Baseball players from the high school ranks on up to the pros use pitching machines for batting practice. Batting cages are also available at many recreational facilities throughout the United States.
Here, players from the ages of 5 years old and up can make use of the pitching machines. After a batter deposits a coin or token, the machine will toss a pitch about every 10 seconds. These cages are designated with speeds equipped for everyone from slow, medium, fast, to major league--where the pitching machine delivers a ball at roughly 90 miles per hour 40 meters per second. In live batting practice, a pitcher or coach will throw baseballs to hitters who swing their bats at the thrown balls.
It also throws softballs, a sport with more adult participants than baseball. It comes from 24 inches above ground instead of 48 inches. We actually thought of the release point with baseball also. We have a machine called the "Big Unit" that releases from seven feet.
Think about how high the arm of a pitcher is when they release. Hart used his experience to recognize another barrier, recalling his college days when they wouldn't even bother pulling the pitching machine out because it weighed so much. The company replaced the pneumatic wheels with "solid" wheels, allowing one regular-sized adult to have a chance to feel comfortable carrying it. Left: The shaft hole gold ring is too large for the smaller motor shaft.
A piece of automotive heater hose inner black ring was used to make a tight fit. The excess heater hose was then cut off flush, using a razor blade. Right: A pulley is mounted on the shaft to keep the wheel from flying off during operation. The pulley is attached by tightening the set screw against the flat side of the motor shaft, using an Allen wrench. A look at the motor name plate click on photo to enlarge will tell you everything you need to know a about the motor, including speed of rotation Revolutions per Minute or RPM and rotation direction clock wise or counter clock wise.
Many motors such as this one, are happy to run in either direction, determined by the wire connections which you can set yourself. The big, long bulge above the name plate stores the starting capacitor. This is required due to the heavy starting current of this type of motor. Motor Speed RPM is how fast the motor's shaft rotates.
Motor Power Horse Power or HP indicates how much load the motor can handle before it stalls or overheats. Sometimes you WANT the motor to stall for safety reasons. For instance, if a body part gets wrapped around the motor axel, or a cat jumps into the ball feed area.
Especially critical when using larger HP motors, you should use some sort of automated clutch - a device that disengages a motor from it's shaft. Have a lovely assistant help hold the motors steady during this step. If using inflatable tires, inflate them to correct pressure. Du e to the weight of the wheels, the assemblies are prone to do a back flip onto the floor, which would likely cause expensive motor damage bent shaft.
This allows a margin of clearance if the wheels have some unbalance or wobble. Stand the complete assembly up on the bottom edge of the board and place this edge into the vise of the Black and Decker Workmate. Tighted both handles evenly and firmly. The baseball will likely be thrown only a few feet. Remove power to both motors. Note if the motors are set too close together, it will cause more wear and vibration on the motors.
You can tighten all the bolts up with a wrench now. Lockwashers are recommended to keep motors from working loose over time, it also eases assembly. This device has a belt clip on the back.
So that it can easily be removed from the pitching machine when needed for use it's original purpose, I mounted a metal strap to the base of the pitching machine as shown here. Keep these cords only the minimum length as required. Use a half-round file to smooth any sharp edges where the wires pass through. Manage E-Mail Preferences Choose which e-mails you wish to receive. Convenience Shop from home at any time of the day.
Wheel Design Wheel design pitching machines use either one, two, or three spinning wheels to propel the ball. Arm Action Arm action pitching machines from Master Pitch use a rotating, steel arm to hurl the ball.
However, arm action pitching machines only throw fastballs. Iron Mike Arm Throwing Machines. Compare Pitching Machines.
Jugs Wheel Machines. We hope this pitching machine review was useful! Next Post ».
0コメント