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Which Wheels for the American Steadicam Stand?


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Just ordered the American 2 Riser Steadicam stand (LS32). What caster wheels does everyone recommend?

 

Thoughts on the 1" leg adapter wheels from (RSA02B) from American Grip?

How about the Mag Steadicam 8"wheel set (Mag-SS W-08) from Backstageweb.com ?

 

Anyone else worth taking a look at?

 

Thanks

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I tried the wheels Tiffen sell for the America stand, and used them for about 8 months. It was a novelty to wheel the thing around at first, and everything was fine on flat studio type floors, but go off road and you become a bit stuck.

 

I switched to the 8" wheel set from Backstage and couldn't be happier. Just make sure to always push over a leg or the whole thing will go over!

 

Rick.

 

 

Just ordered the American 2 Riser Steadicam stand (LS32). What caster wheels does everyone recommend?

 

Thoughts on the 1" leg adapter wheels from (RSA02B) from American Grip?

How about the Mag Steadicam 8"wheel set (Mag-SS W-08) from Backstageweb.com ?

 

Anyone else worth taking a look at?

 

Thanks

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Yeah it took me a whole day of almost falling over repeatedly to stop pushing it in unsafe positions. Now i try to drill into all of my ACs heads that they should always keep the sled towards them and one leg forward while rolling. I did have one AC trip with it and take the sled to the ground. He caught it just in time and there was no damage but you should have seen the look on his face :-)

 

I have both kinds of wheels and use them for different things. the 8" backstage are great outside or on a roomy stage but take up a lot of room inside and don't fit through doors well. They add a big footprint and a good amount of mass at the base which helps to keep the stand stable. The ones American sells take up a lot less space and lock solid but are really only good on a smooth floor and don't handle any sort of bump well. I use them in some tight spaces and when traveling since they are lighter and smaller.

 

American recently redid their Steadicam stands with a wider base so im not sure how well either set of wheels fits anymore. Does anyone know if the new stands are stable when locked in a position to give the right angle for the wheels? The new paint that they are using is a huge improvement over the old powdercoating.

 

-Jess

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  • 3 weeks later...
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I started with the 4" wheels; they were light, easy to maneuver and again light. The downside is that they don't roll over studio cabling well at all.

 

Now I have the Backstage pneumatic wheels and they pretty much roll over anything, plus they widen the base for more stability. The downside is that they are heavier than the stand itself and a pain in the butt to get through a standard or even small commercial doorway. Love the wheels but would love to have a lighter set. When Eric gets his new set I want to see them.

 

As far as moving the stand around, I borrowed a tip from Will Arnot where he puts a strip of neon pink 1" gaff down two legs and a 1" strip of neon green gaff down the other leg. The sled always docks over the green and the green always rolls first. The tape also adds a bit of safety for the trip hazard aspect of it.

 

Robert

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Thanks, everyone! Great information and advice.

 

I ended up with the American Grip wheels mainly because of the price ($135.00 plus shipping) and because I wasn't smart enough to post before I ordered them :). I had originally thought these would be too small, but realized the 1" refers to the Steadi Stand leg measurement and they are actually 4" in diameter.

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Thanks, everyone! Great information and advice.

 

I ended up with the American Grip wheels mainly because of the price ($135.00 plus shipping) and because I wasn't smart enough to post before I ordered them :). I had originally thought these would be too small, but realized the 1" refers to the Steadi Stand leg measurement and they are actually 4" in diameter.

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  • 6 years later...
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I'm currently looking at the 8" pneumatics from Backstage for my Inovativ Axis stand (contacted Backstage to make sure they would fit on these feet/legs), but my BIG QUESTION is whether I should really be saving up for a full cart. Did any of you purchase wheels for your stand and then find that within a year you moved to a card and wheels/stand now collecting dust? I'm still in my first year of Steadicam and some AC's are grumbling about my stand with no wheels,.

Thanks,

Alex

Edited by Alex Kryszkiewicz
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8 hours ago, Alex Kryszkiewicz said:

I'm currently looking at the 8" pneumatics from Backstage for my Inovativ Axis stand (contacted Backstage to make sure they would fit on these feet/legs), but my BIG QUESTION is whether I should really be saving up for a full cart. Did any of you purchase wheels for your stand and then find that within a year you moved to a card and wheels/stand now collecting dust? I'm still in my first year of Steadicam and some AC's are grumbling about my stand with no wheels,.

Thanks,

Alex

I've had those 8" wheels for my American stand and found them too hard to move around and heavy. Gone back to the standard small wheels. And I've always had a cart to carry AKS, Preston, Vest, Arm, Stand, Lisigav and snacks. Can't imagine working without one.

Edited by Lawrence Karman
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