I went back and read some of my old posts. I started building this thing in 2007 and am just now getting down to the final parts. Some of my posts say "i'll have pictures soon bla bla" haha and now I post this picture of the arm itself. The person building my crane just gave up in the middle and I couldn't get him to work on it anymore so I finally just went over there and took it. The dolly I have to have him cut and weld together. That shouldn't be easy, i'll just persuade him with some beers.

Any whoo. Here is a picture of my crane on the transit tripod. It is just sitting there and is not actually attached to the tripod. The weights I have on the back are just sitting there in place by the eye hole bolts I have for a support cable. The control arm needs to be adjusted. As you can see, the camera is sort of facing upwards when the platform on the tripod is facing forward. I will be using 1/2" tie rod ends to fasten to each end so that there is not metal to metal rubbing against each other. I have yet to weld the weight bar on the back. So far its alittle rusty but soon it will look amazing.

My Kessler in Barbados
 

Here are a couple of shots of my Kessler and PT20 at Fustik House in Barbados. This is the second time I have taken it to Barbados, this time it went via Air Canada Cargo and in a new shipping case from Kessler Cranes. We found the weights at the producers friend's house out in the back yard, rusty but they work.

Brian - Very nice rig you have. I would love to get a turret motar for for my crane. I checked out the site and the PT20 is $1600. That is actually reasonable. Is that a battery charger you have it hooked to?

I'll trade you weights.. mine are black and yours are rust colored. My crane is rust colored and yours is black..haha. Maybe just painting our crane and weights would be cheaper since you are in Barbados.

Cheers,
Terry.

Hey Terry! I love the PT20 it is super smooth and the control is a dream. It is powered by a battery pack that you use to jump start a car. It has a 12volt lighter outlet and I just opened it up and removed the heavy clamps and 12 volt jumper cables. It powered the head all day and would probably have powered it for two or three days if needed.
Thanks for the offer of your weights, but these ones stay in Barbados and I have some nice painted ones for Canada. How did your crane get rusty? Shooting in the rain?
Best
Brian

Since buying my ride-on, i've kinda gone nuts with gear... When the ride-on as seen early in this thread is too heavy to haul, i also have the advantajib. Here are a few links to mine being used:

pic: http://www.regina.co.nz/advantajib.jpg

"behind the scenes" on that same video:
YouTube - Behind the Scenes of Sleeping Dogs music video

and the finished video:
YouTube - Climbers - music video by Sleeping Dogs


And here's a behind the scenes where you see my ride-on:
YouTube - Hayley Westenra TV Inteview Christchurch, New Zealand

Hooray for cranes!

What type of ride-on crane do you have and may I ask approx what it cost? I assume it takes custom weights etc.
Thanks
Brian

I use this beast - A Vinten Dolphin. Even the lead weights come in their own flightcase. Take two people to get it into the van. It is quite old now, I got this one from Anglia TV a few years ago. It's weight and construction means you can simply lock it off and use like a tripod. The head swivels around the end of the arm, and it is amazingly stable. The weight makes it difficult to manage, but it lives on the HD tripod and rolling skid

My DIY made "Unversal Wonder Dolly Crane" ;-)

Frank

Mine is a variation on the panther foxy crane, except built from box steel. She weighs a bit and I had to tweak my grip truck a bit to carry her around, but she's amazingly smooth to fly. It has a weight basket that i load up with tractor weights... or, in a pinch, whatever is on set and heavy.

I paid around us$2k used in a package with a matthews dolly, so it depends on how you value the dolly as to what the crane cost.

Cheers!

Paul, that dolphin looks awesome!

Hey Brian,

No my fabricator left it sitting for a couple weeks while he worked on his rat rod. He was doing it for free so what could I say. I am going to primer and paint it as soon as we make some final adjustments.

You've got me interested in the PT20 now! After I built my crane is was so happy that I could hoist my camera way up in the air and create fluid motions etc.. But all my crane does, like the Kessler is tilt and no pivot.

Does the PT20 make any noise?


Cheers,
Terry.

The PT20 is super quiet. I started with a smaller Bescor head and it was fine for repositioning the camera but not very practical for "live" moves. The PT20 is super smooth and adjustable for speed etc. Thogh I must say that controlling up and down and right and left and zoom and focus, is an acquired skill and takes lots of practice.

what is the large black box for I am think battery power??

Re: Post a photo of your crane!
 

It is funny that years ago I posted this thread and years later I still have yet to finish my crane haha. I think there are pictures of it somewhere in here.

Re: Post a photo of your crane!
 

Gotta step it up, I've since added a cable driven pan and tilt head and counter weights that don't hang in a bag :)

Re: Post a photo of your crane!
 

Re: Post a photo of your crane!
 

Don't worry Terry Lee. I started building a crane in 2007 as well. Still work in progress.