The History of the Buckner Rocker Jet - Part III: The First Part Circle Rockers
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
- We're up to Part III in our four-part history of the Buckner Rocker Jet sprinklers. In this part, we begin in 1954 with John Royer's application for a patent on a reversing sprinkler. This time period in the middle 1950's saw Buckner manufacturing a model 302 full circle rocker jet, very briefly market a small part circle rocker jet sprinkler called the 501, then sell a 1/2" inlet (the 502), a 3/4" inlet (the 511), and a 1" inlet (the 521) rocker jet. We show each model in operation and show the evolution of the arc stops and reversing mechanisms during this time.
We hope you enjoy this video, and thank you so much for watching!
#irrigation #golfirrigation #golf #agirrigation #buckner #fresno #californiahistory
Great part 3 of the Rocker Jet series! Very nice range of part circle models.
Thank you! Glad that you’re enjoying it, and I appreciate that you’re watching.
The Rocker Jet part circle sprinkler is a truly amazing engineering design! Very simple in concept as compared to the older "part circle heads by Buckner like the "Dual Action Wedge Drive Reversing Sprinkler"; The Rocker Jet is simple and straight forward in operation and was a very robust heavy duty head, needed for everyday use on quick coupler systems of the day for large turf areas. This was the light weight durable answer to Rain Birds patented impact heads, and proved to be very successful and in wide use for many years, into the 70's; I believe the popularity fell off with the discontinuance of quick coupler systems, in favor of underground pop up rotors and automatics, the head remained popular for use in above ground systems for Ag and landscape areas for slopes and such; and remained in production through the end of the 70's..
However this tough head can be temperamental when worn or bent from use and abuse; this head is very simple with two moving parts, and quite simple from machining and assembly, compared to the dual wedge drives of the past; I do believe this head was a bit more complex and temperamental from the manufacturing standpoint too....The aluminum, lever castings had to be very precise, and well as the machining and alignment for the lever and yoke and yoke to the body..... any mis alignment or wear can allow the yoke and lever to move to far right or left and effect improper stream alignment; any imperfections in the casting or even the alignment of the flat boss on the nozzle that the lever contacts is crucial, as well as the deflection/impact point that intersects the stream of water on each cycle; all of these factors contribute to how well [or not] the lever reacts with the stream of water, thus affecting short strokes and/or speed of rotation, how well it will change directions and sometimes barely or not work in one direction at all.. this can happen from imperfection in manufacturing or very often from abuse from being handled, dropped, kicked, piled on top of each other etc. form being moved around and daily use on quick couplers.... I do believe that possibly the use of aluminum lever was to help increase durability as it is way more rigid than bronze or brass and less susceptible to bending and deformation.
There is nothing quite like watching a good working Rocker Jet!
Great show Bill, and a great tribute to the 70th Birthday of the Rocker Jet "Reversing Sprinkler"!!
You did a great job showing that incredible collection of yours, Kerry! It’s great to have someone who is even more passionate than me about these things to partner with in preserving the knowledge and memory of these incredible inventions.
A great video! I'm beginning to understand! What you explained to me in theory, I now recognize in the slow motion sequences. Partial circle buckets and full circle buckets are very different. A wonderful documentation. Thank you for showing it.
Thank you! I’m glad the visual completed the picture, so to speak.
Excellent presentation of the Rocket Jets history!
It is amazing to me of how many variations of the different models that were made and also how they were always creating new design models. Would it be safe to say that Buckner was probably always fine tuning there products?.
Between both of your video locations has brought me back to a wonderful memory in time. I remember being at a public gardens as a small child and they had several Buckner Rocker Jets working there one day on a hill side bank and it was just memorable!.
Thank you Bill and Kerry in working together in making this wonderful presentation for all to enjoy!…
Thanks, Dave. I think they were always getting feedback from the field, either through their own outreach or (sometimes angry) phone calls and requests for service. I can remember those sessions with Buckner leadership in the 1990’s as we pressed for a full, modern line of golf rotors.
Hi I’m from Delhi India I like your videos
Hi! Thank you! I appreciate that you spend time watching them. It’s great to share these sprinklers with people around the World.
