Back during the winter, I had that sewer line replaced, with much excavation of the front yard.
In the process, the workers dug up the sprinkler nearest the front porch (where they started digging); they re-installed it all nice and neat before they left.
Comes the hot & dry season, it's time to turn the front-yard section of the watering system back on. Test run first: energize valve, hear water running, go out front to have a look: Hm.
The last two sprinklers in the chain aren't working at all. The antepenultimate one is very weak. The pipe between "weak" and "nothing" runs along the inside edge of the front fence, a few inches below the surface. Got broken during the sewer proceedings, maybe?
So I get out the narrow spade. Then the pickaxe. Ferschlugginer nasty dry hard heavy clay landfill with tree roots in!
Run some water on it, turning it into ferschlugginer nasty sticky heavy clay landfill with tree roots in.
The recently-disturbed area (where one might expect a break to be) is easier to dig. I'm not finding the pipe. C'mon, it can't be that far down! I'm lazy; I would have buried it maybe 4" to 6" below the surface (which is good enough, here).
Finally, at the far downstream edge of the disturbed area: the severed end of a PVC pipe! Buried about 4" down.
Looks like there's about a 4-foot segment of pipe missing. I haven't managed to excavate the other end yet (nasty soil and roots, awkward angle, and muscles that haven't been getting enough use lately). I gave that area another soaking, and will dig some more later. Also, somewhere along the line, turning the system on and seeing where water comes out may be helpful. Probably during the heat of the day, when I won't mind so much standing in the spray pattern of the sprinklers that are still working.
Update: A bit more digging, a bit more hydraulic mining, and now I'm hot and tired but both ends are now exposed. The downstream end looks fairly tidy, but is resting on a bunch of roots; the upstream end is jagged. Repair promises to be fun, for sufficiently not-fun-at-all values of fun.
Might want some implement for cutting PWC pipe at the bottom of a trench. What's a sozzle cost, anyway? OK, so a genuine sozzle-brand sozzle is a bit pricey for current requirements (and I don't really know what post-reboot requirements will be), but there are some not-too-pricey, brand-nameish corded reciprocating saws that look plausible. Hm. Or maybe I do want something a notch better, since I'm already thinking of home & garden tasks that call for more than a handsaw and less than a chainsaw.
Stuff to ponder. Meanwhile, I guess I'd better disable the front sprinklers again, what with the broken end of the pipe no longer being obstructed by clay.
Update 2: Arriving Tuesday (darn holiday weekend): one entry-level Porter-Cable brand sozzle what gets good reviews on Amazon, one blade assortment, and one package of tree-pruning blades, which I figure will be appropriate for use on the dead branches of the avocado tree, while up a ladder. (There's one big dead branch that really does call for a chainsaw, but that one is accessible from ground level.)
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