Kickers...which works best?

[Don49er]

Hello guys....I used to buy those yellow kickers from hy-line which worked great! But they are no longer in business..i have tried vantage red "fatboy" kickers and they are too soft--chew up very easy.I need some advice--which kickers do you all use?...any help would be greatly appreciated.Thanks...Don

[Terry Reichard]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

Personally, I like the grey AMF kicker rollers. They work the best for me. The pit area needs to be in good shape for any roller to be effective. If the vibration dampeners or pit support brackets are broken the pit will be to low and the rollers will not get the ball in the exit. Also all exit items must be centered. One other thing, some gusy use chain and lots of springs on the kicker belt which puts a lot of pressure on the kicker roller and the ball will not be able to lift the roller to get into the lift.

Terry

[8270king]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

None of them work....sorry!

Jerry

[8270 pinspotter]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

I agree with king that none of them work. I have PBL's now, but I had the best luck with the round murrey kickers. They're soft, but won't get chewed to pieces if you get a ball stuck.

[Ed Fox]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

I'll agree with you on the hy-line kickers. They were the best but no longer available. [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif[/img]
The next best would either be Murrey or the “V”. I am presently working on developing a new kicker (it mite be a while due to the lack of the length of each day) but when it's finished I think (or hope) it will kick A$$.

Charlie [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

[toon30s]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

We used to have kickers, but now have PBL's [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img] . I could hardly ever get the same kicker type to work on different pairs of lanes [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/mad.gif[/img] . The ones that I liked the best were the red-blasters from Vantage with 2 flat spots, but the cam-type had just been released and the 2 that we had worked very well. I belive that to make the kickers work well, the oil carry down must be watched; any oil means trouble! Has anyone ever tried diffrent sizes of drive pulleys to slow the kickers down or speed them up?
TOON 30S

[Ed Fox]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

Hi Toon, we sped our kickers up; driving them with a 5” congress drive pulley and a 3L belt.... they fly! Solved a lot of the problems but we cant use anything but full contact kickers or the belt will just come off.

Charlie [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

[John_Galt]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

With 10 different kicker rollers available from Vantage, I see it as your one-stop kicker shop.

Generally, I don't think there is a difinitive answer to "which is best."
Rather, it is, "which is best for this particular machine?"

What I especially like about all Vantage kickers is that they have the hex-shaped center piece, rather than round. Can be handy for getting pesky old ones off of shafts.

Have a pair of Murreys on my end pair that have been going strong for around a year. But some machines don't like the shape/size of either Murrey design, so you have to go with a different design from Vantage.

[toon30s]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

Charlie: I don't understand about the 5" pulley and the wider belt; I used to have a hard time keeping the thin belts on. Magic: I also agree about finding which kickers work on which machines (BOY DO I LIKE MY PBL'S :p !). One other thing to help with kickers is to slow down the paddle. I did this about a year before we took out the kickers and it helped a lot [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img] . The owner of Celucoat Bowling Supplies in St.Louis showed me a way to do this for cheap; take a drive pulley from a set of kickers and cut it down as to just the pulley. Then, cut the smaller pulley off of the rudder drive pulley casting on the belt tensioner, making it as narrow as possible. Then, cut a metal sleve that goes in the cushion shock in half. Drive it into the kicker drive pulley. This makes the inside diameter the same as the bolt that goes through the rudder drive pulley on the tensioner. Then bolt both pulleys together on the tensioner. PRESTO, a slower rudder drive by about half. You will probably need shorter belts for the tensioner.
TOON30S

[murreyinternat]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

As we have posted in the past,Murrey will sample a kicker roller free to any center in need and sincere about product performance evaluation. We only ask you post the results here.
Jim Galloway 1-800-421-1022

[Guest]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

The red devils seem to be the best, several centers I'm familiar with use them.

[GPS]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

I also use red devils

[BG]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

[ November 06, 2001: Message edited by: geminix ]

[Don49er]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

Wow thanks guys---i didnt expect such a overwelming response but its greatly appreciated!!!..thxsagain...Don

[Don49er]

Re: Kickers...which works best?

Well,I have tried a white kicker roller from Murrey International and i put it a problem lane for 2 weeks now...works good and no wear [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img] It is way better than the 2 kinds that Vantage offer.Still trying others out right now..til a decision can be made. ~Don~