clay target thower

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BigFatKen

BigFatKen

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Walnut Hill, about 35 miles west of Auburn, AL
I am considering this:


http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/TRAP416-45460-2160.html
Automatic Target Trap Clay Pigeon Thrower is an Electric Clay Target thrower that uses a standard 12 volt battery to launch clay birds over 100 yards! Holds 50 targets, resets in just seconds and operates by a foot release pedal so you can throw targets for yourself. Activate the release from long distances by adding standard extension cords to the remote. You can pivot the angle of throw and flight direction to create realistic field conditions. Buy several traps and enjoy your own Sporting Clay range or quail walk. Rugged, powder coated construction, weighs just under 70 lbs, compare to automatic traps costing three times as much! All Do-All products are fully warranted by the manufacterer. We do not accept returns on this item. All service issues will be handled by Do-All. Contact them at 1-800-252-9247 for best service


Aerial Assault Automatic Trap Electric Holds 50 Clays Auto
Item #: TRAP-416
Our Low Price: $399.


Any one have experience?
 
I have never seen one, but I will ask around.
The price is right.. and you can change the angle, ect.
 
BigFatKen,

I am looking for an inexpensive auto thrower as well and did some searching at www.shotgunworld.com.

It looks like the bugs are being worked out of the early models of the Do All, and the later ones are starting to work ok.

But, I'm leaning towards the Champion Easy Bird. It's about $425, but doesn't seem to have the teething problems of the Do All. The way I figure it, I'd rather have the home auto thrower made by a company that has been making sucessful commerical ones for quite a while, versus the first model of a company that makes manual ones.

Just a thought. I haven't made up my mind yet. I'll probably do a little more research.
 
I just bought one.

When I first set it up, it broke every bird it threw. I had to work on the timing and then found that there was a slight shipping bend in the plate the bird sits on that was causing a bind and breaking them.
I have only used it once since fixing it but, it worked great...occasionally, had a problem with the feeder but, I think I can get that tweaked out.
 
I bought the Do-All Trap

It throws to the same place each time. It has a wrench adjustable height but other than that, you have to turn the whole unit.
You can extend the foot release or, the company sells a wireless add on release.
 
I’d like to surprise my dad with the gift of a trap thrower, but I know very little about them. Here's what I've been able to get through web searches. Can anyone offer any advice and comparisons regarding the following models?

Promatic Firefly
$749
1 year warranty
Trolley available
75 yard range
2 second cycle time

Atlas AT50
$799
5 year warranty
Trolley available
70 yard range
0.6 second cycle time

Do-All Aerial Assault
$400
2 year warranty
Can't find a trolley option
100 yard range
2 second cycle time

All have a 50 clay capacity. Thanks for your help.
 
Champion Easy Bird is another one to consider:

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=282518

I have a Do All Aerial Assault and one of the later versions, made in July of 2006. The first time I used it, it worked perfectly and didn't break a bird. Threw about 200 that day and really like the remote control. That feature lets you practice shots from different angles even if you're alone. Next two times out, the trap started breaking birds. On the third trip, I was probably breaking 8 out of 10. There is a rubber strip on the throwing arm that was wearing. I replaced that with a piece of plastic crafted from a polyethylene kitchen cutting board, re-adjusted the arm and replaced the bolt holding the spring with a longer one. Took it back out and it works great again. By the way, this trap really will throw a standard clay 100 yards. It really hums the birds with the bolt that came with it to attach the spring. That was the reason I replaced mine with a longer one. It let me slow this thing down so I could hit some birds! I also contacted Do-All when I first started having problems with it, describing them in great detail via e-mail. They responded quickly and are sending me a new arm, however I haven't seen it yet.

IMO, the Do-All isn't for you, unless you are kind of handy and like to tinker. It seems the company is trying to fix it's product, although some of the Chinese made parts on it are kind of crude. The positive side of this trap is the low price (I paid $352 delivered through Wholesale Hunter on an Ebay online auction), the fact that you can get it working right with a little work, and the remote control. My son and a friend went out last weekend and had one of the best clay shoots ever with this trap and remote, practicing different types of shots.

If you don't want to screw with it and want and expect it to work right out of the box, I might consider something else. That Champion Easy Bird looks really similar in design. What little I've heard about it is pretty positive, although I don't know if it has a remote available.

HTH...
 
Promatic

I've had GREAT experience with Promatic products. I currently have 14 auto traps from them, and while I don't have a FIREFLY, I do have the next size up which is the Super Hawk. It is a GREAT machine, but a bit more $$$. I have used a Firefly, and found it very satisfactory. I believe that you would be very happy with the Promatic......
 
