I use a small tripod dolly under my digi station for street jobs, and for a long time it was the wrong tool. The stock wheels were small and heavy, and they kept dropping into holes in the pavement. I used the dolly once and went back to carrying everything.
Schlepp makes a replacement set of caster wheels for tripod dollies, and they sent me a set to try. I took them to a shoot in Milan, which means a lot of walking on city streets. They fixed the problem. The only limit left is the dolly itself, which I’ll get to below.
What you get
The Schlepp Caster Wheels are a set of three 125 × 30 mm swivel casters. The treads are polyurethane, and the housings are impact-resistant nylon. Each caster is rated for 75 kg, and each weighs about 490 g.
They attach with a single M10 screw per wheel, and the screws and a 6 mm Allen key are included. The swap took me about five minutes. To remove the old wheels I needed a spanner, so have one to hand. Schlepp also warns that some dollies have a loose locknut inside the tube that needs a special tool, so check yours before you take the old wheels off. The page names the Neewer Heavy Duty Tripod Dolly and the SmallRig Universal Tripod Dolly 3986 as confirmed fits.
In Milan
They roll smoothly. The larger wheels carry on over the gaps and holes that stopped the originals, and the tripod with the laptop on top moves without shuddering, so I wasn’t worrying about the equipment.
The brakes are easy to set and release with your foot, which matters when your hands are full. My back noticed the difference. I covered a lot more ground with the rig pushed than I would have carrying it.
On stairs
On day two I used them again at a villa shoot, and here they weren’t as good. That wasn’t the wheels’ fault. A dolly adds weight every time you go up or down stairs, and the villa had a lot of them. For locations like that, I’d rather carry the rig on my shoulder with ARKA, my own shoulder pad for the digiplate, and leave the dolly at home.
Packing
The larger wheels mean the dolly no longer fits in the case it came in, but that doesn't really matter to me. It did fit in my suitcase and they don't add too much bulk.
Verdict
If you already own a tripod dolly and the wheels are why you stopped using it, like me, these fix that. They were worth it and not very expensive. If you have the space to bring a dolly, I’d get them. If most of your locations involve stairs, the wheels won’t change that, and you’ll still be better off carrying the rig.
