Trend Sports Heater Baseball Pitching Machine with 12 Ball Autofeeder

by Trend Sports

Product Features

• 10 Speed Variable Speed control
• Pitches Regulation Leather Real Baseballs or Baseball Sized Dimpled Machine Balls
• Automatic 12 Ball Feeder
• Adjustable Height Perfect for flies and grounders practice
• 110v Household Current or 350-400Watt Generator 1 Year Warranty

Product Description

The Heater Baseball Pitching Machine w/ Free AutoFeeder is a heavy duty baseball pitching machine that pitches regulation real baseballs or baseball size (9") dimpled pitching machine balls. Featuring a strong steel housing and adjustable pitch height, the Heater Baseball Pitching Machine delivers real ball speed and accuracy with every pitch. A 10 speed variable dial allows you to adjust speeds from 15-50mph, based upon the standard Little League depth of 45' from the batter. The effective speed of the pitch can be increased by simply moving the machine closer to the batter, figuring 1.5mph faster for every foot closer to the batter(e.g. If the machine is placed 40' from the batter, the effective top end speed will be about 58mph). Additionally, you receive a FREE AutoFeeder ($149 Value) with your Heater Baseball Pitching Machine. The AutoFeeder holds 12 real baseballs or 12 baseball sized pitching machine balls, delivering a pitch every 12 seconds.

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 130 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B0013CQBVG
• Item model number: HTR6000BBC
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,535 in Sports & Outdoors (See Top 100 in Sports & Outdoors)
  • #56 in Sports & Outdoors > Team Sports > Baseball > Training Equipment > Pitching Machines

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lightweight, accurate and fun, June 21, 2005

By 

T. Cayton "photographer" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

We bought the heater combo and couldn't be happier. It throws very accurate at various speeds. My 5 year daughter likes to swing using the lowest settings, and my 12 year old daughter uses it to practice swinging at 40 to 50mph 12 inch softballs. It is great for adults as well. Get the ball feeder, but make sure you purchase the correct size dimple balls. Some oversized 12inch balls sold on ebay will not work. Go with brand name dimple balls and you won't be disappointed.

One of the screws did not initially tighten easily on one of the legs (same issue as described by another rater), but I did not find this to be a big issue. We use the heater almost every day and the legs go in and out easily.

I did purchase a 2300W pramac honda generator to run the heater pitching machine, and have no issues with power shutdown issues. I am told it will run on much less wattage.

Update: The promac is loud, so I have since purchased a 700W power inverter, a spare car battery and a car battery charger. It is a nice, quiet and cheap alternative to purchasing a generator - spend less than $100 for the battery, inverter and charger combined.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, March 13, 2011

By 

Mike - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trend Sports Heater Baseball Pitching Machine with 12 Ball Autofeeder (Misc.)

Great little machine for $400.... I bought 12 heater dimple balls with it and they work well. I later bought 2 doz leather balls which travel approx 10 mph faster, although less consistent placement.... actually more realistic. Used it last year for our Little League majors team and starting up again this year. It also throws the jugs lite-flite indoor balls very well, I have 2 doz of those. Eventually the leather balls will start to split seams, but the more balls you rotate through, the longer they will last. DO NOT use cheap synthetic balls, they tear apart, fly slower, and less consistently, and each time they are put thru the machine, some of the ball will melt onto the tire. Next thing you know, the tire will be covered with slick plastic and it won't throw anything right. Keep in mind - for most consistent flight, put the balls in the same way each time, 2 seam, 4 seam or mix it up for realism. I always hand feed the balls for the kids.

Occasionally clean the unit and condition the tire by using 100 grit sandpaper. turn the machine on low and allow the sandpaper to clean debris and crud off the tire.... I take the side panel off of the machine... At your own peril.. it's not my fault if you lodge your fingers in the machine. Also, slightly adjust the nuts with the rubber bushings, you may get a buzzing vibration - this will fix it... not too tight or you will have trouble adjusting the machine.

Keep tire pressure at 30-32 psi as the decal on the machine says. I forgot once and the tube slipped inside the tire, pulling the air valve inside the wheel throwing everything out of balance causing a bad vibration.

For onfield power, I first used a heavy duty deep cycle battery and 750 watt inverter - overkill and heavy... Later I built a compartmented plywood box with carry handle to contain the legs, 100 foot extension cord, much smaller 12 volt 18 AH battery and smaller inverter. It's a really trick setup and good for about an hour of constant runtime at level "8" throwing balls.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Spent a fortune on balls and broke after 5 days of use, February 23, 2011

By 

Robert Swindell "digital man" (CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trend Sports Heater Baseball Pitching Machine with 12 Ball Autofeeder (Misc.)

We puchased the 12" softball model (HTR6000SBC). The machine only comes with a single ball. You cannot use commonly available (synthetic) softballs, so we spent a fortune on 2 dozen of the proprietary Heater-brand yellow dimpled balls for it (we could not find them locally anywhere in California, so we had to have them shipped). After about 5 days of limited use (maybe an hour total running time), the wheel began to make a strange sound and spin slower than normal and after feeding in one more ball, stopped working entirely (no, the internal fuse did not pop). Yes, I had the tire inflated to the correct pressure. I suspect the wheel was not correctly balanced.

While it worked, it was a decent machine ([...]) and fairly accurate so long as we did not attach the 9-ball hopper. With the hopper attached, the extra weight would cause the machine to continually slip and aim higher and higher. The hand-tightened knob required cranking with a wrench to miminize the slippage, but then you must use the wrench to loosen for different angles (distances/speeds) which is a pain. I decided the hopper was more of a hassle than it was worth and just had a coach/parent feed balls one at a time for the hitter.

I've called the 800 number to report the failure and am waiting for a call back. I will update this review with the detailed result of the repair/replacement/refund - hopefully soon.

Update: The next day, the manufacturer called me back and offered to send out a new speed controller circuit board. I received the replacement circuit board in 2 days and replaced it (inside the main housing), but that did not fix the machine. I was then instructed to return it to the retailer (Dick's) and since they had one other in stock (their display), they agreed to swap it out for me. The next machine is working better and seems to throw harder than the first (which I suspect was not balanced correctly). Keeping the housing tight (pitches on target) is still a challenge as the tightening knob doesn't tighten very well and the housing wants to kick up after a few pitches, this is without the heavy ball feeder attached which just makes the problem worse.