With the hard hose system, a hard polyethylene hose is wrapped on a reel mounted on a trailer. The trailer is anchored at the end or center of the field. The gun is connected to the end of the hose and is pulled to the end of the field. The gun is pulled across the field by the hose wrapping up on the reel. With the flexible hose system, the gun is mounted on a four-wheel cart.
Water is supplied to the gun by a flexible hose from the mainline.
A winch cable on the cart pulls the cart through the field. The cable is anchored at the end of the field. Most traveling big gun systems have their own power unit and cable winch mounted directly on the machine. The power unit may be an internal combustion engine or a water drive. Particularly adaptable to various crop heights, variable travel speeds, odd shaped fields, and rough terrain, the big gun requires a moderate initial investment, more labor and higher operating pressures than center pivots and linears.