Zone VI tripod slippage

[Scott Schroeder]

I'd like some ideas on how to make the damn think not slip.
The knobs at the bottom of the legs are fine enough.
However, the top ones connecting to the head just can't stay tight enough.
The tripod is plenty stout enough to my cameras/lenses.
But that inability to fully lock scares the crap out of me, especially if I'm going low and the legs are sprawled out.
I have a ries a250 on the top.
Any ideas what's the best way to do this? Lock washers?
Thanks for the help!

I grabbed a photo off the internet to show you the knob/joint I'm talking about (blue arrow).

[Gem Singer]

In the past, I owned two Zone VI tripods like yours. had the same problem.

Replaced those smooth silver washers with black lock washers from the hardware store.

Problem solved.

[Scott Schroeder]

Hey Thanks!
I'm seeing three different kinds...
internal teeth
external teeth
split washer

Do you think it matters? I was thinking about going with the internal teeth. They 'look' like they'd be most effective in this instance.

[Gem Singer]

I used split washers made of high carbon steel so that they wouldn't bite into the wood.

They were thicker than the original washers.

I replaced all of the washers, top and bottom, on both tripods.

[paulr]

I think those top knobs are just to add enough stiffness to keep the legs from flopping around. You're never going to actually lock them solidly with those knobs. The tripod gets locked in place by the feet being planted.

[Scott Schroeder]

I hear ya Paul. It just doesn't work that way on a surface like a side walk....
I'd swap it for a Ries if'n they weren't so pricey.
Maybe I'll ditch the knobs altogether and come up with my own locking system.

[Peter Lewin]

I believe that's why Fred Picker added a string "spread control" to later models. He put a "u-shaped" bracket on each leg, and ran a string with a tension-lock through the brackets. By adjusting the length of the resulting loop with the tension-lock, one limited the maximum outward spread of the legs. You could easily add the same to your tripod. (Sorry, don't have a photo of this minor modification to post, if you can find any of the later ZoneVI catalogs, you would see the modification on the tripods page.)

[Gem Singer]

Fred Picker designed the wooden Zone VI tripods for use in the field.

He even added a metal protrusion so that the user could push the spikes into the ground with his foot.

I replaced both wood Zone VI tripods with Bogen-Manfrotto aluminum tripods equipped with rubber feet, retractible spikes, and adjustable leg-spread locks.

[Drew Wiley]

I finally gave away the damn thing to an amateur astronomer. But I replaced all the bolts and washers with stainless steel,
and vaguely recall using stainless lockwashers in there too, also some industrial nylon shims. Once I got ahold of a Ries tripod, I never used the Zone VI again. It was just a relatively so-so survey tripod slightly yet poorly modified.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Picker wasn't the best judge of functionality. His earlier tripods were minimally modified surveyors' pods, but even those had spread limiters such as a nylon rope attached to the legs. Later versions - well, he just plain forgot. Make the same limiter and be happy.

See this: http://www.digoliardi.net/skc1.jpg, an early Picker 'pod which I used for my 8x10" sky camera. The line is not tight here because the leg spikes were dug into the earth.

Fred Picker designed the wooden Zone VI tripods for use in the field.

Picker did not design a damn thing: he appropriated existing products and relabeled them.
.