There are other threads similar to this, or dealing with one of the machines but i just wanted to know if anyone could recommend one over the others , as i have no experience stringing. ive basically digested this entire forum and decided i should opt for either: Pro's pro challenger 1 or 2 http://www.watdon.com/wd_home.html or Pro's Pro Shuttle Express http://www.watdon.com/Manual.htm and if the difference in price is worth it , Pro's Pro pilot. http://www.watdon.com/Manual.htm the pilot has had good reviews , as has the shuttle express. i'd order from germany/austria as its much cheaper for me. id rather not spend a huge amount , but i dont mind paying a little bit if it means i can string better and safer. i would be stringing at tensions of mid 20s (24-26) and mainly for myself and a few others from the club if i need some pocket money ( so a very low workload ), thus speed isnt really a factor unless its VERY time consuming with one. Any advice would be appreciated and sorry for clogging up the forum with similar questions to others.
I would say Pro pilot 1 or 2 would be better because it is a drop weight system and you will not need to calibrate it plus because it is drop weight- you get constant pull. The other two are crank and thus will need calibrating and not constant pull. You will need to buy badminton clamps. With practice you can string a racket comfortably in just over an hour.
id say opposite, get a crank, faster and if youre stringing right the tension loss or creep is minimal and insignificant. pros pro pilot is the one id get if it were me. Reasons would be crank for speed and ease, as well as fixed clamps ad to ease for starting, doing the the 9-11 mains, the 1st and last cross which is also the tie off.
oh, the conflict does the shuttle express offer any competition? the absense of the fixed clamps is pretty important i imagine, added with the handles getting in the way of clamping close to the frame with flying ones. could you clamp them with flying ones from underneath perhaps? or is that stupid...
its not stupid, that machine is based on a very popular model that yonnex had. All 3 machines are great and will get the job done right. In the stringing sub forum there is a thread titled kilppermate 140 instructions or something like that. That will describe how to string without any fixed clamps, its a great thread. In the end its all preference about mounting system as well as tensioning system, but in general most people will agree its good to get a 6 point mount, from there you have to decide if you want the suspension mounting or uhh tie down* (not sure exact name) and then crank vs drop weight vs elec. Hope this helps, and lastly its best to get the best machine you can afford cause itll save lots of time and effort in the end.
you misunderstood i ment is it stupid to attempt to clamp from underneath with a fly to avoid the prodtruding part on top which would prevent the clamp being placed very close to the frame? thanks for the advice. i think it will be the challanger 1 as the pilot is pushing the budget that bit to far ( when you consider the extra clamps and strings etc) thanks for the advice guys.
o contraire, let me clarify, its not stupid to clamp from the bottom, in fact some people prefer clamping from the bottom. If i were stringing on that machine i would use fly clamps on the bottom for mains but top for crosses. Hope you enjoy your challenger.
i have an alpha tennis shuttle express, which is essentially the same machine, except the racquet mounting parts. i have owned 3 machines in the past, 1st one was an eagnas drop weight. i upgraded to st-200, and recently to the shuttle express. the crank models are much easier to work with than drop weight machines. as for constant pull vs no constant pull, i have not experienced too much differences. if you really worry about your tension, just get a fish scale from local sporting goods store and set to the tension you want (not from dial, but from scale reading). you should be good to go! for me, the stringing time is about 1 hour, 30 mins to lace up the strings and 30 mins to tension it. hope this is helpful.
