Ultimate Field Support

[zak99b5]

Hoping to improve the ultimate field a little. We had hot spots along by the 40s especially on the motor side. Plus there was a little sag in the middle. 
 

The old fiberboard 600 field is the smoothest running board I have. I wanted to get that performance on the biggun. The 600 has a support with a felt pad going across midfield underneath. 
 

So I got to planning, and decided I wanted six support spots, one at each third of the field across and each quarter lengthwise. 
 

Ran to Lowe’s for some 1x2 wood, allthread, nuts, washers, and screw-in chair levelers. 
 

I made the two end boards 2’ long so I wouldn’t have to worry about centering it side-to-side. The middle I made 1’ long so it would be well short of the motor, whichever way I put the board on top. 
 

I put 1/8” felt stick-on feet on both the undersides of the wood pieces and the tops of the levelers. This way the support won’t kill the vibration. 
 

Screwed up the levelers to just take the sag out. Going to play on it tonight with some buddies. I’ll report back in the morning. 

[nefgm.org]

Nice solution!! hope it works out good. 

[zak99b5]

A few quick trial runs seem to show that the board is a little tamer. But still more bouciness than I’d like. I may need to adjust the pads a touch. Player slowed down a little at the 20s and midfield, but that is to be expected. Always a trade off. 

[zak99b5]

Well, the board did run better with the supports. Less jumpy. And (as mentioned in another post) the longer measuring passing stick paired with the normal placement sticks worked out as well. 

[zak99b5]

I think the ultimate field is pretty d@mn good out of the box, and the dip in the middle is slight.  It's not like I am fixing an issue--more like making an incremental improvement.

A guy I know had the plastic (Speed Turf?) 620-sized board.  I thought that one was disappointing.  I haven't seen a metal one in that size of the new style, so I can't compare anything to that.  But my Miggle Super Bowl field was pretty terrible.  The sheet metal was so thin just setting up players made everything move on it.  (Also, the 'speckle' grass pattern is way too busy.)  The ultimate field is far superior to the Miggle, so if the 9092 is made in the same way as the ultimate, I imagine it too is a nice field for playing.  Not perfect, of course.

[RickLM30]

I agree with zak99b5.  I have a Miggle board and was really disappointed with it for the reasons he noted.  Also have a plastic 620 board and didn't like it either. My old 620 metal boards are head and shoulders over those.  However, my ultimate field is way better than the Miggle or plastic boards, and I like it better than my old 620 boards as well. Nothing is perfect as zak says, but the ultimate field is really good in my experience, especially with a Packer field cover! 😊

[RickLM30]

7 hours ago, Electric Football Hero said:

We'll just have to agree to disagree. If I'm paying $300 for a board game, I expect to not have to deal with the same frustrating issues as an $85 model. And I certainly expect to not have to sink more parts, labor and money into trying to fix it.

I certainly can't argue with your statement.  You are right, you would think for that much money the board would be just about perfect. All I'm saying is, I can't say my ultimate board is perfect, but it is head and shoulders better than my other boards. I don't really notice any sag in the middle (but it could just be my old eyes 😊). I'm using two motors which seem to work pretty well - a couple of small, slightly faster spots near the motors, but overall pretty uniform speed across the board.  I don't see a need to do any tweaking to my board, but that doesn't mean others won't.

[zak99b5]

I'm not arguing, either.

I was going to build a 2'x4' field, but when I was doing the pricing, I was really close to the $300 of the Ultimate, so I just went with that.

Am I happy with it out of the box for the price?  Yes.  It met my expectations, and playing on the big field is fantastic.  I could never go back to a 500-sized game, and I'll only use my mid-size (Sears Super Bowl 635) field for testing bases.

Could it be better?  Of course, but can't every product?

Everything about it is good or great as is--there's nothing "wrong" with it.  And I enjoy making mods to things I have, so I don't feel like I "sunk" money and labor into the support, nor would I call what I did "fixing," as it wasn't broken.

[RickLM30]

I have to agree with zak99b5.  The ultimate board met my expectations and the big field is great!  It is closer to scale and I really like the extra width.  It opens up holes in zone defenses for curls, and slants, and allows more room for running outs and flags, etc.  I wish I had waited to buy it until the team covers were included, but I remedied that by buying a Packer field cover, which actually improved performance somewhat (smoother vibration) and looks (How could it not look better with a Packer field? 😊)!

[zak99b5]

D@mn now I have to buy a Packers field cover too......

