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Bigfoot rack carts


Jeff Wexler

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Yeah, I've seen these used for D.I.T. stations on Red Projects. Very heavy and not cheap, but it's what you'd need if you were trying to protect $50,000' worth (or more) of Macs, drives, and laptops.

The systems make a ton of noise, too -- I hate having to deal with these guys on a quiet set. The only major argument I've ever had on a set (so far) was pushing the D.I.'s down the hall so we didn't get that constant "whir" of hard drives in dialog. The D.I.T. didn't get that his Bigfoot cart was making more noise than the actors, but the director finally heard it on the Comteks.

--Marc W.

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btw, my loss might be someone's gain.  I had a beautiful cart made up last month by a set construction guy in New Mexico.  I had it built with fittings for interchangeable wheels.  It has rear hand truck type wheels and front casters and fittings to pop in Wheeleez Beach wheels.  The photo shows it in full beach mode.  The cover has legs built in so it becomes a table.  It's a beautiful cart but after one job I realized it's too heavy for the kind of work I do in NYC (mainly carrying it up and down stairs).  It's great for studio use and paradoxically rough terrain (it floats over the sand with the beach tires).  The sides and shelves are made of a sandwich of ABS exterior, 1/4" birch ply middle and a thin sheet of aluminum interior.

I had a new cart built which should arrive in a couple of days.  If anyone is interested in this beautiful beast, drop me an email and I'll send more photos and info.

Best,

Billy Sarokin

post-111-130815092931_thumb.jpg

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This looks like it could be a terrific cart for someone who doesn't have to be as mobile as Billy is in NYC. Seems to be very well built. It would be nice to see it in normal non-beach mode (but if you do post any more images, try and resize before you post --- I resized this one so you can see the lid/table to the right).

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Hi Jeff,

Here are a couple more pictures from the rear showing the beach wheels and the regular wheels (I hope I compressed them enough).  I'm dismantling my gear from the cart as we speak so I'll take more pictures of it naked. 

I started working with the builder in NM when my existing cart started to fall apart after 10 tough years.  Unfortunately the season ended 2 episodes early so he pretty much went on his own.  He did a great job, it's tough as nails, but he didn't quite get the 'light as a feather' memo :-)  My only peeve besides the weight is the rear handle goes across the back instead of being open.  Makes getting poles in and out harder.  If the weight wasn't an issue I'd modify it, but I know it won't work for me so I'll have to take the loss... and it's substantial.  Oleg...  he charged me $2600 to build it which is extremely modest considering all the metal work and design he put into it (ie fabricating the 3 mounts and quick releases for the beach wheels).

btw, the beach wheels snap into the fitting and the fittings can be removed with just one screw (to make the cart thinner and a bit lighter)

If there is serious interest here I'll post detailed photos and measurements.  I was going to put in on ebay.  I figure I might get interest from stage people and rock and roll mixers (who ocassionally do summer concerts on Jones Beach!)

All the best everyone,

Billy

This looks like it could be a terrific cart for someone who doesn't have to be as mobile as Billy is in NYC. Seems to be very well built. It would be nice to see it in normal non-beach mode (but if you do post any more images, try and resize before you post --- I resized this one so you can see the lid/table to the right).

post-111-130815092945_thumb.jpg

post-111-13081509295_thumb.jpg

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The same guy is building me a new one at 1/2 the cost and 1/2 the weight.  Much simpler design.  Instead of building the metal frame which included the wheels he is just building me the box and I will install quick mount casters on the front and have cut outs for 2 axles at the rear for.  One axle is for narrow bicycle wheels and the other for the beach/rough terrain wheels.  Originally I wanted the wheels at the rear to keep the cart as narrow as possible, but that design made it longer, heavier and put the center of balance too far forward.

If you find someone good with metal work and carpentry I'm sure you can come up with a great design.

I considered making my new one a 2 piece cart with a detachable top half for when I really had to get small, but after drawing different options I decided against it because the top half would still be too large to break off for a car rig in many cases.

