Retractable sprinkler heads for your lawn's watering system should, well, retract. Most of the time this is not a problem, but in the event that one or more sprinkler heads do not retract, you may find them after your lawnmower does. This is more common with riding lawnmowers, since walk-behind mowers allow you to spot things easily and more quickly than the occluded view you have from on top of a riding mower. If your sprinkler heads have met with a series of unfortunate events, here is what to do next.
Save the Pieces
Your mower, when it crunched and spit out whatever parts it broke off from the sprinkler heads, probably rotated them out into your mulch bag or into the lawn. You will definitely want to stop your mower and retrieve these parts so that they do not re-enter your mower and cause problems internally. You also want to save the pieces, since the repair technician will want to see how badly damaged the sprinkler heads are.
Check the Rest of the Sprinkler Heads
If there were one or two heads that did not retract after watering your yard on mowing day, there may be others. If you do not want a very expensive sprinkler system repair bill, check the rest of the head locations now. If you spot some more faulty heads, mark them. Then you can avoid them and mow around these spots until the repair technician can fix the problem.
Call the Repair Company
Usually the repairs for an in-ground sprinkler system are handled by the company that installed it. If you do not have that information because the system came with the house, call whatever repair company in the area to come check out your damaged and defective sprinkler heads. Be sure to show the technician the pieces you were able to retrieve either from your mower's mulch bag or from the yard. He/she should be able to tell how bad the damages are from examining the pieces and what is left of the sprinkler heads. Also remember to show him/her any other sprinkler heads that did not retract as they should.
Expect about an Hour for Repairs
If you only rolled over a couple of the sprinkler heads with your mower, and you only found a couple more defective ones, the repairs will be rather simple. The technician should have the job completed in about an hour or two at most. He/she will expect you to test the sprinkler by turning off the timer and turning the system on manually. If it works, reset the timer and return to mowing. Your unfortunate events have been resolved.
For more information, contact local professionals like USA Hoich Irrigation.
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