[Simes549]

As a Bears fan, I have to disagree with the Packers field cover making your board look better. 😉 But it is your board and I am glad you like it.

[Nanook]

Looks like us packer fans have you out numbered.

[RickLM30]

7 hours ago, Simes549 said:

As a Bears fan, I have to disagree with the Packers field cover making your board look better. 😉 But it is your board and I am glad you like it.

Well, I guess there's no accounting for taste. 😊 I've been a Packers fan since 1960 when they lost to the Eagles for the NFL Championship (prior to the Super Bowls).  I stuck with them through the great Lombardi years and then all the down years and then the great years when Favre and Rogers showed up!  Sixty years of Packers football can't be beat!!!! 😊 GO PACK!

[Simes549]

21 hours ago, RickLM30 said:

Well, I guess there's no accounting for taste. 😊 I've been a Packers fan since 1960 when they lost to the Eagles for the NFL Championship (prior to the Super Bowls).  I stuck with them through the great Lombardi years and then all the down years and then the great years when Favre and Rogers showed up!  Sixty years of Packers football can't be beat!!!! 😊 GO PACK!

I am about 10 years behind you. Good luck this post season.

[Nanook]

I’m 62 and remember the last couple of years of the Lombardi era. Big fan of John  Brockington (70’s) Lynn Dickey (80’s) though  it was tough being a packer fan during the 70’s and 80’s. It’s been a lot easier the last 25 years. But I guess l’m just a football fan in general.

[RickLM30]

2 hours ago, Simes549 said:

I am about 10 years behind you. Good luck this post season.

Thanks.  Guess the Pack will have to represent the division in the playoffs now. Bears had a tough row to hoe against the Saints.  Hopefully, the Pack will bring another Super Bowl trophy to Green Bay!

[zak99b5]

I'm 52, and my big brother and his friends were all Packers fans, even though we grew up in New Jersey, so I "inherited" them as my team.  My first real football memory, though, is the '72 Dolphins--I shudder to think how my life would've been different had I started following Miami. 

We didn't get many Packers games on TV on the east coast in the 70s and 80s, but I went to grad school in Indiana in 1991.  The Colts were always blacked out (Jeff George era), so we got NFC central games almost every week. 

I was worried when Majkowski went down (his was the first jersey I got, and I still have it), but by the end of that fateful game, I was convinced the wild kid with the funny name would take the Packers to the Super Bowl.  Next year we signed Reggie White, and the rest, as they say, is history.

[Nanook]

My fan cave.

[RickLM30]

Wow! The field looks good and I really like all the Packers' memorabilia. Really nice.

2 hours ago, zak99b5 said:

I'm 52, and my big brother and his friends were all Packers fans, even though we grew up in New Jersey, so I "inherited" them as my team.  My first real football memory, though, is the '72 Dolphins--I shudder to think how my life would've been different had I started following Miami. 

We didn't get many Packers games on TV on the east coast in the 70s and 80s, but I went to grad school in Indiana in 1991.  The Colts were always blacked out (Jeff George era), so we got NFC central games almost every week. 

I was worried when Majkowski went down (his was the first jersey I got, and I still have it), but by the end of that fateful game, I was convinced the wild kid with the funny name would take the Packers to the Super Bowl.  Next year we signed Reggie White, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I'm 70 and had the same issue with Packers games.  Was tough to catch them on TV unless they were playing the Eagles or one of the other NFC East teams (especially during the lean years).

Felt the same when Majkowski went down, but Favre played ok in his stead. 😊 I wasn't happy when I heard Reggie was leaving the Eagles, but when he signed with the Packers, I was ok with that! He went from my second favorite team to my favorite team!  Can't beat that! 🤣

[MK1603]

On 1/13/2021 at 1:09 PM, Nanook said:

My fan cave.

A beautiful sight to see!

[zak99b5]

Back on topic, I never use the field support for the Ultimate field anymore.  The GBN motor works great, and the dip in the field is so slight that it doesn't seem to affect gameplay at all.

I think the support was an improvement with the tudor motors more because it helped even out the vibrations, not becuase of any support.

[Coach Shawn]

On 1/8/2021 at 9:17 AM, RickLM30 said:

I wish I had waited to buy it until the team covers were included, but I remedied that by buying a Packer field cover, which actually improved performance somewhat (smoother vibration) and looks (How could it not look better with a Packer field? 😊)!

Is it a magnetic field cover?

[RickLM30]

No it was a stick on.