fond memories of falling asleep to the gentle clink of the pawls on the wheels at night, or thinking it would be fun to play in THAT sprinkler until it tried to break your leg? When they jump hose and run amok?
3Likes
Use it to support the end tower and have it just follow a piece of black poly mounted as a permanent rail.
and now our water tractor walks, talks and slings water with all brass and stainless steel that fit right in as stated. It was a fun project and no tools were thrown during installation! It was so simple even a couple of goofballs can do it!
