Manfrotto Pro Tripod anyone ?

Which exactly do you mean? I can't find a line with 074 on Manfrotto's website...

They have some with the extension XPROB (055XPROB, 190XPROB etc.) which are the tripods with the column you mention. They are very handy for macro work but you lose a lot stability if you use it in another than the standard direction... in 90° you can't extend it the whole way and it's very prown to vibrations...