Using a tree service company to rescue a Phantom ???

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Anyone in the U.S. used a tree service contractor to rescue a quadcopter stuck in a tree ??

I was flying my new P2 Vision+ at the local park today and I came dangerously close to the trees at the edge of the park. If I wasn't paying attention, I could have flown my new $1,800 toy (with amps, antennas, Flytrex, etc) right into some mighty oaks and then I'd be crying like a baby. I'm non-wealthy, 42 yrs. old and 50 lbs. overweight and I'm not about to risk life and limb scampering up a 75-foot tree to retrieve my stuck *** bird :mrgreen:

Some of those tree service companies have bucket trucks that can reach 75 feet heights, plus using a long pole could probably snag a quad at around 100 feet tops. How much would it cost to hire them in case the unthinkable happens?

:roll: :roll: :roll:
 
It just may cost you less to go and rent the "lift" from a rental company.
 
My tree guy charges $200 just to come to the work site. Each company may vary their charges after that, depending on the equipment they use, the time they spend, etc.
 
$150 is one answer.

I was flying with a friend who got his P1 stuck in a tree at the local high school. He almost went to the Fire Dept, but I told him he'd have more luck with a tree guy. He called the Assistant Vice Principal and got permission to retrieve his quad.

Initially, the tree guy told him $75 but when he saw how high it was, he doubled the price to $150. I estimate it at 70-75 feet.

The tree was one in a line of trees that like drones. A few months later I rescued an AR Parrot drone out of the same line of trees with my P1.
 
Happyflyer said:
It just may cost you less to go and rent the "lift" from a rental company.

Those boom lifts can get quite expensive.

A few years back, my father was interested in mounting his DirecTV dish on top a 50-foot HAM radio tower in order to get better LOS to the satellites because of some tall trees in his yard. The rental company quoted him $375 for one day for a 50-ft. lift.

:shock:
 
Clipper707 said:
A few months later I rescued an AR Parrot drone out of the same line of trees with my P1.

How much did you charge?

I was thinking of placing a Craigslist ad for Parrot rescues --- maybe $75 for an uncomplicated retrieval. Cool way to pay off my Vision Plus.

Now I just have to start 3D printing a cute little winch ..... :mrgreen:
 
A lot of farms these days have telescopic loaders and might help retrieve it up to about 30 feet anyway.
They could give a tree a good shake if they couldn't reach it. :cool:
If passing or working nearby might even be free!

In a park-like environment there would be concerns it might fall on someone innocently walking by so if officialdom got involved it might be out of your hands.
 
I made a 40ft hook with 40ft of PVC and a plastic coat hanger to retrieve mine once. But I do have a friend with a bucket truck just in case.
Mine went into come home mode and a tree was in between it and its path.
 
My dad owns a sign company so for my first tree event I just called the office and they sent the bucket truck out. Was only ~30' up for this event.
 
cosmonaut said:
I made a 40ft hook with 40ft of PVC and a plastic coat hanger to retrieve mine once. But I do have a friend with a bucket truck just in case.
Mine went into come home mode and a tree was in between it and its path.

That's why it's a really REALLY good idea to climb to a safe altitude and reset the Home Point there (rapidly flip S2 between CL and HL and back 3-5 times).
 
There's a video on YouTube somewhere of a guy that had his rescued by a fire department.

I thought about some possibilities of some kind of telescoping pole with a hook that could fit it a car but I don't know the details of how to do it. It made me think when I saw a worker in a clothing shop use a pole with a hook to get shirts hung near the ceiling. I never had a tree issue but hope to never have one.
 
knuckles said:
I thought about some possibilities of some kind of telescoping pole with a hook that could fit it a car but I don't know the details of how to do it. It made me think when I saw a worker in a clothing shop use a pole with a hook to get shirts hung near the ceiling. I never had a tree issue but hope to never have one.

Somebody with some engineering gusto and a machine shop could design something similar to a boom lift but a lot cheaper by making it extend a telescoping galvanized pipe out to 125 feet or so so you dont have to stick a 250-lb. human at the end of it. Equip the end of it with a motorized grappling hook and HD camera so you can see what's happening up there. Maybe even a small chainsaw attachment to cut tree limbs. You can operate the whole boom with an electric motor and 6-way joystick from the ground. This entire gizmo would be light enough to tow with a mid-size car.

I would guess if drones become really popular then getting them snagged high in the trees will also become popular. And thus, necessity is the Mother of Invention and someone will get rich off the remote-operated telescopic boom idea.

:mrgreen:
 
HarryT said:
cosmonaut said:
I made a 40ft hook with 40ft of PVC and a plastic coat hanger to retrieve mine once. But I do have a friend with a bucket truck just in case.
Mine went into come home mode and a tree was in between it and its path.

That's why it's a really REALLY good idea to climb to a safe altitude and reset the Home Point there (rapidly flip S2 between CL and HL and back 3-5 times).

I agree..... Next time I will do that.
 

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