Traveling Gun Sprinkler Guide: Costs, Sizing and Setup

A traveling gun sprinkler is the tractor-pulled water sprinkler many farmers mean when they search for a tractor sprinkler: a hose reel on a wheeled cart, a long polyethylene hose, and one large “gun” nozzle on a small cart that the reel winds back across the field. US farms ran big gun or traveler systems on 576,362 acres in 2023, according to the USDA 2023 Irrigation and Water Management Survey. This guide covers when a traveler fits, what one costs, how to size the hose and gun, and a calculator that turns your flow, lane spacing and speed into inches applied.

What a traveling gun sprinkler is and how it works

A hard hose traveler has four parts. The reel cart holds the hose and a small water turbine or engine that turns the drum. The hose, usually polyethylene, carries water from the hydrant to the field. The gun cart carries one large sprinkler that throws water in a wide part circle. A speed control on the reel sets how fast the gun is pulled back.

You park the reel at the headland, hitch the gun cart to a tractor and pull it out to the far end of the lane. The tractor is only needed for moving and pulling out. Once the water is on, the turbine winds the hose in and drags the gun cart slowly back toward the reel. When the cart arrives, a shut-off stops the water. You then move the reel to the next lane.

Two other machines are often sold as “tractor sprinklers”. A soft hose traveler drags its hose behind a cable-winch cart. A water bowser or tank sprayer on a trailer is used for dust control, livestock water and spot watering of trees, not for whole-field irrigation. This guide is about the hard hose reel type, because it is the one that waters crops at field scale.

Where travelers fit among sprinkler systems

Travelers are a small share of US sprinkler acres. Center pivots dominate. In the USDA survey, center pivots irrigated about 26 million acres in 2023, while side roll, wheel move and other mechanical move systems, solid set systems, linear moves, travelers and hand-move lines each covered well under 2 million acres. Travelers stay popular where fields are odd-shaped, small, hilly or rented, and where one machine has to water several blocks in turn.

The USDA 2023 Irrigation and Water Management Survey also shows where travelers are used. Among states, Michigan reported 62,141 traveler acres, Florida 30,379 and Georgia 27,654 in 2023. In humid regions like these, a traveler can be used to add water in dry spells rather than to supply the whole crop need.

Chart

US sprinkler acres by system type

Thousand acres irrigated in the open, 2023 (a field can count under more than one method)

Traveling gun sprinkler use in US farm data

Sprinkler irrigation in general is the main method in the US. The USGS estimate of water use in the United States in 2015 found that about 34.7 million acres, or 55% of irrigated land, were watered with sprinklers, against 23.3 million acres with surface (flood) irrigation and 5.49 million acres with microirrigation. The two surveys measure slightly different things (USGS counts all irrigated land; the USDA table counts acres per method, and one field can be counted under more than one method), so compare trends within one source.

Between the 2018 and 2023 USDA surveys, traveler acres fell slightly, from 596,059 to 576,362. Hand-move acres fell much more, from 394,194 to 215,342. Linear move acres rose from 469,408 to 826,368. The pattern suggests farms keep replacing hand labour with machines, and that travelers hold their place as the mobile option between hand-move lines and fixed pivots.

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Sprinkler acres by type, 2018 vs 2023

Thousand acres irrigated in the open, United States, selected non-pivot systems

When a hose reel traveler is the right choice

A traveler is a good fit when one or more of these is true:

• Odd or small fields. A pivot needs a roughly square or round area and leaves corners dry. A traveler can water a long strip or an irregular block.
• Several fields, one machine. You can tow the reel between farms, which suits rented ground and short-term crops.
• Supplemental water only. In humid regions you may need water a few times a season. A traveler costs less than a pivot for those few runs.
• Tall crops and pasture. The gun throws over tall maize, sugar cane or grass, and the cart rides in a lane.
• Liquid manure or wastewater. Many farms use a traveler to spread lagoon effluent; follow your nutrient plan and local rules for that use.

A traveler is a poor fit in some cases too. It needs high pressure, so the pumping energy per acre-inch is higher than for a low-pressure pivot. Wind distorts the wetted pattern of one big nozzle. Large drops can damage soft crops. The FAO training manual on sprinkler irrigation says large sprinklers are not recommended for delicate crops such as lettuce, because the large drops can damage them, and that sprinklers should not be used on soils that crust easily unless only fine sprays are used.

