Customer Reviews

Melnor 280 Oscillating Sprinkler

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The problem I've had with lawn sprinklers of any price is that they don't work very well, and then they break. True to form, this Melnor from the start oscillated unevenly, rotating much more drastically to the left than to the right, necessitating multiple trips out into the drenched and swampy lawn to try to fine-tune the placement. Eventually, if this one behaves like its predecessors, it'll stop oscillating entirely and water fixedly to the left only. The reason I like this sprinkler a little more than the others is simply that I paid a lot less for it, so when I finally lose what's left of my patience and rip it to pieces it won't bother me so much (though I will of course bemoan the needless waste of our precious natural resources). Gilmours are even worse than Melnors, if that helps.

Price was right, and it started out okay. After 2-3 uses though, I noticed the oscillator left large puddles on either end of its reach along with where it sat on the lawn. Everything in between was slightly wet. After 6 uses, I accidentally dropped it from waist level on the lawn and the connector nozzle(made of plastic) broke off making it useless. If the nozzle had not broken off, I would have given it 2 stars. It wasn't worth the money for less than a week's use. I don't recommend this one to anyone. I'd look for something without a plastic nozzle.

I liked this sprinkler at first. As another reviewer said, the dial to control how far this sprinkler sprays in either direction actually works rather well.

Unfortunately, it didn't hold up well at all. After about 10 uses, one of he nozzles only sprayed about half as high as the others, which meant that the evenness of the water distribution was diminished. Over the next month, another nozzle would suffer this same problem each week, so that now the sprinkler is only about half functional.

I'm guessing that the nozzles are getting clogged. It wouldn't cost very much for the manufacturer to include a metal screen to minimize this issue.

I was rolling my hose up and forgot to disconnect the sprinkler first. Just dragging it across the yard was enough to snap off the plastic part that connects the black hose connector to the body of the unit.

This is unfortunate, as otherwise it seemed to work well. The knob to control how far the sprinkler would go in each direction worked well and was convenient.

Decent sprinkler, at least for smaller areas. However, I found a much better price for the same style sprinkler at Lowes. I was only able to use it for less than 2 months, so I can't report on its reliability.