I'm not going to argue with Will Fennell, but I haven't heard any bad reports on the Atlas. I would go with the Atlas or the Promatic. Both should suit your needs and last a long time.

Anthony
 
Thanks for all the feedback, especially the info on the Aerial Assault. It sounds like it is a good product, but, for my dad, I’d like to have something that works right out of the box, so your advice is spot on.

I think I’ve narrowed my choices to the Promatic or Atlas. What’s everyone’s opinion on the 5-year warranty on the Atlas vs. the 1-year warranty of the Promatic?

Also, when using a single trap thrower, how significant is a 0.6 second cycle time vs. a 2 second cycle time?
 
I think what you'll want to know from someone who has one is whether one of the traps with a .6 second cycle time can throw a double, meaning with two presses of the button, are there two clays in the air at the same time? The two second cycle time is too slow for that. If the faster traps won't do what I described, then I don't think it matters.
 
I have 2 Pro-Matics.. Super Sixes so a bit more $$.... They are great machines... Extra long range wireless remotes for shooting off cliffs and into valleys, I have loaded.unloaded from my Surburban maybe 50+ times and with all the bouncing around, driving across the country, they still work like a charm. I would not buy one without the oscillation (sp) feature though.... Really makes it more interesting.
 
Follow up on the clay thrower I got

I decided to get my dad the Promatic Firefly, based on opinions here and elsewhere. Here are the pros and cons, starting with the bad news first:

Cons:
  • The instruction/assembly manual isn't very useful. Even the customer service rep apologized for how confusing it is. Promatic produces only one manual, so it covers all of their models. But each model doesn't have its own section - the information for each model is spread throughout the manual under Set Up, Electrical, Spare Parts, etc. Plus, the manual is so old that it doesn't even list the Firefly model. Instead, it has instructions for the Personal Trap Thrower, which is an earlier version of the Firefly.
  • There were only 2 out of the 4 bolts/nuts needed to secure the thrower to the handcart.
  • The plug on the end of the cord to the remote release box broke off. We had to rewire the plug.
  • After throwing about 100 clays, some of the welding beads on the magazine broke.
  • Clays did not load properly when the thrower was elevated above about 40 degrees. Customer service said the teal finger was too long and needed to be trimmed. My dad hasn't had a chance to do that, so we don't know yet if that will fix the problem.
Pros:
  • Customer service was very good. They arranged to have it delivered exactly when I needed it and were very helpful when I couldn't figure out the instruction manual.
  • Warranty service is top-notch - they promptly sent a replacement magazine and covered the postage for returning the broken magazine.
Overall, I'd say the experience was OK. I was surprised at how long it took to get it out of the box and set up, but I didn't have a problem with that. My big disappointment came from all of the problems this unit had, despite the fact that it was supposedly tested before it got shipped. The plug on the cable broke, the magazine broke, and the teal finger wasn't properly adjusted to allow loading above 40 degrees. This was compounded by the fact that we did this on Thanksgiving, so customer service, as good as it was, wasn't available until the next day.

I think customer service will get the problems resolved, but, based on the opinions I heard about Promatic, I wasn't expecting this many problems.
 
Going to buy an Auto skeet launcher

I'm considering buying an automatic skeet launcher to put on a hill at our ranch for my dad's birthday and after reading this thread I have a few questions for y'all.

October, after almost a year of use with the Pro-matic how has it functioned? How heavily have you used the launcher? Would you recomend the model you bought to other folks in the same situation?

Ken, what launcher did you end up buying? How do you like it so far?

I'm planning on bulding a small wooden structure around the thrower to protect the unit from the weather as it will be poised on a bluff on a hill that is 1,600 feet up, do y'all see any issues with the models that you have put in this kind of situation?

Thank you all, in advance, for your help!

Don
 
Maybe next year.

Busy Spring. Maybe next year. I put in a pond on the place that ate a lot of spare cash. When I started trap shooting the clay birds were labeled "Not for use in hog feeding areas". I have no hogs. I have not looked in decades, is this changed?
 
Hi Don,

I sent you a more detailed PM, but the short answer is I'd suggest looking at an Atlas Patriot or AT50.

October
 
I went through FIVE plus Do-all Electric traps over a period of time. NONE of them worked very long and ALL of them required constant maintenance. While Do-All kept sending me new ones, it wasn't worth the frustration of continually having to be assembling, dis assembling and installing parts. I gave up and got my money back (from Cabelas). I could NOT suggest buying one of these.:cuss:
 
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