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 throw line for pulling rope.
Quad models lift less weight as a general rule. Useful lifting capacity tends to start with hexacopter models.
Contents
Un-Categorized Drones that can Lift
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
Aurelia X8 Standard
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
DJI Matrice 600 Pro
The Matrice 600 Pro is geared for professional use. maximum payload of 13.23 lbs. flight time: up to 35 minutes. weight: 22.04 lbs. (with batteries installed). It can transmit 1080p video at up to 60 frames per second. DJI Matrice 600 Pro Hexacopter- Aerial drone with remote controller, six intelligent flight batteries, and multi-battery charger.
This is a very good candidate however seems to be restricted and/or out of stock just about everywhere.
- relative information date: ?/2022
- price guide: $6600
