Yet another “stringing machine advice” thread

[armandogomes]

Hey everyone,

I’ve decided that I want to start stringing my rackets and, obviously, I need my own machine.

I’ve searched in the forums and seems that my question is not uncanny, but also seemed that it was mostly “not so actual” advice - it could be, but with inflation and all…

So, I’m looking at getting a machine. Budget is ideally around EUR 1000-1300 (ideally), could go higher if needed. Electronic would be preferable because of personal preference but crank is also acceptable (if it can get consistent results). I could go up to EUR 2000 if it’s really a good machine. Since I’m in Europe, it needs to be shipped from Europe.

Oh, have I mentioned good customer support? I hope I don’t need it but if I do, that would be an awesome plus.

Any advice?

Cheers!

PS: the really good machine for 2000€ is not a really good stringing machine, but a really good for the budget. With Head, Babolat and Wilson machines costing in the north of several thousand euros, 2k will hardly be “a really good machine”. But I do not intent to turn this into a business, so…

 

[stapletonj]

IF you are not looking to start a business, I would recc. against investing so much into your first machine.
You might discover that you absolutely hate stringing (or you might discover that your wife hates you stringing, even worse!)
Spend a couple hundred bucks on a good used dropweight.
String abut 20-30 rackets with it. If you still like doing your own stringing, then get the electronic standup mega model.

 

[armandogomes]

Thank you for your answer. Yeah, I was expecting someone to say that, but my reasoning is that in the past, whenever I tried to go "cheap", I ended up having so many issues due to the material that I ended up putting it aside. I don't want the machine to be a problem, or an added difficulty, if I don't have to.

I need to string my rackets, and although I don't pay a lot to get it done, I often have tournaments and sometimes I have to string rackets with such short notice (I practice in the morning and need to get it strung for the afternoon). So it's not a hobby, it's a "necessity". Regarding liking or not, I often try to help (and learn as much as I can) from my regular stringer, but it is his machine, and I can't touch it, so if I want to go from theory to practice, I need to get my own stuff - which makes sense, I would probably not let a noob touch my 10k++ machine.

Regarding the used market, it's non-existent here. That's why I'd rather invest in something that can help me get the job done and that I've seen people using other than trying to go for something that may or may not work in my hands (it's me, not the machine).

I've been looking at Pro's Pro machines and TennisMan.de. So if there is any suggestion, it's highly appreciated.

 

[sfoster1982]

I recently bought this guy and have been very happy with it. Easy to learn, easy to use. I'm slow but learning.

Tourna 350-CS Stringing Machine | Tennis Warehouse

www.tennis-warehouse.com

 

[nyta2]

i've been using a dropweight klippermate that my dad bought me ~40y ago... works great, strings in about 30m (18m is my personal speed record).
over the years, i've been eyeing "pro" setups, but never pulled the trigger:
* careful (skilled?) stringing makes my jobs accurate enough (though i can't tell if something is a couple pounds off)... and if pros can use portable stringing machines, then my klippermate is definitely good enough
* saving 15m isn't that a big deal since i only string for myself (but if i had 10-20 or more, racquets a day to string... cutting my time down to 10-15m would make a huge difference in time & profit)
* bigger machine takes more real estate,... km is easy to put away if needed
* zero maintenance on a drop weight (though i think if i did upgrade, i'd probably still use a crank vs. eletric)
if i had it all over again, and i was just stringing for myself, unlimited budget, i think i'd even consider just getting a portable stringer that i can easily take on the road (vac, tournaments, weekend tennis bender at the local park, etc..)

 

[armandogomes]

Pro's Pro ended up getting the Tomcat MT-400 in stock, so I pulled the trigger. Wish me luck!

 

[armandogomes]

Well, after getting my Tomcat MT-400 and strung a few rackets, I can safely say that, for now, seems like a reasonable purchase. They have increased the prices in the meantime, though.

Now I just need to practice, practice, practice.

Cheers all!