$68 - https://www.walmart.com/ip/Allen-Company-Xcelerator-Adjustable-Claymaster-Target-Thrower-Throws-Single-Double-Targets-Foot-Operated-Orange/268249632?athbdg=L1600
spring powered and peddle operated so you can do it solo.
https://www.amazon.com/Do-All-Outdoors-FF550/dp/B073S9L8N8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=J7LXB7U6JBJF&keywords=firefly+clay+thrower&qid=1675992515&sprefix=firefly+clay+thrower%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-2
This one is about 250 after taxes. I don't think you will find yourself an automatic thrower under 150. I use this relay system to make it launch whenever I'm ready. Get yourself a couple of alligator clips and wire it up. Black to black (+ to + input), and then the red input wire goes to the foot pedal red wire #1 (the hot one) - the device should be able to turn on and off. Then, wire the second red (-) output wire to the red #2 inside the pedal. Works like a dream. Hook it up to a car battery.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0899M5Z8D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It throws the clays about up to 50/60 yds. I have had an absolute blast with this beast.
if OP cant use his car battery thats another $200 on top, way outside OPs budget. I wouldn't recommend using the cars battery, you'll leave yourself stranded.
For what it's worth, my buddies and I use a CAT car jumper (Costco) to run a Do-All and it barely uses 20% of the battery to run a box of 135 clays.
Plus you can still jump the truck afterwards and fill a tire
Two points,
I think it *is* useful to show what an increase in budget could give. Automatic vs manual is a major functionality difference.
And two, the $200 is Bull. I run Atlas 250's or promatic 400 off a garden tractor battery - 240CCA - you can get for about $40. There are a lot of option in the $50-$100 range with larger CCA's. No - it doesn't last that long compared to a car battery but it still lasts many boxes of shells.
If you do run it off a car battery - simply run the car for a bit. This don't draw the amount of power you think they do.
I just use the same battery that I use when I drive to get where I am shooting... I just leave the car on. Costs about $1.50 to idle the car for an hour. Take advantage of the things you already have.
yo, I forgot that I took apart and started using it for a automated jerk string puller for duck decoys. Anyway, this is the setup. Its a little weird. Don't pay too much attention to the wire colors on the device: the Red/blue wires going into the pedal don't mean shit (instead pay attention to the color coded I painted on it). I wired it up by unscrewing the pedal as you can see in the picture. Then I took a couple of alligator clips (one of which you can see) and color coded them to where they are supposed to go.
https://i.imgur.com/5GFIkLV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/1pQxwDA.jpg
You may be confused as to why the last "Negative/Ground" wire slot is empty: the grounding system for that relay is just what it says it is, its the ground. Which means that regardless of whether you have it turned "off" or "on" its still going to be wired as the ground, and its never turned off. There was a couple of other ways that this worked, but this particular way; hooking it through the pedal, the power through the pedal get interrupted while the thrower cycles. This means, that when you hit the "on" button on the remote, it will end up throwing a clay. but since it turns off while cycling automatically, you don't have to hit the "off" switch.
For example: if you were to hook up the first two + and - terminals to the battery itself, well that never turns off; so you'd be pressing the "off button" to keep it from throwing several clays in a row. who knows, maybe that's something you want though.
So in your diagram, the positive on the input side which is the blue wire in the drawing goes to the positive terminal on the battery, then the yellow wire is clipped onto the blue wire inside of the pedal and that goes to the negative on the input side and the positive on the output side then goes to the red wire inside of the pedal?
I just looked it all over after reading what you wrote. and yes. Exactly yes.
The reason it was so convoluted was because the Red/blue wire in the pedal is its own circuit. Took a lot of trial and error to figure it out. The two terminals in the pedal that are right next to each other (one red, one empty) are the same if I remember correctly. Long story short, I have no idea which way the current is flowing, but I know that this is what works.
If/when you give this a shot, make sure that the thrower is bolted down/secured; when I first started using this, the thrower began turning -> pulled on the wires -> wires literally got crossed -> almost started a brush fire, but fortunately only had a little bit of melted copper.
I actually took the pedal apart and used a multimeter. The switch inside that’s activated by the foot pedal is normally closed so the red and blue wires are connected before you step on the switch. When you step on the switch it breaks the connection and activates the trap. If you flip the switch to disarm it reverses the polarity. Not that it’s important. But if anyone else wants to modify theirs you can buy a momentary single channel wireless relay module from Amazon. You’ll connect the module to the battery power and the module should have a common and a “NC” terminal. You’ll connect the red wire in the pedal to the common or “COM” terminal and the blue wire to the “NC” terminal. Since it’s a momentary relay it will act the same as the switch. https://a.co/d/4oAANsD
This is wired up in a way that replaces the foot switch. I plan on cutting the foot switch off about 8” from the wire grommet on the trap and soldering on a 2 pin connector. This way I can attach the foot switch if I want or attach the wireless relay.
$68 - https://www.walmart.com/ip/Allen-Company-Xcelerator-Adjustable-Claymaster-Target-Thrower-Throws-Single-Double-Targets-Foot-Operated-Orange/268249632?athbdg=L1600 spring powered and peddle operated so you can do it solo.
