[GoldenSail]

Well, lookie what I found. Tempting...tempting...tempting...

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The thing that frightens me the most is the electronics...not an electrician. Has anyone made one of these? Seen them?

 

[DNL2448]

You go first....And tell me how it goes. I'm all over working with wood and PVC but when you throw in electronics, well, lets just say I'll leave that to those smarter than me!

 

[GoldenSail]

I don't know if I can...but darn'd if I can't figure out. Hmmm.

 

[MarieP]

I've thought about trying to put one of these together. My hubby actually can do electrical stuff. However, I'm not sure it would be worth the time and major frustration that it could end up being, on top of the price of buying all the parts. I'm just keeping my eyes out for a used one...

 

[Jige]

Thanks for posting that up. I am going to price it out and see what I can come up with. I think the pullies and the eltronic thingy will be $$ but the rest wouldnt be to bad. Especially if I post on craiglist looking for scraps.

 

[DNL2448]

That's what I did, found three used wingers. They are awesome, not the Zinger Winger's like I really wanted, but still nice remote throwers.

 

[GoldenSail]

So it says you can make three of them with electronics for $450-500. That's a bargain to buying a new one. I found one guy who actually made the frame out of EMT pipe and it looks nice. Drool...

 

[Maxs Mom]

Make them for $400-$500 can't you buy them for near that price? I thought I saw some for $600.

Clubs around here have them for raffles all the time. That is how I hope to get one. We buy raffle tickets and support the clubs.

 

[GoldenSail]

Make them for $400-$500 can't you buy them for near that price? I thought I saw some for $600.

You can buy ONE for that price it does not include electronics. If you make them you can have 3-4 PLUS electronics for that price. Also if you make them you know how to fix them. The guy who made his has been using the same ones for over 5 years now with no problems.

 

[hotel4dogs]

We bought (my training partner and I) 2 used wingers, really good ones, for $600 roughly. It included one set of electronics, we don't really need 2 at this point. The thing with wingers is you have to re-load them after each bird, so you really don't want them out in the middle of a field anyway if you can put them near a side line etc. where you can easily access them.
The other problem with wingers is that you probably should have someone out there to help the dog if they run into a problem if you are running a novice dog (as we all are!). If you're going to have someone out there, you really don't need the electronics on them yet. If there are 3 of us, we generally don't use the electronics anyway because we have someone by each winger to help if needed and someone running their dog.
Bumper boys, on the other hand, can launch several bumpers and if the dog needs help you can launch another bumper. But they are very expensive, and don't launch birds!

 

[GoldenSail]

To me the benefit of the wingers is the ability to train alone. If you are in a group more pain to reset them every time. But let's face it, can't always find someone to throw for you when you want to train. I see it as a potential problem for young dogs, but I don't really worry about Scout at this point...at least I feel like I know enough not to set her up for failure.

 

[GoldenCamper]

This man used R/C car parts for the electronics, pretty cool.

I love to make things too. Someday I would like to try to make a lure course setup out of a old starter motor from a car with a deep cell marine battery. I came across instructions for that on the web sometime back but didn't bookmark it :doh:

 

[hotel4dogs]

we looked into using RC parts, and in fact consulted someone about doing it, but my training partner talked to 2 people who had done it and they said don't bother, so we spent the money on the electronics.

 

[hotel4dogs]

I guess if you are working in short grass over not real long distances, it probably doesn't matter if there's someone out there or not, and then yes, they are great for training alone.
But if you are only doing things you *know* she will succeed at, I question the point.

To me the benefit of the wingers is the ability to train alone. If you are in a group more pain to reset them every time. But let's face it, can't always find someone to throw for you when you want to train. I see it as a potential problem for young dogs, but I don't really worry about Scout at this point...at least I feel like I know enough not to set her up for failure.

 

[GoldenSail]

You can teach concepts with them and run drills without doing overly technical marks. Anyway, I think they could be excellent for training alone. My friend has some and does use them on her own frequently. Sometimes I train with her and we set them up. Honestly never had a problem with my dog needing help when using them...and no that is not sticking with flat, short, featureless land either.

Also I think some people have just made the manual versions...or made the frame and ordered the electronics from dogtra or tritronics.

 

[sterregold]

You can teach concepts with them and run drills without doing overly technical marks. Anyway, I think they could be excellent for training alone. My friend has some and does use them on her own frequently. Sometimes I train with her and we set them up. Honestly never had a problem with my dog needing help when using them...and no that is not sticking with flat, short, featureless land either.

Also I think some people have just made the manual versions...or made the frame and ordered the electronics from dogtra or tritronics.

Mine are ZW--I like the solidity of their construction and reliability, and the support I get when they have needed maintenance. For my youngsters I definitely like having a gunner oput there to help, or rethrow if needed. Once the dogs are marking confidently though, and I want to start teaching more complex blind/mark combinations they are terrific--most of Breeze's training for MH was done on my own.

 

[GoldenSail]

How many did you get? I would like to get some eventually just not sure when. They are so expensive though and the idea that I could make three of them myself for less than the price of one is tempting and might make it more affordable sooner. I saw someone made his out of EMT pipe and it looks pretty nice.

 

[hotel4dogs]

Shelly, what do you do if one of your dogs doesn't find the mark when you've used a winger?

 

[sterregold]

How many did you get? I would like to get some eventually just not sure when. They are so expensive though and the idea that I could make three of them myself for less than the price of one is tempting and might make it more affordable sooner. I saw someone made his out of EMT pipe and it looks pretty nice.

I have three of them--two Zinger II's and one Uplander, plus remotes. I got the wingers in stages--my Uplander and one of the Zingers were trade ins that Rob refurbished so I got a better deal on them. Helps to know the company founder sometimes! And I am in the IC club with Tritronics so I got my remotes as I got the wingers with my annual deal. That all helped with the price! I guess for me, knowing the forces these things can generate I would be worried about a failure with one made out of essentially plastic.

 

[sterregold]

Shelly, what do you do if one of your dogs doesn't find the mark when you've used a winger?

Depends on the dog and what I am trying to accomplish with that mark. With Bonnie, who is still learning fundamentals, if I was doing something like teaching the mechanics of a double and building memory, I might set up two wingers at the memory bird station so that if she does not remember the mark I can rethrow it. For Breeze and Winter I am generally trying to teach some sort of concept now, so if they cave in to a factor, or avoid terrain I am going to handle to get them to do the mark correctly. Then I will set up the same concept again and run them again to see if they have learned. I rarely repeat marks, but will repeat the concept that made the mark challenging. If they have made it out to the mark correctly but then are having a hard time coming up with it I will just quack the remote to help them stay in the area if their hunt starts to get a bit rangy--which really isn't all that different from a gunner hey-heying to keep a dog in the AOF.