Winch Retriever

[Blue_Duck]

Hello,

Does anyone know of any plans out there for building a retriever for your winch.

I know that I used one at a distant club meet and the next guy up would pedal the parachute/winch hook back to the launch area.

Blue Duck

[rogerflies]

I did a google and came up with nothing. I assume you did that, too. There are a few sites with pretty good pictures of retrievers, and building one isn't all that hard, if you've got access to some machine tools and a welder.
http://www.handsfreeretriever.com/

I built some retrievers a long while back that worked pretty well in a contest setting. They were "hands-free", but a little simpler than the one above. The arm with the pickup wand was spring-loaded so it would move in front of the spool when the motor started. I used 16" plastic bike rims for the spools and Bosch PM starters from 85-100HP outboard engines for power. I can probably email or post some pics here, if you're interested.

I think most of the builders stopped making them because of the liability issue. They can be very dangerous, if you're not careful.

Roger

[skewbe]

I'm thinking an rc car/truck with a little video transmitter and a claw/hook would be appropriate :) Or even a dog, "go fetch the parachute!".

[Jurgen]

http://www.laserarts.com/index.php?cPath=26_31
I never saw the plans nor the builded result myself.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=450984
for some topic covering.

Jurgen.

[rogerflies]

Here's some pics. The bar that holds the wand out of the way rests on the belt. When the motor starts, the bar is flipped down, and the spring-loaded wand moves in front of the spool to pick up the line.

Roger

[Blue_Duck]

Thanks Guys for the response-- I will order the plans from Laser Arts today,

as I have a small machine shop to work with.

Roger let me look the plans over and maybe then I could adapt some sort of automatic arm like You have. Not sure of what the LA has.

thasnks again Blue Duck

[DACeller]

There is another thread that has plans now after my inquiry,, and modifications since that are significant. I find this the simplest design (use of a model engine starter motor since I happen to have a few, and elimination of automatic line pickup). Further discussion by the author and others indicate that in their opinion use of 'any' retriever is useless and troublesome when flying alone. I'll find out when I finish my build and I do fly alone.
Here is that link:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=529093

[mlee8249]

Hi DACeller,

Apparently, that suggestion that using any retriever while flying alone is useless did not take into account a couple of very good retreivers that were designed for the person flying alone.

I have the VMC retreiver that is now about 15 years old, and designed for single man use. You launch, and when you release from the tow line, step on the left side lever of the retreiver to release the guide arm and then step on the right lever to begin the retreive. Unfortunately, it has not been manufactured for at least 15 years.

The other one, I don't know who make it, but it is literally an over-grown open face fishing reel that someone one made a few dozen of. To use, you pull the line bale over the face of the drum to allow the line to spool out. It is retained by a simple wire hook. To use, you release from the towline, and simply step on the retreiver's foot pedal and it reels in like a fishing reel. The bale rotates around the drum. I suspect this has not been manufactured for at least 15 years. But ours is still in operation and works great as a one man system. Both of our retreivers work flawlesssly.

And then there is the Hands Free Retreiver that is being manufactured with now and it works pretty awesome. A little pricey, but a great retriever. Made by Rick Bothel.

Mike Lee

[Jurgen]

Note that handsfreeretriever comes in 2 kinds, the contest model and the smaller personal version. I saw then both working on a video operated by the pilot alone. Seems lots of research is done on them.
Jurgen.

[rogerflies]

I really don't see why you need a motor to bring the pickup wand over in front of the spool when a simple spring will do. Both require manual resetting, and it only takes a few seconds to reset the spring-loaded version.

Mark Drela's plan is very nice, but I'd go for a larger spool to reduce the tendency for the line to twist. I found a 14" aluminum frying pan on eBay for $20. His gently-curved pickup wand with anti-foul guard is a work of art.

It looks like the Laser Arts retriever is fully manual.

Roger

[jbrandon]

The retriever DACeller mentioned is one that I built (http://theshope.net/hobby.aspx) and have been refining and have just about got it to where I want it. I have documented it fairly well and there is a write up and a drawing available. One of the nice things is you can make it without a lot of machine tools. It will cost you less than $200 to make.

I burned up the airplane starter motor and bought a Sullivan but it was no better, well maybe a little but still would stall on retrieve. I went to an outboard starter from a Mercury motor as it has a little longer shaft so you can get a pulley attached. The dimensions are almost the same, just a little bigger in diameter but I could still use the same clamps as with the airplane starter motor. It has plenty of torque and with a 6” driven and a 1 1/2" drive pulley the speed is very controllable, takes about 30 seconds to retrieve 700 feet. I just added a link belt and the whole thing is quite smooth and quiet.

I use mine by myself all the time. When off the line I run the line down almost to the turnaround, this keeps the line from falling back on itself and causing tangles. I also went to a 50 pound braided Dacron fishing line which is about .018” in diameter on the retriever and does not want to float back as bad as the #9 nylon line. I really think you could get away with 30 pound line for the retriever.