Is New Years a holiday in Israel?  Or just Rosh Hoshana?

Best,

Billy

thanks

i asked it as i am trying very hard to convince someone i know here to build  "cart a bag " for people who need work in  NY  or Amsterdam or tel aviv without elevator :-), just wanted to know what to say next time when he asks me would people buy something that cost 700 us:-)

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Note to Billy: I still had to resize your images (I don't mind doing it) because your "compression" I think only affected the file size not the image size. There are 2 parameters that have to be met: the file size cannot be too large (I will check what the limits are since I made them) and the image size should not be wider than about 650 px. (I don't think there is any limit on the length). So, although your image files were compressed, the dimensions were still, for the wide image, 1024 x 768 and the narrow image was 768 px wide.

Please do not consider this a lecture --- I appreciate ALL the images that are put up here, it's one of the main things that makes this forum so good. I am sorry that I am not a programmer because if I were I would write code that would resize images automatically, thus relieving us of this extra step we need to take before posting images.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

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Actually I am considering Plan B for skinny spots.  Even though the cart (with the side wheels) is only 27" wide and most doors are at least 30" wide it's still not unusual to run into a smaller door way in older buildings.  My plan is to put 2 caster quick mount plates on the rear of the cart

http://www.starcase.com/removeable_caster_brackets.html

so when things get real tight I can take all the wheels off and pop on 2 rear casters

people go  out to drink  more on 31 :-)

i guess that you can build 2 wheel rear attachment  that goes in to the bottom of the cart and take out the side wheels to keep it narrow as possible , as you need it only when you have to go to toilet as other doors are big enough ;-)

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Thanks Jeff, I'll use MS Office Picture Manager to resize them to 650px max.

Billy

Note to Billy: I still had to resize your images (I don't mind doing it) because your "compression" I think only affected the file size not the image size. There are 2 parameters that have to be met: the file size cannot be too large (I will check what the limits are since I made them) and the image size should not be wider than about 650 px. (I don't think there is any limit on the length). So, although your image files were compressed, the dimensions were still, for the wide image, 1024 x 768 and the narrow image was 768 px wide.

Please do not consider this a lecture --- I appreciate ALL the images that are put up here, it's one of the main things that makes this forum so good. I am sorry that I am not a programmer because if I were I would write code that would resize images automatically, thus relieving us of this extra step we need to take before posting images.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

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btw, I am referring to the new cart I'm having built.  The cart in the photos is 20" wide.  Sorry if I'm confusing anyone and sorry for hijacking this thread on the Bigfoot carts!  When my new cart comes in on Monday I'll post some pics and start a new thread.

Billy

Actually I am considering Plan B for skinny spots.  Even though the cart (with the side wheels) is only 27" wide and most doors are at least 30" wide it's still not unusual to run into a smaller door way in older buildings.  My plan is to put 2 caster quick mount plates on the rear of the cart

http://www.starcase.com/removeable_caster_brackets.html

so when things get real tight I can take all the wheels off and pop on 2 rear casters

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I'm sort of looking at the food service cart in this other thread http://jwsound.net/SMF/index.php?topic=7703.0  as a way of having a place to set down my bag rig that isn't on the floor or ground or on a piece of location furniture and isn't as easy to knock over as a simple light stand/platform rig.  The idea is that it has to be light enough that I can take my bag rig, pole and the cart etc all in one trip up stairs or into the woods etc, be secure enough to not get knocked over and small enough to not be in the way (esp when folded up).

phil p

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Wolf sent me a link to these rack case/carts from Bigfoot. Could be an alternative basis for case-type cart. I couldn't really find one representative image to post here so you'll just have to look at their site if it interests you.

