Electric or Hand Thrower?

bilbo9823

bilbo9823

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I have been skeet shooting countless times with many different groups and I find it is straight in the middle between an electric thrower or a hand thrower being used. I just find that hand throwers always work where electric throwers have the time break. Do my friends just get cheap throwers or is this normal because of the mechanism?

Just seeing whether you all use the old fashion or better electric throwers?
 
Hand throwers are way cheaper and easier to transport. I have had clays break with a hand thrower before. With new people they often can't seem to throw it decently which confuses me. I have also had people throw the entire thing at me because it slipped out of their hand.

I have never had any issue using a electric thrower. I am too cheap to buy one though so I still use my plastic hand thrower
 
RangerPark said:
How about a foot thrower? Look up Trius One Step trap thrower. I like mine but I'm not much of a clays guy.
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I'd be interested to know if any CGNers have experience with this Trius One Step thrower. I really like the Birchwood Casey 'Ultimate hand thrower, but spouse and some younger gents have had difficulty.
 
My champion workhorse works like a horse. I love the thing.

The best reason to use an electric is so you can set it up 15 yards out in front of you. Not able to do that with anything other than inlaws with the hand thrower.
 
If you think that you have been shooting "skeet" with a hand thrower, or a single portable thrower, do yourself a favor, and go to and actual skeet field, and you will soon realize, that you haven't really been shooting skeet.:)
 
stubblejumper said:
If you think that you have been shooting "skeet" with a hand thrower, or a single portable thrower, do yourself a favor, and go to and actual skeet field, and you will soon realize, that you haven't really been shooting skeet.:)
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lol...yep, more like an super-predictable trap session with slower birds. :) I've been using the plastic hand throwers for a while, and when I'm throwing...it's more LIKE trap in the sense that no two release directions are exactly the same. :) I also have one of the spring-loaded "ClayHawk" things on a cheesy, triangular metal base that I thought might be an upgrade. Nope. After a hundred birds...the bolts start to loosen, and there is so much momentum in that arm swinging that staking it down simply doesn't work. You're better off with one of these pedal-activated ones that has 3 stakes facing down.

Back to the hand ones~I have two, the regular red/short one...and another that's the same, only it came with a fiberglass rod that serves as a handle to lengthen it. THAT thing can get the birds just cooking, and when my 6'4" nephew launches with that...you better have good eyes, and a FULL choke. lol There are some that even have two heads, allowing you to throw 2 birds at once. We had our short, plastic one out on Saturday...my son shot 125 rounds with the 20ga express. :)
 
nothing wrong with hand throwers, to have some fun . With electric machines, you get what you pay for. Entry level machines have a few problems that come up now and then. If you spend some money and buy good quality machines, they will throw many thousands of targets with little maintenance. However they are not very portable.
 
I had the hand loaded spring type and with some tape to protect the clays it worked okay. It was 20 bucks at a yard sale and not worth a penny more. Better than nothing but not great.

I then got the Trius One Step trap thrower. It works awesome and can throw doubles too. It is fast with the tension set and one clay only. With two guys you can get a very realistic practice session. This thing is heavy metal construction and I would expect it to last a lifetime with a reasonable amount of care.

I then purchased the Wheely Bird 2.0. Love this thing and my only regret is not buying it first. It has a remote with a delay timer. It works flawlessly and it is a lot of fun to use. We set it up in a field and walk around the perimeter and fire from different positions. Great practice and a great machine.

Lastly a local store was giving away the plastic hand throwers when you purchase a case of shells and a box of clays. Ended up with a few of them and they work surprisingly well if the thrower is athletically coordinated. We always bring one along to throw a different angle into the mix and challenge the shooter. All you need to get started and much better than the spring loaded one that you load and pull the string. Not as good as the Trius One Step but 10 bucks instead of 180
 
Even the expensive electric throwers at the club have their problems from time to time. The Wheely Bird 2.0 is a great thrower, especially if you don’t the energy to use a manual thrower.
 
