Buying a spray drone in Australia

Which Agras, in one table

Every option and its contents are listed in the spray drone cost guide.

The four aircraft side by side

The figures that matter for choosing, from DJI's own specification pages (linked under Sources).

DJI publishes tank, flow and width figures, not hectares per hour you can bank on. Real coverage depends on the water rate your label calls for, block shape, turnarounds and how fast you can refill. Bring your paddock numbers to a demo and we will work through them with you rather than quote someone else's best day.

Block size and terrain

• Small, tight or steep blocks. The T25P's 4–7 m swath and 33 kg weight suit orchards, vineyards and irregular paddocks where a big aircraft spends its time turning. It is still over 25 kg, so it needs the same licences as the others.
• Mixed farms and mid-sized jobs. The T50 carries twice the T25P's tank across a wider swath, and its charging station runs on a single-phase supply.
• Large areas and contract work. The T70P and T100 carry around 70 to 75 kg a flight in Australia against the T50's 40, so fewer refills for the same area. The T70P gets there for less money; the T100 has the wider swath and LiDAR.
• Trees, gullies and hill country. All four follow terrain and sense obstacles. Whatever the sensor, DJI tells operators to mark wires and guy wires as obstacles in the app, and treats a wire strike as the operator's responsibility if they have not.

Spraying, spreading and the label

If you will spread urea, seed or other granules as well as spray, choose a kit with the spreading system: in a kit it ships free, while a spreader bought later travels by quoted freight. Spreader capacity scales with the aircraft, from the T25P's 30 L to the T100's 150 L.

Before you buy for a particular job, check the labels of the products you plan to use. The APVMA treats a drone as an aircraft, so a drone application has to follow the label's aerial directions, including buffer zones, spray quality, water volumes and release height. In Victoria, drone spraying is only allowed where the label or a permit covers aerial or spot spraying, in daylight and with a pilot able to intervene. The licensing guide has the detail.

Moving it around

Measure your ute tray or trailer against the folded sizes above: the T100 has the largest folded footprint and the T25P the smallest. Then think about the day's lifting. A DB2160 battery is about 14.7 kg and you will swap one every flight, and DJI's D14000iE generator weighs about 87 kg, so it needs a permanent home on the trailer or a way to load it. The T25P's 6.6 kg batteries are the lightest to handle by far.

Charging and site power

How you charge has a big say in how much you get done in a day. Match the kit to the power you actually have.

If your shed has the right supply and most of your work is close to it, a charging station kit is the cheaper way in. If you work away from power, or your shed is single-phase and you want a T70P or T100, the generator kits (T70P, T100, T50) charge the batteries directly. The T70P and T100 share batteries and chargers, which makes a mixed fleet simpler to run.

The rest of the ground setup

The aircraft is only part of a working setup. Before you settle on a kit, plan for:

• Water and mixing. Every flight needs a refill, so clean water and a quick way to mix and load matter. Contractors often add a batching system; our SCUD mixers run from the SCUD 350 ($7,480.00) to the SCUD 800 ($10,945.00).
• Accurate positioning. DJI rates horizontal hover accuracy at ±10 cm with RTK and about ±60 cm without it, which shows up as overlap and missed strips. For the T100, T70P and T25P, DJI's D-RTK 3 AG Mobile Station ($1,240.00) is one way to provide it; ask us about RTK for a T50.
• Signal in broken country. DJI sets the maximum flight radius at 2 km. Where hills or timber get between you and the aircraft, a relay helps: the O4 Relay ($1,370.00) for the T100, T70P and T25P, or the Agras Relay ($1,370.00) for the T50.
• People. The pilot has to watch the aircraft, and somebody has to mix, fill and swap batteries. On a small job one person can manage both; on a long day, a second pair of hands keeps the drone working.

Which kit shape

The T100, T70P and T50 each come as a Spray Kit, a Spray & Spread Kit, and the same two with a generator in place of the charging station. The T100 and T70P also come as Ultimate Bundles (T100, T70P) with four batteries, two charging stations, the spreader, a depot diesel and an extra cooling station. The T25P comes as a Charger Bundle or a Generator Bundle. Every complete kit includes three batteries (four in the Ultimate Bundles), and every kit and bundle ships free within Australia. Aircraft-only options are for operators who already own the batteries and charging.

Licensing in brief

Parts, repairs and support

• Parts you can look up. Our parts finder lists genuine DJI parts for the T100, T70P, T50 and T25P on exploded diagrams, with prices.
• Two workshops. We are a DJI Authorised Repair Centre, with workshops in Horsham VIC and Manjimup WA. Send photos through the repairs page for a quote before the aircraft leaves the farm, and talk to us before sending batteries, which are dangerous goods.
• Warranty handled locally. For equipment bought from us, we lodge warranty claims with DJI for you (see returns and warranty).

Demo days, training and finance

A demo day at Horsham or Manjimup costs nothing and commits you to nothing: watch a loaded aircraft work, walk through the generator, batteries and refill setup, and bring your paddock numbers.

Training is not included in kit prices. Onsite Setup & Training ($2,000.00) brings one of our pilots to commission the whole system on your property (Victoria and southern NSW; other states quoted). If you would rather spread the cost of the hardware, we refer enquiries to independent providers through drone finance.

Grey imports

A drone imported outside the Australian channel can look cheaper, but it carries no Australian warranty, may run firmware meant for another region, and can cause trouble with insurance when the serial number does not match an authorised sale. We cannot lodge warranty claims for grey imports. Every Agras we sell is Australian stock with DJI's Australian warranty behind it.

Questions to ask any dealer

Ask these of any dealer, including us:

1. Is it Australian stock, with DJI's Australian warranty and the serial registered to a local sale?
2. Exactly what is in the box: how many batteries, which charger or generator, and is the spreader included?
3. What power does the charging setup need, and will my shed or generator supply it?
4. For a T100, how is it set up for Australia's 149.9 kg take-off limit?
5. Who lodges warranty claims, and where is the nearest workshop?
6. Are parts for this model held in Australia, and can I see prices before I need them?
7. Which licences will I need in my state, and is any training included?
8. What will delivery to my farm cost?
9. Can I see it fly, loaded, before I buy?
10. What finance options are there?