ball wheel kickers

[Carman]

looking for a good traction material to use on the ball wheels for kickers.any suggestions would be great.

[Popeye]

First of all please note that I have slowed my ball wheels down. EBN sells a self adhesive cork made especially for ball wheels. The front edge tends to get torn up a bit so I cut a piece of Techline's urethane ball wheel liner and put this at the leading edge of the cork to take the first force of the ball. I cut two pieces of cork 3 feet long each and space them evenly apart on the ball wheel. Then I cut two pieces of the urethane and put one at the leading edge of each cork. So you end up with two strips of 4 feet each.

[mr.badwrench]

I buy Fel Pro 3007 gasket material from an auto parts store, cut into strips, glue on with contact cement.

[2000FPSMIN]

I use 3.0mm cork from Grainger (4NMG2). Back it with 1 3/8 inch double sided carpet tape (Shurtape) from Lowe's. 2 foot strips, 2 per wheel, 15 inches apart.

[Marty Murphy]

Use EBN's or SBI cork material - (2) 24 inches pieces spaced 24 inches apart from each other - with a 2 inch piece of the urethane/rubber Brunswick stuff at the leading edge of both to help them last longer.

Marty - Pro Bowl West

[SoCalTom]

I have had great results with a rubberized cork gasket material found at most auto parts stores. It's a lot less expensive than the custom made stuff and works just as good. I use a strip 12 to 14 inches in length and three or four per ball wheel.

But, before applying the kickers, I made sure that the ball wheels were centered on the lower rollers, and the lift rods were centered on the ball wheel. And all adjustments were spot on. As a last resort, the kickers were added. From the instant the ball hit the cushion to the time it entered the accelerator was less than three seconds. If it was longer, I had a problem.

[wepauls]

I MAY BE OFF BASE HEAR HOW MANY PINS ARE YOU RUINING

IF 19 OR 20 MACHINES HAS TO WAT TO LOAD TURRET AND DECKS

IF YOU RUN 21 PINS MACHINES HAVE NO WAITING TIME

AS FAR AS KICKERS GO I RUN ONLY 2 [ 1 ] 18" AND [ 1 ] 36" ON 1/2 OF THE BALL WHEEL

MADE FROM CARPETS OFF OLD PIT BORDS

MY MACHINES DID RUN AT A2 SPEED

VERY VERY FEW PINS ON THE FOOR OR ON THE TRACKS

[jhova]

part # v 100 ss24 changed over to this material last summer ....we now have 10% of the calls we had last year .....ive used old carpet and cork tried many different store bought things this material requires no contact cement just peel and stick and it does not come off unless you scrap it off..it dosent wear as fast as cork and since there isnt glue involved when you do go to replace a worn piece there is no scraping of glue residue involved ....i would check this stuff out highly recomended

[Popeye]

Is this a vantage part?

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

12-8624 from EBN Services. Great product. Proven high quality and made in the USA.

[nighthawk]

Make sure the liftrods are adjusted properly,too far forward(twords the cushion)and you can have issues along with making sure the b/w's are NOT loose and wobbly.
CLEAN the ball wheels and i mean...clean.I showed a few chasers where i was helping out how i do it and it did end a huge majority of ball calls. I simply used a lane cleaner mix,sprayed onto the b/w's,wiped it off as the wheel turned then used it again to dry it off with a bit of pressure and you should have seen the GUNK come off. All they did(do)is lightly spray it on the b/w's and wipe it off a bit,well that will never get the crud off but lazy get's ya lazy as i told them.They would only clean them off a bit if they felt like it.Playing on cell phones was more entertaining.
SBI b/w liners are gr8.

[Wookie8662]

9454K61 from McMaster-Carr
Self adhesive 1/8" thick rubberized cork, 50' long.

[Popeye]

I used to buy this stuff from McMaster Carr. Until they changed it. Used to last a while now it doesn't stick as well and gets gooey and slides off. The problem with buying from these sources is that them are not specific for our industry. As long as it works for industry, that is for a gasket material, they don't care if they they change the product. I would rather deal with companys like EBN and the like, who deal with the bowling industry, and insure it will work for our purpose. JMHO

[jmac33]

suprised noones mentioned the black rubber 3M Bump-on,used that for years.IMO better than anything else on the market.

[PJ]

Used to use the black rubber liner by Tech-Line but changed to the cork (1/3 the price).