Proper foot removal technique?

[Steve Goldstein]

This is for my tripod, not me, so please don't suggest swords, chainsaws, or other similar tools

Given the surfeit of snow around here (near Boston, MA, USA) at the moment, I decided to get some G1220.130B3 "snowshoe" feet for my G1227MKII tripod. They came with a nice little guarantee and maintenance booklet in most of the world's languages, but it's pretty useless as it has no instructions. The exploded-view diagram for my tripod, downloaded from the Gitzo site, suggests that the original pyramidal plastic feet should pull out, but I've had no luck in removing them.

Any ideas?

[mdarnton]

You should be able to tell by the base on the new feet. Some of the photos I see of Gitzo feet look like my Manfrotto feet. If that's the case, the round plastic part is slightly tapered and jams into place. The "right" way to remove them would not involve channelocks and some twisting and pulling, but that's how I'd do it. :-) On the other hand, I see that their monopod uses threaded inserts, and the foot has a place for a wrench. On the other other hand, I see a photo on B&H of Gitzo snowshoe feet that appear to have a hole for the existing feet to plug right into.

Got photos?

[Jac@stafford.net]

The stock tips should just screw out counter-clockwise. Don't they?
.

[Jerry Bodine]

These attach to original tripod feet, without the need to remove/replace them. The original foot nests into the receptacle in the center of the all-weather foot which has a "bungee cord with ball on its end" that is wrapped around the end of the tripod's leg and is secured in a socket that is integral with the all-weather foot:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...er_Tripod.html

They provide a measure of flotation in soft surfaces.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Jerry, nice part, but he's got the G1220.130B3.

[Steve Goldstein]

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

One of the Gitzo exploded view docs shows the G1220.130B3 as fitting the 1227 tripod, which is why I bought them. Jerry pointed out the 1586 feet, which had the following text in the overview "Provides stability in snow, mud, sand, etc. These work with the carbon fiber series tripods (1127, 1128, 1227, 1228 & 1325) which are unable to accept threads in their feet."

I'll be ordering a set momentarily.

Thank you Jerry. I'm glad I posted rather than resorting to Michael's method...

[Fred L]

I'd go with the bungee feet for convenience but unless there's a mistake in the parts text, then the feet *should* unscrew. Maybe take a pair of vice grips to see if it does unscrew ?

[Bob Salomon]

Why not just call EP Levine and ask them?

[Keith Pitman]

I tried to get snowshoe feet for my Gitzo a few years ago and found that some Gitzo feet are not interchangeable. Don't know about yours, but you can call Gitzo.

[Steve Goldstein]

The G1586 feet Jerry mentioned arrived, and they're great! Their ~137mm (almost 5-1/2") diameter is much bigger than the G1220.B130B3 feet. The bungee-type attachment means I can also use them with my Feisol 3441S travel tripod, or pretty much any tripod with smallish feet. I'll set up my Gitzo in the yard later today to check them out - there's more than a meter of snow on the ground, so that should be a fair test.

Thank you Jerry, and everyone else who added their thoughts.