Lifting Drones Study

A typical drone that you might use for recreational purposes normally only has the capacity to carry a camera and not much else. A heavy lift drone, however, is designed for carrying more weight in the form of a payload.

Consideration

• heavy lift drone (consumer) -vs- commercial drone
• drones with drone geofencing -vs- free flight drones

Fishing drones that drop fishing line are much less expensive than heavy lift drones however the lifting capacitiy in many models will be unsuitable for lifting Dacron paracord type line or any kind of strong line for pulling rope.

DJI Inspire 2

Consumer-friendly model that’s affordable. Also a good camera drone. Can carry up to 1.79lb of weight. Heavy lift quadcopter drone, capable of reaching speeds up to 58mph and flying for up to 27 minutes. 4K camera, a 360-degree rotating gimbal, and an HD video transmission. smartphone via the DJI app, as well as using the included remote controller.

• relative information date: 8/2023
• price guide: $3000 range

DJI Agras MG Series

Agras models start around the $10,000, and typically for business use.

• relative information date: 3/2020
• price guide: $10000+ range

MEGAVM Heavy Lift Drone

Max lifting payload to 26 lbs. carbon fiber one-body fuselage. industrial hexacopter. maximum flight time of 81 minutes. able to work under harsh environment like windy and rainy weather. with Plug-pull arm design allows for quick release.

• relative information date: 8/2023
• price guide: $6900

HSE-UAV HERCULES M6D

The HERCULES M6D UAV Line Stringer is a commercial drone. Couldn't find a price but probably insanely expensive.

• relative information date: 4/2019

DJI Mavic 3 Pro

This is a hobby drone not a lifting drone. This is a camera drone not a lifting drone, however, the DJI Mavic series are known to have some degree of perhaps useful lifting capability and there are accessories for line dropping. For example Amazon has this release and Drop Professional Device for DJI Mavic 1. Enters class of fishing line drone.

Update: probably not practical, based on a comment by someone, "The moment you start to add more weight, the remaining battery drops like crazy (1% every 4-5 seconds). A fully charged battery only lasts 6-8 minutes. You can't get anything meaningful done with such a short flight time."

• relative information date: 8/2023
• price guide: $2200

Yuneec Tornado H920

This is a hobby drone not a lifting drone. Reported to have a payload capacity of 6 lbs however this might include the weight of drone, source needs verified.

Freefly Systems Alta 8

fly professional payloads weighing up to 20-pounds

• price guide: $17,495.00