James D. Wickman

The Pee Wee one is bare bones. There is no charging system on it. Pumps up manually. The Super Pee Wee has the electric charging system. Charge up before take one. You get about three top to bottom booms per tank. No on the wax. I use bar soap. Rub it on the wheels or on the track dry. Quiets any squeaks on floor or track. Takes a bit longer to apply, but there's no cleanup and you don't leave slick areas on the floor like with sprays. In wet conditions, use a spray like Pledge or Silicon. Make sure you have a the leveling stuff. The tech scout should tell you what you 'll need then bring more. I like pads in the grass. Not a fan of bassos but there good for the fill ins. Alumna beams for extreme hill sides and rocky areas. As to what wheels. I use Chapmans medium compound wheels 95% of the time. Try to protect them . Don't go jamming through the gravel or any terrain that might cut them up. Troughs on track are great. They're fast and forgiving on your leveling job. Keep them rolled out before the take. I use them when I have too. I prefer the dolly down on the track. As to your last questions. Timing and touch are all from experience. Watch the action! Monitor and marks are references. I believe if you see that it needs to be fixed on the monitor you're too late. You know how far you have to go and how far the actors need to go. Time it out. Feather you stops and starts, your operator will thank you, especially if he's on a fluid head. A lot of actors hate marks, be ready for the unexpected. Use your marks and monitor to check where your at. Your Ac will thank you when you're close to them if not on them. When the actor falls short you may need to adjust to keep the size right. Get good at knowing how far things are from the camera. You think the AC has it rough, you'll be trying to do it from 3 to 4 feet behind the camera. Good Luck, and have Fun. (Don't go off the end of your track)

An option might be the use of a vibration isolator under the head, using no track. Obviously, there is the surface you're running on to consider as well as lense size. My first option is the techno crane. When you say "long", what are you saying? 40' plus? What lense are you preferring for the shot? There's a lot to consider.