[SML] Genie lift safety

Ford Sellers fsellers at chauvetlighting.com
Thu Feb 26 18:54:39 UTC 2015


-----Original Message-----

From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft-bounces at theatrical.net] On Behalf Of Dougherty, Jim via Stagecraft

Subject: Re: [SML] Genie lift safety



As a counterpoint, our Genie GR-20 has no outriggers, is self-propelled and is capable of motion while elevated (per the manufacturer, no workarounds necessary or desired).  It automatically lowers the travel speed once elevated.  This unit is the tallest one (@ ~20¹) in that product line, though, so it won¹t work for every venue.  Loading it on and off a truck would require ramping or its own forklift.  It¹s a fine unit; my only gripe being that you need to power it up every time you want to move it.



- Jim Dougherty

ATD, Middlebury College Theatre Dept



We used something like these for a while at the MGM Grand Conference Center (in the late 1990s). I think that the specific model was called the Wave from CROWN lifts.  The only one I see online is not the model we demoed. The one online has a max platform height of about 10' (so you could work on a fixture about 15-16' off the ground). But I remember that the ones we had went up to about 16', allowing us to reach the lighting coves in the upstairs Premier ballroom (about 20', I think) but not the Grand Ballroom on the 1st floor.

IIRC, they didn't have to be plugged in to drive it around, and the BIG 'Ol battery was a part of the Ballast that kept it upright.

They also had a very small footprint.

I believe they were loaned to us for a 6 mo demo, to try to convince the casino to purchase a couple of dozen (for the Facilities and Production departments).



Our biggest gripes were that they didn't go high enough to reach the grid downstairs, they didn't travel quickly (even when lowered all the way) making transportation between venues on the property difficult, and I don't recall how good the battery life was.  I left for Cornell shortly after the Demo started, so don't have any idea if the MGM ultimately made the purchase.



I will say however, that I found them to be an excellent tool when I needed to setup 2-10 lights on a podium in a ballroom.

They would have been great to use in Cornell's Flexible Theatre, Dance, & Blackbox theatres, and the carpenters may have liked them for working on scenery, in-situ.



With 15'-20' maximum platform heights, this would be an excellent tool for a lot of theatres.





-Ford
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