# Anyone have an opinion on Truss Manufacturers



## Old School 512 (Jul 27, 2017)

I have a simple 40ft span with 3 lift points rated at 1440Lbs total. This is to stay in the venue but will be assembled and disassembled according to the venues function. In the old school days Tomcat bolt together was the truss of choice for any pro job. I have seen Global but as I am buying this used Milos Structural Systems has a M290U in 10ft okay 9.84ft and is a couple hundred cheaper per stick. But I lose a rigid end like the Tomcat, but the pin system seems to have been excepted. Anyone have any thoughts, Thank You for your time


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## porkchop (Jul 27, 2017)

Spigots and pins are faster to assemble and easier to inspect for proper installations than traditional bolts IMHO. Just make sure you have the right size pin. I have always been happy with XSF's (https://www.xsftruss.com/) products and I believe they are pretty competitive with their pricing as well.


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## TimMc (Jul 28, 2017)

Spigotted truss is structurally stronger than "plated" or "gusseted" truss as the truss chords are essentially one long piece.

The Global and Chauvet trusses are interesting in that the lacing braces (the 'ric-rac') do not alternate directions, so if you're a stickler for continuous lacing it won't happen with these brands. Frankly I consider them inferior for anything but decoration but they do have engineering documents. I hate them with a passion and wish my boss had never seen how cheap they are. If you are hanging from this any moving lights using half-couplers, make sure the spacing will work with the layout of the lacing braces - a surprising number of major brand fixtures will not fit except in specific (and limited) locations.

Milos, Total Fabrication, James Thomas Engineering, Tomcat, Tyler Truss.... all are good products. Get the data sheets and see which products meet your needs.

If I read your post correctly you're purchasing used. Uh... unless you are competent to inspect truss and have the time and place to fully inspect it before committing to purchase, I'd buy new products exclusively, for installation in a venue. I'm not a trusting person when it comes to trussing and other lifting hardware and I don't want the liability of being the guy who said "well, it *looked* okay to me."


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## Old School 512 (Aug 1, 2017)

Once upon a time Truss was simple a warehouse full of Tomcat and bolts and off you went. Now after much research and leads from Porkchop and TimMc I see selecting truss is not so easy. So my question is I trust 4 bolt connections. However XSF has what they call a Steel Fork Ended design. Milos (who I am leaning towards) offers a separate pin and lock system. Well tomcat seems battle ready and expensive, XSF has both a bolt and fork end price yet unknown 12"x12"x10'. GLP sells a Cosmic Truss is this line safe or is it Comic decoration truss?
4 Wall Entertainments new equipment site newlighting.com has Milos Quick Truss Ultra 12"x12"x10' sections for 299.99 Gearsource.com has a variant of Milos for 283.00 a stick both are new. Even used Tomcat is 12"x12"x10' is 560.00 I just don't think I will be lifting more than 8 to 12 LED moving heads such as Clay Paky K10/20s or Mac Aura's I may have 2 Moving Head spots I may not. I may be surprised by something an incoming show has. Just a simple 40' span supported on 3 points about 20-25' up. The owner would like it to go up and down to be stored between events. I keep trying to explain every event can use lighting and rigging and unrigging every show is ridiculous. This is not a tour the truss and hoists may never leave the venue or be rearranged. 

So do I need Tomcat strength and weight and bolts Uhmmm. What would you use bolt, fork or pin. Thanks All I appreciate your input. Now back over to lighting to get a grip on this LED vs Arc fixtures. Take Care All OS512


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