Getting your quad out of tall trees the easy way

Gyro Doctor

Electronics Tech for over 45 years
I've made an incredibly useful tool for Quad retrieval. :D

It's an aluminum walking cane (even just a short section of broomstick would do) with a "Wrist Rocket" slingshot for the handle and an open face
reel (a.k.a. Spinning Reel) mounted to it. I tied a small sinker to the end of the line. You just shoot over the quad and let the line (clear low strength
monofilament fishing line) drop onto it or the branch it's stuck in. Gently reel in the line until there's only a few feet of it dangling from the branch
or quad, then by gently pulling rhythmically on the line you can get the sinker swinging enough to wrap the line around the quad or branch enough to
be relatively secured/anchored.

After the sinker/line is secured you can then rock that branch enough to dislodge the quad or, if you've "hooked" the quad, just pull it down.
If the branch is too large to get swinging well enough with the light line (the trick is to not pull too hard but use a repeated rhythm to build up the motion)
just try until the line breaks and repeat the firing process BUT without securing the lightweight line, after you've landed the line across the branch, cut it
and tie a heavier line or rope to it. DO NOT try to secure/anchor the rope to the branch, just pull it up and over the branch until you've got a
hold of both ends and rock that branch vigorously. Then you can let go of one end of the rope and pull it back out of the tree. ;)

Works like a charm ! I've gotten my quads out of 150 ft tall pine trees with this method. :cool:

Drone_Retrieval_Tool.jpg
 
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:rolleyes: ... In all honesty I can't claim credit for the idea, it came from a member of another forum I'm in, but I did "take up up a notch or two" ... lol ...
 
I did something similar with a bow and arrow. tied line around arrow and shot it right above the drone (lots of tries) and pulled it down using the tension from the string. The arrow gave enough weight on the other side to pull it down.
 
:rolleyes: ... Yep, same concept but just with a different launching mechanism ... Sure beats climbing trees (even when feasible) and, in cases where you
simply cannot climb up to get it, it's about the only thing you really CAN do to retrieve it. :)
 
My aim is bad, I'd have better luck with a chainsaw.

Maybe I could modify a paintball gun with a similar reel setup for precision delivery of the line...
 
Mine is a Pneumatic tennis ball launcher. Mainly used for throwing wire antennas over the 75 foot + pine trees on the property.
But works great on quads and the occasional squirrel chasing.

Looks like this:

500LP-1.jpg
 
I've been using this. You just set the reel on the ground next to you and shoot the sinker. Started out as a way to put up longwire shortwave antennas but it works just fine for getting quads out of trees.


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FWIW there are lots of thin, braided, ultra strong fishing lines these days. Dyneema PE Braided Fishing Line 100LB Spider wire is one @ ~$13 for 500M.
 
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