▶ Seven green farming technologies ranked, several of them about using less irrigation water. · 2:24

What a traveling gun sprinkler costs

Dealer prices for travelers vary with hose diameter, hose length, gun size and extras such as a solar speed computer or a remote shut-off. One public reference is the NRCS cost list used to set conservation payments. The Pennsylvania NRCS published cost list for FY 2026 EQIP and CSP lists a traveling gun system at $11,449 for a hose under 2 inches, $20,298 for a 2 to 3 inch hose and $36,732 for a hose over 3 inches (per unit). Higher rates apply for historically underserved producers ($13,739, $24,357 and $44,079). These are NRCS scenario costs for payment purposes in one state, not dealer list prices or auction results, so ask two or three dealers for quotes in your area.

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NRCS cost figure per traveling gun system

US dollars per unit by hose diameter, standard payment scenario, Pennsylvania, FY 2026

Cost-share can cut the price. The farmdoc daily review of irrigation practice standards reports that sprinkler systems (practice 442) took 27.5% of EQIP financial assistance for irrigation practices from FY2014 to FY2023, the largest share of any irrigation practice. EQIP rules, payment rates and ranking differ by state and year, so check with your local NRCS office before you buy.

The purchase price is only part of the cost. Plan for the pump or a booster pump, mainline and hydrants, the tractor hours to move the reel, hose wear, and the energy to run at gun pressure. A Texas AgriLife study of five irrigation systems, Texas A&M bulletin B-6113, found application efficiencies from 60 to 97 percent, and the systems with the highest efficiency tended to have the lowest pumping costs.

How to size the hose, gun and lane spacing

Sizing starts with the water you need and the time you have. Work through these steps with your dealer or an irrigation designer:

1. Peak crop need. Find the peak daily water use for your crop and region from your extension service.
2. System capacity. Turn that into a flow rate per acre. The University of Nebraska guide to minimum center pivot design capacities explains capacity in gallons per minute per acre, adjusted for downtime and efficiency; the same logic works for a traveler.
3. Gun and nozzle. Pick a nozzle and pressure that give your target flow. A bigger nozzle throws further but needs more pressure.
4. Lane spacing. Space lanes so that wetted patterns overlap. Dealers and gun makers publish spacing as a share of the wetted diameter, with closer spacing for windy sites.
5. Hose diameter and length. Larger hose means less friction loss and more flow, but a heavier, dearer reel. Length sets how long a run is.
6. Travel speed. Speed sets depth. Slower travel puts on more water per pass.

Match the application rate to your soil. The FAO manual says the average application rate should stay below the basic infiltration rate of the soil, so water soaks in instead of ponding and running off. Sandy soils take water fast; heavy clay soils need lighter, slower passes or a smaller nozzle.

Water quality and the gun nozzle

A gun nozzle is large, so it clogs less often than small heads, but sand and weed seeds still wear parts and block screens. The FAO manual asks for clean water, free of suspended sediment, to avoid nozzle blockage and a coating of sediment on the crop. Salty water is a second risk. FAO guidance on water quality for agriculture notes that sodium and chloride can be absorbed through leaves wetted by overhead sprinklers, and that leaf burn happens more often with rotating sprinkler heads. Test your water before you water sensitive crops overhead, and get advice from your local extension service if levels are high.

Traveler depth and run-time calculator

The depth a traveler applies depends on three numbers: flow from the gun, lane spacing and travel speed. The formula is a unit conversion: one US gallon is about 0.1337 cubic feet, so gross depth in inches equals 1.604 times flow (gpm) divided by lane spacing (feet) times speed (feet per minute). Net depth reaching the root zone is lower, because some water is lost to wind drift, evaporation and runoff. The FAO table of indicative field application efficiency gives 75% for sprinkler irrigation as a planning value; your own figure may be higher or lower.

Use the calculator below with your own numbers. The default values are examples only, chosen to give a middle-of-the-range pass, not a recommendation.

Try the numbers for your own farm below.

Farm hose sprinklers for small plots

A farm hose sprinkler is a small impact or rotary sprinkler on a sled, spike or tripod, fed by a garden-type or layflat hose. It is the step down from a traveler. Market gardens, nurseries, small orchards and paddocks use them where the area is too small for a reel or where water supply is low.

• Impact sprinklers on tripods throw a long part circle and suit pasture and tall crops.
• Sled or spike rotary sprinklers are easy to move by hand and suit vegetable beds.
• Small hose reel carts pull a sprinkler back on a narrow hose and work like a mini traveler.
• Timers at the tap let you water at night or early morning, when less water is lost to wind and evaporation.

Hose sprinklers move one zone at a time, so labour is the main cost. For beds that need water every few days, drip lines may give better control. The FAO table of indicative efficiency gives 90% for drip and 75% for sprinklers, so drip puts more of the pumped water at the root zone on paper, but it costs more to install and needs filtering. For a look at automatic timers and valves, see our page on the advantages of a smart irrigation system.

