In order to construct a line that is quick to set up and is an efficient performer, there should be little to no hose smaller than 1 ½ inch (38mm) used. If the sprinklers used have a reach of more than 50 feet (15m) they can be connected directly to the water thief at every connection (100’) on the hose line, resulting in overlapping patterns.

In order to make the pattern a strong footprint with no dry line through it, a second sprinkler line should be laid parallel to the first sprinkler line with about a 20 to 50 foot space between the two lines.

Place the two sprinkler lines with the starting points staggered so that the fittings are at the half way point of the neighboring hose. By laying the hose out in this fashion the patters of the sprinklers will overlap making the width of the line fairly uniform throughout, with few dry shadows. The performance of the sprinklers in this lay out is very important, as the reach of stream of all sprinklers must overlap.

The fuel type determines the hose spacing. Fine fuels offer few shadows, therefore a 50 foot spacing will work well, however in heavy fuels where many obstacles are present the spacing should be reduced to eliminate dry shadows. Narrow spacing produces a wide footprint of intersecting patterns reducing dry spotting, but the total width of the pattern will be narrower. Click here to see slideshow