Customer Reviews

Franklin Sports Field Master Pitching Machine

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I've owned a Franklin Fieldmaster for three years, and am pleased with it. The Fieldmaster uses 73mm hollow plastic balls and can deliver hundreds of pitches/throws an hour. We used it for batting and field practice since my arthritic body can't throw and hit to my son. We've also used it to throw batting practice to 9-10 year old players. I've run the machine off an extension cord to the house and off an inverter and car battery. You may also connect the machine directly to a 12V battery with an adapter available from Radio Shack.

The machine can deliver about 5-7 balls per minute. You can vary the speed by how much time you allow between balls, and it throw about 45mph. It throws faster than any 9-10 year old, and as fast as most 11-12 pitchers. You may adjust the machine's release angle down for grounders and up for fly balls.

You have to use the right hollow plastic dimpled balls. You can't use wiffle balls with the open holes, and you can't use foam center dimpled balls. I've bought the balls from Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Sports-1998-Dimple-Training/dp/B00099YLDY/ref=pd_sbs_sg_6

The only drawbacks are that the fly balls have an unreal backspin and that you can't use real baseballs. From my experience, this machine is great for training 7-10 year old players on hitting and fielding.

You will also want a backstop for hitting practice. See http://www.amazon.com/Rawlings-Multi-Sport-Training-Net-10/dp/B000WEKPIG or http://www.amazon.com/Trend-Sports-Home-Batting-Cage/dp/B0017TMHVI/ref=pd_sim_sg_3

easy to use ,a must have if like teaching your kids how to bat and for more batting time

Pitches about 40mph, but buy at least 40 balls or so. Good machine, takes a little patience to "get back up to speed" between pitches (about 10 sec usually), but allows for a great variety of balls/strikes around the strike zone. After you get used to it, gives the kids about 7 or 8 strikes out of 10 balls. Does not take any other kind of ball - no baseballs or whiffle balls. Don't let your kids try this as it will backfire the ball into their face (or worse - break the machine)......works very well with the franklin dimpled balls that can be ordered on the cheap by the dozen.

GREAT buy for the $$ - good practice machine for kids between 7-13. After that the balls will bee a bit slow as the pitchers have better arms in the older ages.

Amazon had what appeared to be the same item for $125 and $60 (both sold by Amazon), so I ordered the $60 figuring it was probably an overstock or refurbished item (since it had a much longer delivery time than the more expensive option). When I received it, the pitching machine did not work and there were no instructions included in the box. Turned out the power supply that came with it was broken/damaged and did not work. Since there were no instructions included, I tried looking on the Franklin website (which was pretty useless) so decided to just buy a new power supply. It was a very uncommon type and took a while to find a matching replacement (which cost $45.00) though the unit worked with a new power supply. I had always trusted the quality of purchases made directly from Amazon but in this case the overall "savings" was not worth my time, effort or aggravation. I doubt that I will be buying any "big ticket" items from Amazon again in the future though- Has anyone else out there had a similar experience?

I have not tried the machine yet, but Im upset with Franklin. The owners manual is writtin for kids. It has no specs on the motor. And it states the AC power adapter is safe for outdoor use, but when looking on the actual AC adapter itself it states its for indoor use ONLY.


I Need to get specs on the 12 volt motor, but it is not in the owners manual. Emailed Franklin, no response. Called customer service and they have no spec. They only have info from what OTHER customers have told them. The service rep states their engineer would call me, no call back.

Well bought the machine, but havent tried it yet, but i am already upset at Franklin. The instruction book is written for kids. It has no Specs on the motor. In the book it states the AC adapter is safe to use outdoors, but if u look on the AC adapter itself it states indoor use only.

Spec on the motor was very important to me. Its a 12 volt motor but comes with an AC adapter, They dont even sell the 12 volt adapter seperatly. I need the 12 volt adapter cable so I can hook it up to a battery and take it to the park.

So I E mail and call up Franklin to get the Specs ( No response). I call the service Rep and has no clue excpet its start up is 9 Amps ( and she learned that from prior owners giveing Franklin the information. They have no spec sheet there). So the service rep states she will have the engineer call me. No Call recieved. I need to know is it a 2.1mm or 2.5mm pin. Does the Motor have a fuse inside? Whats the amp hour rating? Whats the Reload time?

The only thing good about it was its cheap so I get what a I paid for, but I would expect better service from a big store. I will be testing it out soon and add more.