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Indicative field application efficiency

Percent of applied water stored in the root zone, planning values by method

Traveler, pivot, solid set and hose sprinkler compared

The table sets out how the main options differ. Costs are not listed for every row because published, comparable prices do not exist; check the NRCS cost list for your state and ask dealers.

How we checked the numbers

We used public data only. Acres by system come from the USDA 2023 Irrigation and Water Management Survey, Table 33, which compares 2023 with 2018. National sprinkler share comes from the USGS 2015 water use report. Costs come from the Pennsylvania NRCS FY 2026 cost list, which is a payment schedule, not a price survey. Efficiency planning values come from the FAO. We did not test or rank brands, because no independent public test of traveler brands exists that we could cite. The earlier version of this page listed brand names, prices and coverage figures we could not verify, so we removed them.

Setting up and running a traveler, step by step

1. Check the field. Mark lanes, hydrants, power lines and wet spots. Keep the gun well clear of overhead lines and roads.
2. Place the reel. Park it square to the lane, level, with the chocks and stabiliser legs down.
3. Pull out the hose. Hitch the gun cart to the tractor and pull it straight along the lane at a slow speed. Do not kink the hose at the turn.
4. Set the gun. Set the arc so the gun does not throw water back onto the hose lane or onto roads, and set the trajectory for wind.
5. Set speed and start. Use the calculator to pick a speed for your target depth, open the hydrant slowly and check pressure at the gun.
6. Watch the first pass. Look for ponding, runoff and dry strips between lanes, then adjust speed or spacing.
7. Move and record. When the shut-off stops the water, move to the next lane and write down the depth and date.

Safety matters with high-pressure water. Keep people and animals out of the jet, keep the gun away from power lines and follow the maker’s manual and local rules.

Scheduling: how much water and when

A traveler is only as good as the schedule behind it. Most growers use a soil water balance, soil moisture sensors, or both. Research on pivots shows why careful scheduling matters. In a Nebraska study of variable rate irrigation in maize and soybean, model-based variable rate irrigation prescribed 265 mm in 2018 compared with 282 mm for uniform full irrigation, with no significant difference in yield. That study was on a pivot and covered two seasons at one site, but the lesson carries over: apply water where and when the crop needs it.

Satellite crop maps can help you decide which block to water first. The Farmonaut Satellite + AI Farm Monitoring System shows vegetation and moisture-related index maps for each field you draw, so you can see which parts of a farm are drying or falling behind and then check them on the ground. Satellite maps show crop change, not the cause, so a soil probe or a walk is still needed.

▶ Six steps to precision farming, including field maps and satellite checks that help time irrigation. · 4:18

Maintenance checklist for hose reel travelers

• Before the season: grease the drum bearings and gun swivel, check tyres, test the shut-off and the speed control.
• Hose: look for cuts, flat spots and wear near the reel end. Store the hose wound and out of strong sun when you can.
• Turbine or engine: clear debris from the turbine, check belts and the gearbox oil.
• Gun: check the nozzle for wear, because a worn nozzle passes more water at lower pressure and changes the pattern.
• After the season: drain the hose and turbine before frost, and note repairs for the winter.

Related pages on our site: large farm management app, product traceability, carbon footprinting, crop loan and insurance tools, satellite and weather API docs, farm management software compared and the Farmonaut app.

FAQ

What is a tractor water sprinkler?

On farms it usually means a hose reel traveler: a reel cart that a tractor moves and a gun cart that the tractor pulls out along a lane. The reel then winds the gun back while it waters. A trailer tank with a spray bar is a different machine, used for dust control or spot watering.

How many acres can one traveler water?

It depends on hose length, lane spacing, flow and how often the crop needs water. One run covers lane spacing times hose length; the calculator shows the area per run and the hours it takes. Multiply runs per day by the days between irrigations to get the area one machine can cover.

How much does a traveling gun irrigator cost?

The Pennsylvania NRCS FY 2026 cost list uses $11,449 for a unit with a hose under 2 inches, $20,298 for 2 to 3 inches and $36,732 for over 3 inches. These are payment scenario costs, not dealer prices. Ask local dealers for quotes and check EQIP cost-share with your NRCS office.

Is a traveler less efficient than a center pivot?

Often yes, because it runs at higher pressure and one large nozzle is more affected by wind. The FAO gives 75% as an indicative field application efficiency for sprinklers in general; a well-managed traveler on a calm day may do better, and a poorly set one in wind will do worse.

Can I spread manure with a hose reel?

Many farms spread diluted lagoon effluent with travelers fitted with suitable guns. Rules on timing, rates, setbacks and odour vary by state and country, so follow your nutrient management plan and local rules, and get professional advice before you start.