Best way to pick up ReBalls?

[cmoses]

I work at a small indoor field and am looking for some suggestions for a better way to pick up reballs after games. we do open play as well as birthday parties and quite often have to stop the games in order to refill our supply of balls. we currently use a 4 foot flat rake to sweep them all to one side and then pick them up. anyone know of something better?

[WickedKlown2]

22 Gallon wet/dry Shop Vac maybe ???

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...4116_200354116



WK2

[pbjunky99]

what about a blower? Use it to blow all the reballs into a corner.

[IrishRedneck86]

you could look at something like this its not cheap but maybe something to look into or maybe find something similar

http://www.commercialvacuum.com/Powr-Flite-Piranha-36-inch-Sweeper-PS900BC_p_165.html

[MANN]

The only reball field I have ever played on used pvc brooms (a large piece of pvc made in the shape of a C) that would sweep into a corner, and then use a shovel to fill a trash can with them.

[StygShore]

Ammo Up

http://www.ammoupusa.com/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=72

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik1hlKCselU

Styg

[cmoses]

thanks for the ideas guys. we have used a shop vac in the past, but it put a static charge on the balls which made the dirt the vacuum picked up stick to the balls. i might try the PVC broom idea and see how that works. i would love to get one of the Ammo Up collectors, but its going to be hard to convince the boss to buy one.

[Drix]

Don't by the ball picker- it's crap. Vaccum doesn't work well, you can tape up the spokes on some big plastic rakes, those work well, we've also had luck with plastic shovels.

[cmoses]

Thanks Drix, its could to hear other opinions on the ammo up. the video makes it look great, but its a big investment to take a chance on.

[StygShore]

Really? I have seen the ball picker in action and it seemed to work pretty good on real reballs, I don't know how it would work on Rufus or Zballs or any of the knockoffs though.


I don't think it worked quite as well as the video - and if you watch they are moving pretty slow to get everything picked up. If a ref did a walk through up and down the main lanes in between each game it seems like you would keep enough reballs turned over to keep playing without a long delay for clean up.

Seems like a power vac would get too much dirt and debris. What is your playing surface like?

Styg

[Spazmok]

I'm going to have to agree with Drix, the ammo up is trash. We got one for our guys to use and it works 'ok' but it sure isn't built to last. Not only that but it really has a very narrow sweep path making a full sweep take a very long time. It's ok if youre doing the back lines and corners on an airball field with it, but that's about all. 3 walled flat rake/squeegee seems to be the best option for removing paint/reballs from an indoor field. What I would suggest is a more scheduled field sweep. Say after 8-10 games, as soon as the players exit the field, send your ref's out to do a bulk sweep. Basically hitting the area's where balls pool the most; corners, the backlines and a long the perimeter. Not only does that ensure there is less to do at the end of the day, but also it certainly makes the field look nicer and is more enjoyable/safe to play on.

[factoid]

If it's at all possible I would dig or cut some kind of hole into the floor. Put a trap door over it and a bucket with a funnel attach underneath.

Then you can just sweep, rake or leaf-blower the balls into that corner and they'll just drop right into a five gallon bucket. Pull your bucket out and you're good to go.

Obviously this only works if you've got a surface you can dig or jackhammer into. If it's an outdoor field you could do this in an afternoon with 20 bucks worth of wood and a shovel. It might be possible indoors or on a concrete pad, but someone who knows what they're doing should be involved in the construction.

[StygShore]

that might be an interesting idea - have a rigid trough along the side of the field, rake/push the balls into the trough and then lift in the middle to redirect the reballs to a mesh bags on each side. Shake bag to remove dirt and small debris. Pour bag into whatever filling system you use.


Styg

[Drix]

Thanks Drix, its could to hear other opinions on the ammo up. the video makes it look great, but its a big investment to take a chance on.

I thought I'd support my argument a bit today.

That ball picker is about $800 for the big one. We find it's constantly breaking the green spoke things and frequently will break a black wedge that runs in between the green spokes- They're expensive to replace. $800 gets you a lot of good sized plastic shovels (the wide ones) that you can push the balls into a corner with, all you need to do is get a few pieces of plastic to block off the balls from rolling out the side. You can get 20+ perfetctly useful shovels for the price of 1 big ammo up and still have money to spare (and save from repair costs).

[cmoses]

our field is a concrete floor with astroturf covering. the trough or collection hole would be really convenient, but i cant see them busting a hole in the ground. I might just experiment with some stuff from the hardware store and see what i can do on the cheap. Thanks for all the suggestions.