Orbit Mechanical Water Timer (62034) Review

Our Verdict

Deep and infrequent watering fails in practice for a boring reason: you set the sprinkler, go inside, and either forget it for three hours or come back too early. This solves exactly that and nothing else. Wind the dial to the run time your catch-can test says puts down an inch, and it shuts the water off mechanically when the time is up. Battery-free is the feature worth paying attention to — the digital timers in this price range fail when a battery dies in a hose box in July, usually while nobody is watching, and the failure mode is either no water for a week or water running all night. A clockwork mechanism cannot do that. It has no programming, no rain delay and no schedule, so if you want unattended watering on a calendar this is the wrong product. If you want your own watering session to end on time, it is very hard to beat for nine dollars.