6 Bar lift vertical channel location?

We are re-designing are bot getting ready for TSA Nats VEX, but have seen a few different configs for the 6-bar lift. On some of the lifts I see the vertical C-Channel right in the center, but a few of the others have it located more toward the rear of the lift. The rear placed ones seem to work fine, but is there a reason for this? We are about to start cutting metal… so please let me hear your opinions.
Bill R.
#6101

My team has always used the metal so that it is closer to the back, it has always worked fine for me, i high hung as well.

At the same time Haile 2711 has always kept to the center

As it goes, trial and error=Vex, If it were me I would cut a piece of metal (Steel) that was universal to both the middle setting and the back setting, then, after testing what you have and how it works check it. Then go from their on you own thoughts whether you want to cut a perfect fitting piece for that application in steel or aluminum.

Good luck at TSA nationals, I am not sure if i will be competing, I did not qualify in top three, but did top five, I will be a Referee/Scorekeeper so I am looking forward to seeing you their!

Best Wishes from Florida!

-Tyler Gregan
6743B

The idea is to get what fits best. just make sure you keep the horizontal bars spread out and you should be fine.

Thanks for the help. Yep… VEX is trial and error for sure!
We are going to do more regular VEX next year, but the TSA is our main focus this year. We are the #1 TSA VEX middle school team in the state(Mississippi) this year. We were the last middle school team standing in the middle of all the HS teams and made it to the finals. In the last matches we tipped over once and our programmer did not do a good job on the antonymous for that starting grid. In the last match our right intake got hit and sucked into our mecanum wheels… we were done! But we did get 2nd overall with our alliance so we were pretty happy for our first year in TSA VEX. I hope to see you there.

Oh… did they change how they worked TSA VEX since last year? I remember there were a lot of people upset because of the ranking system they used. One of our district teams did not make it out of the skills and programming. In other words they never got to go to head to head. I heard lots of folks were upset and did not think about it until I talked with the guy yesterday. Any word on that?

Thanks
Bill R.

Max-D… any suggestions on the spacing between? I was thinking about 1.5 inches…:confused:

The position of the vertical bar shouldn’t affect the height so just put it wherever it fits best
Spacing of 1.5" (3 holes) to 2" (4 holes) should work to reach the stash but it also depends on the height you mount the linkage etc.
Hope that helps

1.5 would be a good minimum width but I would try to stay at about 2 inches or so if you can (depends how much rotation you want to get out of it)