Kentucky Educational Television & Mini-Crab #225

Recently, I received an email (below) from Lee Delaney, Broadcast Operations Manager for Kentucky Educational Television. Lee works with Mini-Crab #225 and I'm pretty sure this is the highest serial numbered Mini-Crab we have registered with the Sarkell Society. 

Thanks to Lee for sending these images of #225. Interestingly, I've seen the white Colortran decal shown above in other late model Mini-Crab Dollies.

We see Mini-Crab #225 having it's own dedicated parking spot at KET Studios.

There's no official final build number. It was once reported to me by the former president of Colortran, there were approximately 250 of these built! It's possible, #225 may be one of the last ones to have been assembled! 

Hey Greg,

My name is Lee Delaney and I am the Broadcast Operations Manager at Kentucky Educational Television.  After doing some research, I came across your site devoted to the Colortran Mini-Crab Dolly.  KET has owned one of these for a number of years.  According to the plate, we have #225.  See attached pictures…..  We honestly weren’t aware of the high honor this dolly holds in the industry and that there were only about 250 of these made. 

A little about us:  KET reaches 5.5 million people via broadcast and is the largest public broadcasting network in the country, spanning the entire commonwealth and reaching into seven surrounding states through 16 transmitters from our Network Center located in Lexington.  Educational programs including the many incarnations of the GED series for use worldwide were produced here as well as many Arts and Public Affairs programs over the years.

How or when this dolly came into our possession isn’t clear, but it was used on numerous productions over the years.  It hasn’t been used for quite a while, but we still have it complete with seat, sideboards, weights, bottles, and it is still fully operational. 

Most notably it was run on the nationally distributed program “The Lonesome Pine Specials” in the late 80’s and 90’s.  It was used as the back of house bump shot between songs with the audience. Frank Simkonis, Producer/Director of Videography, and I (as a Videographer, my first job at KET) were the last folks to operate it for this production.  Recently, it has been dug out of its dark corner to be hopefully used again. 

Anyway after reading some of the info about this ol’ gal on your site (http://colortrancrabdolly.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=24 ), I just wanted to share with you the location of another one.  Attached are some quick pictures.

Regards,

Lee Delaney

Broadcast Operations Manager

Kentucky Educational Television

Oscar Winner's famed Mini-Crab #157 up for sale!

If you're in the market for a Mini-Crab, check out eBay as my friend, Steven Mahoney from Seattle has listed #157. My son and I had the pleasure of owning #157 for many years before selling it to Steven in 2011.

This dolly has great pedigree as it was once owned by the man who brought us 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory', 'Roots' and TV's 'Welcome Back Kotter'. The previous owner was none-other than Oscar-winner, David L. Wolper.

No doubt, #157 is about the most complete Mini-Crab you can find. Steven was able to track down all the options offered by Colortran. In addition, Steven had a hydraulic company go through this dolly with a fine tooth comb and update the hydraulics. This dolly is up to specs and will give the new owners many years of trouble-free service.

Mini-Crab Inventor Extraordinare...William Sargent's recent trip with a good friend

The inventor of the Colortran Mini-Crab Dolly and his good friend, Hal Hansen, took a motorcycle trip through the beautiful canyons in Utah. 

"We rode to Emigration Canyon then to East Canyon via the Mormon Historic Trail. The mountain peak to the northwest would be Lookout Peak.  Emigration Canyon slipped down the hill, and they joined Mountain Dell Canyon to Big Mountain monument. The road continues to East Canyon State Park and on to the rest of the world", mentioned Mr. Sargent.

This snapshot of William Sargent was taken by Hal during a stop. Both Mr. Sargent and Hal have been friends for some 20-years. Mr. Sargent calls Hal one of the finest sound engineers around!  There's a photo of both William Sargent and Hal on a post dating back to December 2, 2010. Check it out! Also be sure to click on this image to enlarge!

Sarkell - William SARgent & Bob KELLjchian

I love these images of William Sargent and Bob Kelljchian. They were taken for an article written about the Colortran Mini-Crab Dolly in the September 1966 issue of American Cinematographer.

It's a little known fact, the Mini-Crab Dolly was originally designed for the lighter 16mm camera systems. As you can see here, there's a beautiful 135 pound Mitchell BNC mounted on the dolly.

A few months ago, I heard from a blog visitor who told me his production company frequently paired a Panavision R200 with a Colortran Mini-Crab.

As many of you film guys know, the R200 outweighed the BNC by 70 additional pounds. He went on to say that the dolly performed flawlessly. The Mini-Crab quickly became a favorite for these much heavier 35mm cameras.

Soon, I will post some interesting information on Mr. Kelljchian, who was not only a trusted friend of William Sargent, but greatly contributed to the making and marketing of the Mini-Crab Dolly. Click to enlarge these images.  Stay tuned...More to come...

Mini-Crab Dolly #72 - SOLD!

Update on #72 as of 2/7/14. Mini-Crab #72 has been sold. 

Great news! Visual Products is selling Colortran Mini-Crab Dolly #72.

Mini-Crab #72 which has been featured in posts below is up for sale and can be found on their website at: www.visualproducts.com Click on the dolly tab.

The dolly was recently and COMPLETELY refurbished by our friend, Marty Drennan. If you're looking for a great dolly at a great price including a 7-day money back guarantee and a 6-month parts/labor warranty....LOOK NO FURTHER!

Call Visual Products at 440-647-4999 for more information!

Meet the New and Improved Mini-Crab #72

Newly refurbished, Mini-Crab #72 is pushed onto the showroom floor by Marty Drennan. Seated in the operators seat is Corri Stiemle, receptionist/accountant and the smile that greets everyone at Visual Products. Click on any image to enlarge!

Marty shows just how compact this Mini-Crab dolly truly is. Marty will soon be sharing some photos he took during the refurbishment.

We then pushed #72 outside the showroom to get a sense of how well it maneuvered on a paved surface. It performed flawlessly! 

#72 is posed here next to Marty's beautiful Model A Ford.

Proper CO2 bottles REQUIRED for your Colortran Mini-Crab Dolly!

The correct CO2 bottle position indicating 'This side up'.

Recently, the inventor of our favorite dolly, William Sargent shared with me critical information about using the proper CO2 bottle. These bottles had specially designed syphons installed to be used with the Colortran Mini-Crab Dolly.

Originally, each Mini-Crab dolly that was sold by Colortran were outfitted with this special CO2 bottle. Over the years, these bottles were either lost or replaced with conventional CO2 bottles that are NOT acceptable to use with your Mini-Crab.

THIS IS CRITICAL!!

CHECK YOUR CO2 BOTTLES!!!

If your bottle doesn't have a stenciled 'THIS SIDE UP' it's most likely a conventional/replacement bottle and SHOULD NOT be used in your Mini-Crab!

The obvious reason is that the CO2 bottle used by the Mini-Crab dolly is placed in the CO2 compartment laying on its side. The distinction is that they're placed horizontally. Conventional CO2 bottles are designed to be used in an upright position NOT on it's side as needed for the Mini-Crab.

Mini-Crab Dollies should use a specially designed CO2 bottle with syphons installed to prevent moisture entering into your hydraulic system which can lead to cracked o-rings or other major problems. It's probable your hydraulic system will be compromised using a conventional gas bottle.

If you need the correct CO2 bottle, or if your original bottle is no longer certifiable by your local gas house...call Marty Drennan at Visual Products, 440-647-4999 about obtaining the correct bottle.