Advice on quantity of snow to load into a snow cradle

[sparkyinnc]

Hello All,

Couldn't find any info on this when I did a google/forum search. I just closed a production of Nutcracker in which we used a 40' snow cradle and stage snow. As far as rigging/operation of the cradle and the stage snow to purchase, we are all set...I just wondered, is there anyone out there with a good rule of thumb for how much to load? My crew loaded about 15 pounds when we rigged the cradle, and after 2 rehearsals and 2 shows @ 5-6 minutes of moderate operation, we still have at least 80% of what we loaded (a "hot dog" of stage snow is left in the cradle about 4" in diameter). I know we overloaded it, which is probably limiting the amount we can drop...anybody got a good rule of thumb for how much to load? As far as performance of the cradle, we are getting ample amounts of snow when we operate it...just wondering if it could be more efficient.

Edit: The snow cradle is 40'x4', hung on two adjacent linesets on 9" centers.

Thanks Everyone!
Stevan

 

[techieman33]

We've always loaded ours on the side of not running out during the performance. A lot of it depends on what your going for too. One of the nutcrackers we do we snow pretty heavy for several minutes and we load each bag up with about 1 1/2 30 gallon trash cans and it's usually lost enough that all of the snow left is in the center half of the stage. Then they get refilled with most of the snow that came out after it's been gone through for hair pins, feathers, etc. Another nutcracker we do only has one bag and it gets maybe half of a trash can and it lasts all week since it's just a light snow in the last 30 seconds.

 

[MPowers]

No real answer. Too many variables. type of snow device, cradle, drum, brand and type of snow, manual or machine driven, do you want to reload every night or once a week, etc. Easiest way, just load it for a rehearsal. lots left in the cradle? Use less. Snow runs out half way through the number? add more.