TBow Posted April 9, 2010 Report Share Posted April 9, 2010 I was just wondering if anyone had ever built a camcorder tree mount? I don't mean for a trail monitor camera system. I mean a mount system for a camcorder so you can videotape your hunts from your tree stand while hunting. There are several types on the market and you can drop as much as a few hundred bucks for cadilac units such as the Hunter's Cam Cradle and I've seen a few units in Cabela's for under $50. I've got a chance at buying half a dozen used camera tripods and figured I could use the parts to build a few systems. Any suggestions or pitfalls in trying to use tripod parts? TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowtechTurkeyHunter Posted April 9, 2010 Report Share Posted April 9, 2010 Well in my opinion and having used the "cheaper" models I used HCO's (Honey Creek Outdoors) camera arm this last year ... its by far hands down the best and most economical camera arm I have ever used ... I can tell you first hand some of the struggles he went through designing that arm too to get it where it is today. About the only thing you would be able to use off the tripod would be the head but maybe your creative mind can figure something else out. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBow Posted April 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2010 Thanks Steve. I just looked at my old tripod that I have here at home. It had been my intension to use the camera mount swivel head and I had even thought about using the tripod's square legs as the arms. I thought the legs were square tubing, but I see now that they are 'C' channel in a light guage metal, so twisting looks like it'd be a problem. I was gon'na try to use teflon spacers/washers between the arms at the pivot points with stainless hardware and locknuts to secure those points. I've got a few ideas floating around in my head for the tree mount. One is to use a mounting plate with a strong ratchet strap as I have a few kicking around. I found 6 old tripods on a public auction site that will likely go for about $75 or so for the whole lot. I even looked up swivel heads on ebay and see that I can get a cheap version for about $15 each. It's just a home project to keep me busy. Like I need more work what with all the honey-do's that the bride already has planned for me! TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted April 9, 2010 Report Share Posted April 9, 2010 Built one that went in our box blind, kind of semi permanently attached. Used square tubing and a piece of flat steel. Used a window mount for the head and attached that to the square tubing with the clamp. Works fairly well, but I did end up getting an archers choice arm last year for using in treestands. I like the archers choice arm, very affordable and a good arm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted April 9, 2010 Report Share Posted April 9, 2010 Well in my opinion and having used the "cheaper" models I used HCO's (Honey Creek Outdoors) camera arm this last year ... its by far hands down the best and most economical camera arm I have ever used ... I can tell you first hand some of the struggles he went through designing that arm too to get it where it is today. About the only thing you would be able to use off the tripod would be the head but maybe your creative mind can figure something else out. Steve Ditto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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