Motorpickle DIY

Dagger

Active Member
I am trying to make my own motorpicke. I knoe the wiring , have the panel cable xlr, micro switch etc.

I can not find appropriste housing for it. Any suggestions.

I have attached an image for reference.
 

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Is that what you are referring to?
I need place to put up and down switch though...
 

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Yeah, you can clearly see the example you posted was modified, the cut out is rough near the top of the switch. I'd have drilled it out and cut it differently or gone with a different option but the reddit thread about your example made it clear that was a prototype version some guy was making.
 
I'd have gone with a premade version to save me the hassle of making my own. there are plenty of small pocket pickle options on the market already for a reasonable cost given that they deal with controlling motors. Monkey wrench productions make a nice compact cheap one that I like. But the one Applied makes, is worth the $90 in my opinion.
 
Our stacking motor is twist lock L14-20, the rest of our motors use l14-20 twistlock with 7 pin motor cable from the distro. None of the broadway tours or for that matter any tours that we've had through our space with motors in the last two years have been anything but that. Nothing has used xlr. So I've had no need for one like that.
 
Stacking motor is a CM hoist, the other 10 we have are stagemakers, primarily with the tours we have come through we see CM motors.
 
Personally I just prefer the twistlock because it feels like a more robust connector. As an audio guy I've ran into so many smashed/destoryed xlrs over the years, if thats what the majority of the motors you see use though and you take care of it, its not that big of an issue, but a twist lock pickle I know I can toss around and not worry about. I rarely have a need for a pocket pickle though generally speaking theres a distro with a control box near by and other than the 30 seconds to float or land a motor, pocket pickles don't get used that much in day to day life. Handy to have just in case, but you also have to remember to carry it then too, and on half the tours its seems like they'd rather run their motors in and out themselves rather than hand it over to someone they dont know.
 
Go with 14-20 if you can. The XLR pickles we have sit and rot in a milk crate.

but really it depends on what motors run through your area.

Also on a national scale most venues will provide and prefer to provide points and truss and the kit n caboodle. Which means you will have no need for anything besides gloves, the directions to the lift and where the truck full of your gear is. Baring you work for the companies providing the rig.
 
I'm working with the lead rigger/flyman of Wicked while they've been on break and talking about how they do everything, all of their motors are 14-20 and for that matter most of their gear and scenic elements are rigged to fly stacked on themselves because when they run out of space they start storing vertically.
 
I'm working with the lead rigger/flyman of Wicked while they've been on break and talking about how they do everything, all of their motors are 14-20 and for that matter most of their gear and scenic elements are rigged to fly stacked on themselves because when they run out of space they start storing vertically.

Could you explain " stacked", stacking motor etc.

99% the motors we use here are xlr. Only used twistlock on some arena rockn roll shows .
 
Apaer feom the conncetin What are the differences between xlr vs twistlock ?

The main difference is that the control voltage on a hoist is usually 120v which an xlr connector is not rated for.

My advice? Make your xlr version, and then eventually buy a 14-20 version and have both in your bag. They don’t take up much room at all.
 
Could you explain " stacked", stacking motor etc.

99% the motors we use here are xlr. Only used twistlock on some arena rockn roll shows .

A motor for stacking and unstacking road cases. Usually just runs around head height with 2 spansets on it to hook under the top case near the wheels to pick and lower to the ground.

And in the case of Wicked, they've made permanent points on a lot of their scenery and cases and hampers so that they can fly a table or something they don't need and when its off the ground, connect the next piece under it, continue lifting and keep connecting more pieces until they've got everything they want stored up in the air for those times that they are in theaters that don't have enough wing space or storage elsewhere.
 
Ohh ... I have seen motor being used just for that purpose .
You work in a theatre?

I have never seen motor being used the scenery to store things . Thats a great idea . When they fly table etc off the ground .How did they connect the next item underneath it?
 
Yeah I'm in a theatre. Stacking motors save having to get a forklift in tight spaces and small venues or on stages that can't take the weight. We store stuff in the air all the the time. We store the towers of our shell in the air on truss above the stage. For Wicked, it depends on the piece, they have permanent points installed on some of their pieces, and some they just leave hangers or bridles attached to.
 

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