Tony,
I realize that jumping into this is not as simple as writing a check and away you go, so irking you was definitely
not my intent.
There's a good supplier in my area that I already rely on for other tools and materials, and I know they offer classes and seminars. I plan to utilize them when the timing is right.
That being said, I've seen a few of the irrigation contractors in my market - the one I've seen most often has a minivan with paint peeling, no signage. Other employees show up to the site in their own cars (which would be fine if they weren't junkers). So the level of professionalism isn't quite there yet around here.
I like the idea of filling an unmet need. So far the need isn't quite big enough around here to warrant sinking $50K into tools and eqpt to do irrigation, but that day is coming. When it does, I like to have a handle on how much I'd need to spend (on eqpt or personnel) to get going.
I can understand where you're coming from - I get frustrated when someone asks - "how do you price pavers" - I have a busy schedule, so sitting down to write the 10-15 pages I'd have to in order to fully explain paver pricing is much more than I'd like to do. You've been helpful already, and I'll just keep an eye on this forum to gather whatever info I can.
Thanks for your help,
Jeff