My next goal is to make an automatic arm to pick up the line an put it over the hub for retrieval but wanted to get everything else worked out before starting that.

[DACeller]

Mike Lee : I was aware of the VMC retriever and that it was out of manufacture so I've been looking elsewhere. I was not aware of the fishing reel style machine but would request someone post info/pics on it if possible. jBrandon's machine is still in development (really) so I might just wait until he's thru with that and get the final drawings etc before continuing.
There is a real need for a single man retriever and I'd like to get my hands on one that is known to work; otherwise build it!

[terminal eagle]

The Big Zebco!!

These were mfg by Jim Harger for a few years and work great.
It allows single pilot operation and when you get the hang of it you
can launch and retrieve the line ALL the way back to the winch while flying.
Then when you land only the BAIL need to be reset, then launch.

[ChuckA]

My club had two of Jim Harger' big zebco retrievers about 10 years ago. They worked great but weren't robust enough for contest work. We had to rebuild them after every contest and eventually replaced several components with new stronger parts. We eventuallysold them and built Davy type retrievers that are still going strong after over 10 years of hard use. It would be great for personal use but it won't stand up to hard use.

[skipinhouston]

Blue Duck.
A Lonesome Dove fan, are we :)
SkipinHouston

[Blue_Duck]

Hahahaha,

Yes I am Skipinhouston---your the first to see that one.

Later

[terminal eagle]

We have had these in our club for years and have had Thousands of launches without
any major problems.


If there are any of these old style retrievers out there somebody wants to sell then
please let me know.
Thank you
Tim

[DACeller]

My club had two of Jim Harger' big zebco retrievers about 10 years ago. They worked great but weren't robust enough for contest work. We had to rebuild them after every contest and eventually replaced several components with new stronger parts. We eventuallysold them and built Davy type retrievers that are still going strong after over 10 years of hard use. It would be great for personal use but it won't stand up to hard use.

Could you include pics and a reference for obtaining one? This is a nice forum spot to consolidate all these types, I think.

[allanp]

Our club is selling off some excess equipment and 2 of the items are "Rahm" retrievers. If you are not familiar with them you probably don't want them They can be a handful if you don't operate them properly!
These are 12V motors that we operate on 6V to slow them down.
If interested reply offline
altarapars@earthlink.net
Allan Parsons
Equipment Mgr
Orlando Buzzards

[Mark Miller]

The best retreiver is a 12 year old and a golf cart or better yet...a Honda 90.

Mark

[OVSS Boss]

Ditto that Mark, that smooth motor sound is always appreciatted.

Marc

[Blue_Duck]

Well the plans arrived from Laser Arts.

Need to round up a few materials, but this is really easy to build, and will be perfect for my use.

The retriever does not have an automatic arm ----- but who needs that anyway. Its very simple to just transfer the line to the takeup spool and retrieve. I watched and used one just like this at several of the Utah thermal -D contests. No problems at all.

Thanks to all that responded to this thread---Take a look at the Laser Arts
Retriever Plans

Blue Duck

[rbothell]

Please check out my Hands Free Retriever at www.handsfreeretriever.com To manually reset the arm down you just push a button. I just finished a new version using a direct drive system. It works fantastic. Email me with your name and postal address and I'll send you a VHS tape showing my two versions. Good thermals to you. Rick Bothell

[markdrela]

Well the plans arrived from Laser Arts.
Need to round up a few materials, but this is really easy to build, and will be perfect for my use.
The LA retriever has one flaw --- the six bolts holding the spool assembly are grossly inadequate. The tightly wound retriever line exerts enormous outward pressure on the spool assembly, and the soft aluminum pan will deform like taffy and bulge out in between the six widely-spaced bolts. To prevent the deformation, I had to add eighteen #10 bolts around the pan, on the largest circle possible, i.e. just inside the spool-drum diameter.

[KevinSheen]

How large is the pan you used on the LA (laser arts) retriever?

thanks, Kevin

[sleep4]

I can testify to the effectiveness of Rick Bothell's Hands Free Retriever. I have owned & used one for several months now and it has been 100% reliable. I highly recommend it to anyone considering purchase of a retriever. The safety of no hands around the moving parts is fantastic. I have the Competition model. A picture is attached.

[markdrela]

How large is the pan you used on the LA (laser arts) retriever?

11" diameter. I actually only used the LA spool design to make my own version of a hands-off retriever. Working drawing is attached. Note the large number of #10 bolts clamping the spool together.

[easyed]

We also purchased one of Richards Hands free retrievers it has been 100% reliable. One of the best things we found that every one can use it after only 1-2 minets of instruction.
At first quite a few members at first thought it was too expensive. Now it is the best money spent by the club in several years. It has cut down our winch-retriever problems by 95%.
Ed
Las Vegas Soaring Club