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.

Mini-Crab Seat

I've gotten a few emails of people looking for this seat specifically made for the Mini-Crab. The seat shown here is owned by Steven Mahoney #157, from the Seattle area. If anyone has a extra seat floating around and you no longer need it, let me know and we could help find it a new home.

These seats are extremely rare. This one pictured is in it's original condition. There are a few posts on this site with the Mini-Crab seat pictured.

There's even a great shot of the inventor of the Mini-Crab, William Sargent, sitting high on the seat for a Colortran print ad that appeared in an issue of American Cinematographer.

Randall Miller & Mini-Crab #139

Just received this message below from a soon-to-be-new member of our esteemed group. Welcome Randy! Looking forward to seeing some pics of your Mini-Crab!

Hi Greg, took delivery of my dolly yesterday. I'm really excited, it is in pretty good shape. 

It's missing the latch for the cover for the CO2 tank. I will start cleaning it later today. Lots of oil in the tank compartment, not sure where it came from. 

The prior owner was using compressed air. Planning on getting the five tanks filled with CO2 to make sure everything works. It is Mini-Crab #139 and I think it was originally owned by the GM photographic department, the cylinder cases have GM photographic stickers on them. 

If anyone knows of any parts let me know. I will send pictures soon!

Thanks, Randy