I have and use a buckler 512 rocker jet almost every day it is the fully adjustable one with the little Cog gear stop. It likeS 50psi water pressure or higher. I got a booster pump to make it run better. Mine definitely likes to go to the left more. It's really cool seeing it run. I got it at an antique store for about $12. It has the original wire heart-shaped base.
That was quite a bargain. I love hearing stories about these old sprinklers still being used for their intended purpose. Thanks for sharing that.
Nice Rockers! Loved the collab with Kerry as well! I have a 502 i think thats missing the trip collars and mine moves very fast! like yours! Thank you for sharing! Would be cool to have aa system dedicated to rockers!
Thanks! Yes, that would be very cool. Kerry has that, in part, at least.
Thanks.... It is fun to be able to have the Rockers in use for sure, but its tough sometimes as there is so many great ol brass sprinklers to display just not enough space for them all to work.
@@kerryvinci5287 yes I understand that. I have so many sprinklers and popups and big guns I live in an apartment and use my friends field for testing and videos and I feel that I could do well with a place of my own like a house where I could get a PTO pump and be able to run my bigger guns like they are intended. What I have right now is decent but I want to be able to test out my 205 Rainbird and P200 like what I see in the fields. I just don't have the room or even a engine to drive it or even a cart to mount it to. maybe some day! You have a nice property there though. It's nice seeing the rockers keeping the water down on the area!
@NelsonBigGunP200Fan you make the most of those opportunities you get. Love it when you fill a garbage can or bin with water to pump out of.
@@antiquesprinklers yes I try. Sometimes I figure I'll try and if it doesn't work, then I learned something! The time I watered my parents roof with the single pump and 51DS and trashcan was funny! Lol
I am enjoying these videos on the rocker jets. These are amazing designs, and the speed at which they move is quite amazing. I have one interesting question which has to do with the arm movement. Is there a difference in the left side versus the right side of the arm that causes the arm to move faster in what would be considered the reverse mode? I kind of gathered that the arm was the same on both sides, left and right, so that the arm movement would not change in speed unless the water is not hitting the equivalent spot on the front end of the arm. These must have been expensive sprinklers back in the day to make and sell, because of all the brass involved. Like I said before they would last literally forever and when you mentioned that a couple of them were not working I was surprised. Again thank you for sharing these.
The arm or Lever as Buckner referred, is designed to be the same and balanced for both directions, they advertised it to be slow rotating consistent in both directions, this is not always the case. I mentioned above many of the aspects that affect the operation, still a great sprinkler to this day and when they work good they are awesome! The ones you saw were just shy of 70 years old!
Glad you enjoy the brass from the past and thanks to Bill for the hard work to present this!
@@kerryvinci5287 Again thank you for your part in this and obviously the huge collection that you have. So do you see any reason for the difference in the speed of the lever from one direction to the other?
Glad you’re enjoying the series! They should run the same speed in each direction. Things happen to the sprinklers over time. They get slightly bent in different places, a bit of material can get knocked off the arm knocking or out of balance. I’ve heard of old-time service guys from Buckner literally shaving the levers a little to make them run correctly again. As you note, thought, they generally run forever. You can see, especially in my collection, that a few of the ones in this video have been through it.
Is there a way you can get full circle on this head
Yes. The 502, 511, and 521 are all full or part circle. At the same time they made the models 302, 211, and 221 that were only full circle.
Is it fair to say the reason these didn’t progress much beyond the 50a or 60s was because the design would never work in a pop up rotor configuration?
That’s a good question. Could be. They were also expensive to make.
Likely not considered for a rotor, as Buckner already had a very proven rotor with the Cam Drive 1284 series that was out many years before the Rockers Jet; and very well proven for full circle turf use, part circle heads if needed could be riser mounted more easily and not affect turf too much.... also this head was designed to be used for quick coupler manual turf irrigation application as the systems were very economical compared to rotor installations..
These were produced all the way until 1980, although they're popularity fell off with quick coupler systems being converted to rotors and most new installations from the late 60's onward were mostly underground pop up rotors; and by this time Impact rotors were reliable and became the norm, even Buckner's own impact rotors competing against they're proven Cam drive heads.
The diameter of the housing would be very large and the bowl always tend to fill with water during operation and would interfere with the counterweight...... It is a cool concept and would be fun to see one!!