BigFoot

Hello Jeff,  thanks for including Bigfoot Carts in your discussion. I just joined your blog and enjoy hearing from the crews doing the stuff! When it comes to designing Bigfoot Carts I wanted to clarify a couple of things some apparent and not apparent to all. There is the yin and yang always involved; how do I minimize time and hassles with breaking down and setting up gear in who knows where, and handle integration issues while keeping things light and small and, protect my gear! While Bigfoot original units were made to fill a need not being met for video and industrial event crews, which generally have different gear support needs, we have seen Bigfoot evolve over the years based on clients' input of what they like and may not see. Then we work to provide a solution for a production priced and oriented product. As Billy found out there are "got ya's" like having to remake something again which we have not had happen in all our years as we go through the needed design process with our clients as a courtesy, which up to this point has been custom for every client to some level. We talk about transportation and possble lifting issues.  One major misconception is the Bigfoot is heavy itself. The carts get heavy because of the racks being filled with heavy gear like UPS's, MACPRO, RAID drives, built in monitors. etc. Our unique aluminum frame has the strongest strength to weight ratio on the market. This is needed when putting heavy rack gear in. They also are attractive which to my suprise matters to some. We use a thick solid base and top (if not the Flip up top) because it is needed for strength and stability for the type of gear installed as well as mounting monitors etc. As audio guys the needs may not be the same but we do have some ideas being worked on for a new cart design that is a "Split-Apart" cart. Also swappable wheel types when needed is another near term option that Bigfoot will be implementing and we are at work on. 

I look forward to your input!

All the best to all!

Doug Solis

President

Bigfoot Mobile Systems

(707) 333-4400 direct

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Yeah, I've seen these used for D.I.T. stations on Red Projects. Very heavy and not cheap, but it's what you'd need if you were trying to protect $50,000' worth (or more) of Macs, drives, and laptops.

The systems make a ton of noise, too -- I hate having to deal with these guys on a quiet set. The only major argument I've ever had on a set (so far) was pushing the D.I.'s down the hall so we didn't get that constant "whir" of hard drives in dialog. The D.I.T. didn't get that his Bigfoot cart was making more noise than the actors, but the director finally heard it on the Comteks.

--Marc W.

Marc,  thanks for the feedback.  We actually have a sound proofing option for Bigfoot. With all things it adds a bit of cost but we do provide that and are biulding one that way as we speak. Most guys hadn't asked for it yet. Please see my comments on the weight issues.

Take care!

Doug

Bigfoot Mobile Systems

(707) 333-4400

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Not a problem, Doug. I sympathize with the D.I.T.'s and I understand they have a job to do, too. I think the cart I saw was one from either Offhollywood or Light Iron Digital, and it was super-impressive -- terrific fit and finish, perfectly suited for handling all the data. The only problems I had were with the noise from the bank of hard drives and the fans in the computer itself, not the cart.

--Marc W.

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I'm sort of looking at the food service cart in this other thread http://jwsound.net/SMF/index.php?topic=7703.0  as a way of having a place to set down my bag rig that isn't on the floor or ground or on a piece of location furniture and isn't as easy to knock over as a simple light stand/platform rig.  The idea is that it has to be light enough that I can take my bag rig, pole and the cart etc all in one trip up stairs or into the woods etc, be secure enough to not get knocked over and small enough to not be in the way (esp when folded up).

phil p

Phil,

I have one of these folding serving carts for situations where I need a platform and even a shelf for playback or laptop support.  It is quite light and can be folded flat  (about 2 & 1/2 in. thick when flat) and easily carried upstaris.

comfort_2139_49630385

They sell them here: http://www.amazon.com/Leifheit-Entertain-Storage-SERVING-SIDECAR/dp/B003XRMGWM

But you can probably find them elsewhare.

---Courtney

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Big foot is not strong. the corner joints (seem not to be welded) might not take the constant abuse of LOCATION work - seems OK for stage work. Also will not survive a 6 foot drop from a loading dock that a closed SKB case with internal shock monuts does ( I have proof!! :-)  )

I have some used "follow" carts for sale (pardon me Jeff)

http://wolfvid.com/datasheets/Specials.pdf

wolf

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