I have a few acres of steep hillside where a DJI Mavic would be very useful to spread seed.  Is there a seed spreader attachment on the market that would work with Mavic, or any of the other consumer series?  Or tips for making a seed spreader payload?  I know there are professional agriculture drones that have this feature, but they cost around $6,000 - $20,000.  I don't have enough land or frequent enough use to make it worthwhile to spend that much money, but with a budget closer to $2,000 I wonder if I can make something work with Mavic?

what type of seeds do you want to sow and what volume/mass per hectare?

LV_Forestry Posted at 4-6 12:47
what type of seeds do you want to sow and what volume/mass per hectare?

I will be sowing California poppy on our hillside, which should be good as far as not getting jammed in a spreader mechanism because the seeds are tiny and dense little balls (not like the fluffy kind).  If I was spreading fluffy seeds I would just fly high and let them drop and let them scatter, but poppy seeds are dense and would fall straight down, so something to spread them out would be good.  I will only have around 10 lbs of seed each year to sow (perhaps 2 lbs per acre) until I can get the bloom started.

Looking forward to hearing what you find on this.  Even if a simple solution.  I have some bird see I would like to spread around a few places.

I have a sense that many of the members here would be able to advise you on spreading another type of seeds. Mostly of the cannabis type.
https://www.cannabissciencetech. ... and-save-the-planet

TonyPHX Posted at 4-8 19:06
Looking forward to hearing what you find on this.  Even if a simple solution.  I have some bird see I would like to spread around a few places.

If there is nothing on the market, I might have to do something similar to what I did with my DJI Mini 2.  I attached a small plastic container on top of the Mini 2 and filled it with seed.  Then I flew it gently to altitude so none of the seed would spill out.  Once over the target area, I moved the controls around wildly to descend and bank sideways so that all of the seed dump out of the container.  Because of the high altitude, the seed dispersed to a larger area.  I could do this with a bigger container for the Mavic.

GaryDoug Posted at 4-8 21:07
I have a sense that many of the members here would be able to advise you on spreading another type of seeds. Mostly of the cannabis type.
https://www.cannabissciencetech.com/view/invasion-of-the-drones-how-unmanned-aerial-vehicles-can-help-cannabis-growers-improve-crop-quality-lower-costs-and-save-the-planet

Tempting.  : )

FlyingPolarBear Posted at 4-8 21:55
If there is nothing on the market, I might have to do something similar to what I did with my DJI Mini 2.  I attached a small plastic container on top of the Mini 2 and filled it with seed.  Then I flew it gently to altitude so none of the seed would spill out.  Once over the target area, I moved the controls around wildly to descend and bank sideways so that all of the seed dump out of the container.  Because of the high altitude, the seed dispersed to a larger area.  I could do this with a bigger container for the Mavic.

This sounds like a terrible idea!  Mavics are not made to carry additional payloads.  The erratic flying you describe could lead to the drone losing control and crash in turn causing another California wildfire.   

DemolitionMan14 Posted at 4-12 06:41
This sounds like a terrible idea!  Mavics are not made to carry additional payloads.  The erratic flying you describe could lead to the drone losing control and crash in turn causing another California wildfire.

Geez, you need to stay in bed, otherwise you can get in a car accident.

Nothing bad is going to happen.  Although Mavics are not designed to carry additional payload, there are plenty of examples of payload adapters on the market.  So it is not uncommon.

Flying to make the drone tilt back and forth, and descend rapidly, is NOT going to make it crash.  I am not sure if you have flown a DJI before.

A wildfire will not start in the flat ranch where this application is at.

Relax.

I think its a great idea! Great things are made by the misuse good things.

The tricky part will be the release system. I would suggest buying one of the fishing line release systems, the mounting strap would be good to mount a hopper for the seeds with and use the servo as an activator for the release.