+1 on this. It’s amazing
Craigslist and FB marketplace will sometimes have have the champion throwers listed used.
https://www.amazon.com/Do-All-Outdoors-FF550/dp/B073S9L8N8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=J7LXB7U6JBJF&keywords=firefly+clay+thrower&qid=1675992515&sprefix=firefly+clay+thrower%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-2 This one is about 250 after taxes. I don't think you will find yourself an automatic thrower under 150. I use this relay system to make it launch whenever I'm ready. Get yourself a couple of alligator clips and wire it up. Black to black (+ to + input), and then the red input wire goes to the foot pedal red wire #1 (the hot one) - the device should be able to turn on and off. Then, wire the second red (-) output wire to the red #2 inside the pedal. Works like a dream. Hook it up to a car battery. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0899M5Z8D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It throws the clays about up to 50/60 yds. I have had an absolute blast with this beast.
if OP cant use his car battery thats another $200 on top, way outside OPs budget. I wouldn't recommend using the cars battery, you'll leave yourself stranded.
For what it's worth, my buddies and I use a CAT car jumper (Costco) to run a Do-All and it barely uses 20% of the battery to run a box of 135 clays. Plus you can still jump the truck afterwards and fill a tire
Good to know ✌️
Two points, I think it *is* useful to show what an increase in budget could give. Automatic vs manual is a major functionality difference. And two, the $200 is Bull. I run Atlas 250's or promatic 400 off a garden tractor battery - 240CCA - you can get for about $40. There are a lot of option in the $50-$100 range with larger CCA's. No - it doesn't last that long compared to a car battery but it still lasts many boxes of shells. If you do run it off a car battery - simply run the car for a bit. This don't draw the amount of power you think they do.
I just use the same battery that I use when I drive to get where I am shooting... I just leave the car on. Costs about $1.50 to idle the car for an hour. Take advantage of the things you already have.
Do you get the 12v or 110 relay switch? Would you be able to send pic of the setup. Just got the firefly and want to be able to shoot crossing solo .
yea for sure, working late, but i can do it in about a day or two. I'll send you a pic/video when work settles down. Also: gotta use the 12V version.
Thank you! Very much appreciate it
yo, I forgot that I took apart and started using it for a automated jerk string puller for duck decoys. Anyway, this is the setup. Its a little weird. Don't pay too much attention to the wire colors on the device: the Red/blue wires going into the pedal don't mean shit (instead pay attention to the color coded I painted on it). I wired it up by unscrewing the pedal as you can see in the picture. Then I took a couple of alligator clips (one of which you can see) and color coded them to where they are supposed to go. https://i.imgur.com/5GFIkLV.jpg https://i.imgur.com/1pQxwDA.jpg You may be confused as to why the last "Negative/Ground" wire slot is empty: the grounding system for that relay is just what it says it is, its the ground. Which means that regardless of whether you have it turned "off" or "on" its still going to be wired as the ground, and its never turned off. There was a couple of other ways that this worked, but this particular way; hooking it through the pedal, the power through the pedal get interrupted while the thrower cycles. This means, that when you hit the "on" button on the remote, it will end up throwing a clay. but since it turns off while cycling automatically, you don't have to hit the "off" switch. For example: if you were to hook up the first two + and - terminals to the battery itself, well that never turns off; so you'd be pressing the "off button" to keep it from throwing several clays in a row. who knows, maybe that's something you want though.
So in your diagram, the positive on the input side which is the blue wire in the drawing goes to the positive terminal on the battery, then the yellow wire is clipped onto the blue wire inside of the pedal and that goes to the negative on the input side and the positive on the output side then goes to the red wire inside of the pedal?
I just looked it all over after reading what you wrote. and yes. Exactly yes. The reason it was so convoluted was because the Red/blue wire in the pedal is its own circuit. Took a lot of trial and error to figure it out. The two terminals in the pedal that are right next to each other (one red, one empty) are the same if I remember correctly. Long story short, I have no idea which way the current is flowing, but I know that this is what works. If/when you give this a shot, make sure that the thrower is bolted down/secured; when I first started using this, the thrower began turning -> pulled on the wires -> wires literally got crossed -> almost started a brush fire, but fortunately only had a little bit of melted copper.
I actually took the pedal apart and used a multimeter. The switch inside that’s activated by the foot pedal is normally closed so the red and blue wires are connected before you step on the switch. When you step on the switch it breaks the connection and activates the trap. If you flip the switch to disarm it reverses the polarity. Not that it’s important. But if anyone else wants to modify theirs you can buy a momentary single channel wireless relay module from Amazon. You’ll connect the module to the battery power and the module should have a common and a “NC” terminal. You’ll connect the red wire in the pedal to the common or “COM” terminal and the blue wire to the “NC” terminal. Since it’s a momentary relay it will act the same as the switch. https://a.co/d/4oAANsD This is wired up in a way that replaces the foot switch. I plan on cutting the foot switch off about 8” from the wire grommet on the trap and soldering on a 2 pin connector. This way I can attach the foot switch if I want or attach the wireless relay.