Wheelybird 2.0 is a good entry level pasture Trap machine, but I think that you need to be a bit mechanically inclined to adjust and keep it working reliably. I have two of them, and have set them up with long trigger cords to allow some presentations more like Skeet or 5 Stand. They can throw a bird faster and further than a properly set-up ATA Trap machine, if that is desired.
They are certainly not as reliable or trouble free as the "serious" machines at the club, but then, they cost a whole lot less.
 
Good quality electric portable like an Atlas and you will never have an issue. These are probably the best all around portable machines that won' t require a mortgage.
 
I picked up a Champion Workhorse a little while ago, and recently added the wobble base attachment. I'm into it for about $620 total (The thrower goes on sale regularly at Cabela's. The wobble base I had to pay full price, which ended up costing about as much as the thrower), but it was definitely worth it. You can disable the left/right or up/down movements by disconnecting linkage, or the wobbler comes with an on/off switch so you can just shut it off completely.

workhorse.jpg
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I only have about 2 cases of clays through the whole setup, but it has been flawless so far. The random pattern it throws the clays in is perfect (Good sweep left to right, and ranging from almost horizontal to close to 45° vertical). I ran it for an hour or so on an older battery booster pack, and the charge indicator was still reading 'full' after sitting for a bit.


Only downside is how much faster I go through clays and shells now, haha. I ran a Trius one step for years, and this thing is SO much better.
 
Dr.Islay said:
I'd be interested to know if any CGNers have experience with this Trius One Step thrower. I really like the Birchwood Casey 'Ultimate hand thrower, but spouse and some younger gents have had difficulty.
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I have one and like it. It works every time and for the price I have no regrets.
 
I’ve built two electric throwers. Both powered by 18v cordless drills. One uses makita batteries and will throw a whole box of clays on a single battery. The other is dewalt powered and will only throw 80 on one battery. I have cheap eBay wireless controllers on both. One remote will throw one or the other or both at once via programable buttons. I also have a corded foot pedal for both connected with an extension cord.
They’re both carousel style. One with a six tube magazine, and the other with a four tube magazine.
Very fun with a few friends or by yourself. They’re heavy though. Quite a bit more than the cabelas stuff.
 
Dr.Islay said:
I'd be interested to know if any CGNers have experience with this Trius One Step thrower. I really like the Birchwood Casey 'Ultimate hand thrower, but spouse and some younger gents have had difficulty.
Click to expand...

Your spouse and younger gents will likely have issues with the one step as well. It takes quite a bit of weight/force to stretch the spring; lighter people usually end up not pressing down hard enough and almost getting bucked off without throwing a clay. You almost have to jump up off of the ground and use all of your weight to operate it properly if you're lighter.
 
Scotty454 said:
Your spouse and younger gents will likely have issues with the one step as well. It takes quite a bit of weight/force to stretch the spring; lighter people usually end up not pressing down hard enough and almost getting bucked off without throwing a clay. You almost have to jump up off of the ground and use all of your weight to operate it properly if you're lighter.
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Thanks for this.

It's sounding like my budget should be increased a bit to get into an electric thrower. Best way to ensure the most enjoyment for all involved. Spend more time shooting and less time messing with equipment.
 
saskbooknut said:
Wheelybird 2.0 is a good entry level pasture Trap machine, but I think that you need to be a bit mechanically inclined to adjust and keep it working reliably. I have two of them, and have set them up with long trigger cords to allow some presentations more like Skeet or 5 Stand. They can throw a bird faster and further than a properly set-up ATA Trap machine, if that is desired.
They are certainly not as reliable or trouble free as the "serious" machines at the club, but then, they cost a whole lot less.
Click to expand...

The Wheelybird 2.0 comes with a remote, no need for trigger cords. Mine has run flawlessly from assembly but I only have put a couple of dozen cases of clays through it. It is a pretty simple set up mechanically so my only fear is an electronic malfunction.
 
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