Holidays and Halfway Points

December is at the end of every year. With the holiday season our thoughts turn to new calendars and learning how to write the new year on checks. We countdown to midnight and look forward to a new year with hopeful optimism.

But in the bowling world, December and the holidays mean the league schedule is reaching its mid-point. Many leagues will suspend play from the last part of December until the first part of January. This break is the perfect time to catch up on any maintenance projects that were impossible to do while the bowling center filled with leagues.

This is the time to accomplish small projects that have gone undone due to the amount of bowling happening while the leagues were in full force.

This is a great time to do a mid-season checkup on your lane machine:

• Do the oil and cleaner volume checks. Kegel recommends that these be done often, but many centers forget about this important maintenance procedure.

• Inspect the squeegees for wear and check the adjustment. A clean lane is critical for consistent bowling conditions.

• Check the filters for the oil, cleaner and recovery tank.

• Examine the buffer brush and the brush crush adjustment.

• Go through the drive speeds and adjust if needed.

With the reduction of bowling during the holiday break, now is the time to get to the annoying, small problems on the pinsetting equipment:

• Diagnose and repair any minor problems that have been a source of constant irritation.

• Do some cleaning on the machines and some housekeeping in the back aisle. The area behind the pinsetters can become cluttered as the season goes on. Now is a good time to tidy things up while there is a little less trash going to the dumpster.

• If time allows, inspect and clean your pins.

• Take the time to listen to the pinsetting equipment while there is less bowling going on. Be proactive and start planning your summer projects in December for the following year.

Even if you experience a huge influx of open bowling during the holidays, you can still use that time to plan projects, make a schedule, order parts and inform staff about the months ahead. The league season will be over before you know it. Use the time during this small hiatus in December to make things better for the remaining few months and for the bowling seasons to come.

BONUS TIP - GSX Elevator

Installing a 12-inch Bungee cord as shown in the photo can greatly improve the movement of the pins into the shovels. Remove power from the machine before starting. Drill a ¼ hole at the location circled in the photo.