More about Black Mule

The Black Mule is a premium electric power drive system designed to attach to virtually any production cart, making heavy gear effortless to move around set. Engineered for demanding environments, it delivers smooth, reliable motorized assistance so you can navigate tight spaces and rugged terrain with total control.

What makes black mule different ?
our system is based on the use of a transaxle that offers the heavy-lifting torque, smooth mechanical turning, and rugged durability needed to move valuable gear safely across demanding environments.

The Black Mule system utilizes a central motor with a heavy-duty transaxle rather than standard hub motors, delivering unmatched reliability, control, and performance.

1

Superior Torque & Efficiency

By utilizing internal mechanical gear reduction, the system pairs a highly efficient, high-RPM motor with optimal gearing. This multiplies torque significantly at the wheels, allowing you to move heavy carts up steep ramps and across rugged terrain without breaking a sweat.

2

Advanced Maneuverability & Differential Steering

Our transaxle features a true mechanical differential. When turning, the outside wheel naturally spins faster than the inside wheel, allowing for incredibly smooth, tight turns. This gives you precision handling in crowded environments without dragging, skidding, or tearing up your tires.

3

Total Downhill Speed Control

Safety shouldn't rely solely on manual brakes. The transaxle’s internal gear reduction provides natural mechanical resistance, preventing runaway acceleration on downward slopes. The system inherently restricts the cart from picking up unwanted momentum, giving you absolute control over your descent speed.

4

Sealed Motor Housing

Built for demanding production environments, the entire motor and drive assembly are completely enclosed in a sealed housing. This keeps out dust, dirt, debris, and moisture, ensuring long-term durability whether you are in a gritty studio or out on a rugged location shoot.

5

Simplified Control & Perfect Tracking

With a single transaxle motor driving both wheels through a unified mechanical linkage, both sides receive identical power perfectly in sync. This guarantees flawless straight-line tracking without the constant steering corrections often required by independent hub motors.

Intelligent Auto-Brake Lever:

Automatically locks the wheels the moment the throttle is released to prevent dangerous rollback on inclines. When you need to go manual, it easily disengages for effortless pushing without any motor resistance.

High-Visibility LED Front Lights

Integrated high-output LED lighting ensures excellent visibility and operational safety during night shoots, dim stages, or low-light load-outs.

Precision Low-Speed Button

Instantly caps your top speed for ultra-safe operation in tight spaces, crowded stages, or close proximity to delicate equipment. Simply toggle it off when you're ready for higher-speed cruising.

Adjustable Height

Our system features a fully adjustable mounting height, ensuring a seamless, level fit on virtually any production cart. Whether you are installing it on a standard frame or a custom build, the mounting hardware easily modifies to perfectly match your cart's native height and ground clearance.

Audible Motion Beeper (Optional):

An optional safety alert that clearly announces the cart is in motion, keeping crew members aware of your movement in busy, fast-paced environments.

What is the difference between Black Mule Systems and other powered wheels?

The main difference is how the wheels are powered. 

Other drive systems use powered motor hubs inside the wheels, similar to those used for electric scooters.

The Black Mule solution was designed around a potent, single axle motor, built for high torque with a differential. This results in a system that is more powerful by design, but also smoother and easier to control under load. The motor clutch actuates a built in brake for more control and safety, and both the motor and brake are fully sealed from the elements for added security.

How do I install the Black Mule system?

The installation depends on the kind of cart you have. Our goal is that you don't have to drill your nice cart in order to mount the systes. So we've created different mounting solution for different carts. We will give you detailed instructions on how to mount it. If you are in Los Angeles area, bring your cart and we will mount it for you free of charge!

What kind of battery do we use?

We use 2 x12V sealed lead acid batteries (connected in series). They are more affordable than Lithium batteries, and safer as well since they don't have the risk of exploding.

Can I use Block Battery to power the system?

Not recomendable. If the carts is heavy and the motor needs to pull a lot of power  from the battery, the breaker on the batteries may get tripped and will shut dow the battery

What kind of warranty do we offer?

We provide 1-year warranty on our systems, but we also offer 14-day satisfaction guaranteed... If you don't love it in the first 2 weeks, bring it back for a full refund.

Does Black-Mule support non-branded carts?

Absolutely. We designed our system with flexibility in mind and created different support systems for different type of carts. So we are always up for the challenge of providing a motorized solution to all kind of carts! Contact us to discuss your needs!

How long does the battery last?

Depending on how much you use it, charging the battery once a week will be more than enough for daily use. The mounted voltage display also shows the remaining battery.

Where are we located?

We are located in Southern California, in the beautiful city of Pasadena.

What is the weight rating for the drive system?

For carts with the 750W motor, an average of 500lbs
For carts with the 2000W motor, an average of 1000lbs

Can you apply this system to other kind of carts

Most likely. When we designed out systems, we had flexibility of installation in mind. Let us know what kind of application you are thinking to start a conversation on how to help you.

Are the batteries used on our systems safe to travel by plane?

Our system is powered by premium, sealed gel batteries designed with safety as a top priority. Unlike traditional lithium-ion options, these gel-sealed batteries carry absolutely no risk of explosion, making them fundamentally safer for transport and fully compliant with major transit regulations. While they are legally cleared and safe to travel by plane, we always recommend checking with your specific airline before departure, as individual carriers occasionally enforce their own distinct policy restrictions regarding battery transport.