aemeijers wrote:

DerbyDad03 wrote:
On May 9, 10:33 am, "Pete C." wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote:

"Smitty Two" wrote
it's manufactured by the "world's #1 manufacturer of aerial lift
platforms."
I see it as a useful tool for certain industrial applications. A
universal ladder replacement it obviously isn't.
It actually looks a bit bigger and beefier in some of the website
pictures and video than it does in that press release spot.
Two years ago we bought two used lifts for the shop, self powered and higher
reach. Had we not bought them, I can see many uses around the shop for this
one. I also know a couple of people with large barn type buildings that
could use it. Limited use around the house though.
So, what advantage would it have over a normal stepladder of the same
working height? The only advantage I see is in cleaning out your bank
account vs. the cost of a normal ladder. Perhaps if you had some insane
ADA mandate you provide assistive technology to allow an wheelchair
bound employee to change light bulbs...

So, what advantage would it have over a normal stepladder of the
same working height?

The old Varsity softball field at my daughter's school was right next
to the building. Video's of the game were shot from the single story
roof behind home plate.

The new field is "out in the open", far from the buildings, with no
place for the cameraman to "perch". Video's are now shot from ground
level.

I may suggest to the Sports Boosters that they raise some funds to
purchase one of these lifts to improve the quality of the videos. It
could also be used for the other sports that don't have elevated
locations to film from.
I think 2-3 telephone poles with a tree house on top would likely be
cheaper. Have to make the bottom 8 feet of ladder removable or enclose
it in wire mesh when not in use, to eliminate the attractive nuisance
factor. Some budding Eagle Scout would probably be happy to do it for
his final project.

Don't know if they still do, seeing as how they now have all those
miniature droid cameras that can be strung up on wires and controlled
remotely. But for several years at Indy, they used to bring in a
long-reach manlift, almost a crane, and trap a cameraman OVER the track
on the main straightaway. Platform was guyed off in 4 directions to keep
it from flapping around. Poor SOB up there probably had to stop drinking
coffee 24 hours before the race, to make it 200 laps.

They did let him down during rain delays. Metal boom, and all that.

Good remote servo pan/tilt heads and remote lens controls on compact
cameras have made a lot of that type of staging obsolete for productions
that have real budgets. The equipment is expensive though, so the little
local productions have to rely on the old techniques.