What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Yet another tug video- RV-6A

RVDan

Well Known Member
Patron
Edit- updated with links to files.

Aging and an injury started to make it harder for either my partner or I to move the airplane into the hangar and we decided to look into tugs. Commercially available tugs were just a bit more money than we were up for spending, and I decided to look at making my own.

After watching Youtube videos of what other people did, I found someone who would share what major parts they used. I was concerned that If I chose a motor, gearbox, controller and wheel, it either wouldn't have enough torque or wouldn't be controllable. Having someone provide some insight into the key parts was very helpful. Also, I have gained access to a TIG machine and wanted to refresh my welding skills.

The tug is designed specifically for the rV-6A. I tried it on the RV-9A and it will work with different lugs to pick up the tow bar points. A fairly minor change. It will probably work on a -7A but I haven't looked at a -7A to know for sure.

Besides the basic requirement for it to help me move the airplane, I also wanted to minimize the space the tug took up in the hangar. The result was a unit that was more compact than most and that stores under the airplane wing.

I am open sourcing the information and will make details available to anyone building their own. Depending on how many folks ask I may just email the info to them, or I may make another "how to" video and link the files there.

The tug is quite easy to handle both while maneuvering it for hook up and while towing. It has plenty of power, and at top speed moves at a good fast walking pace. It isn't going to win any races, but that is not what it is for. In some cases, tire traction needs to be increased by applying some weight to the tug handlebar. Maybe 10-20 lbs. tops. The tug itself is fairly light- I can pick it up to my workbench, but heavy enough to get the job done.

https://youtu.be/qyoJmfmVC4g The link to google drive folder for the parts list and drawings is there, and I am putting it here- https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nhCcJ7EcGvWAVpNUV5nWRmeD1kqfciHV?usp=sharing

I had a significant number of requests for the info, and I have decided to do a tug build video in a couple of weeks.
 
Last edited:
I would like the part list and supplier if you are sharing. I looked at modifying an electric pallet jack but it became too cumbersome so this looks good to me.
 
Hi Dan
Very good video of your tug. I am interested in making one for myself so any info you can provide would be welcome. Bill of materials would be a big help.
Blue Skies
Peter
 
Yet another tug video RV-6A

I would like the part list and supplier if you are sharing. I looked at modifying an electric pallet jack but it became too cumbersome so this looks good to me.

My back tells me I will need one of these soon. I, too, would appreciate the information.
 
Build 'em and sell 'em

Dan, looks to me like you have just started your own small business!! :rolleyes:
 
Well done Dan! Love the price point and functionality.

Any thoughts on how you would make a similar tug for a tailwheel airplane?
 
Update- there has been a lot of interest in parts list. I am pulling together things to publicly release in the next week or so. I will post the release in this thread, so if you follow the thread you will get the data.

Possible follow up video on the build details. It is really quite easy once you gather the parts.

Adaptation to the other RV’s would be easy.
 
Tug

Update- there has been a lot of interest in parts list. I am pulling together things to publicly release in the next week or so. I will post the release in this thread, so if you follow the thread you will get the data.

Possible follow up video on the build details. It is really quite easy once you gather the parts.

Adaptation to the other RV’s would be easy.

Looking forward to this information. Thanks!
 
Looks great, I built my own years ago that used wheel chair motors and your cell phone to control it. Project got complex and life happened so I never produced them. Simplicity is best and great work on the tug! I'd build one just to have an extra one I can use on the rv6-a plus the grumman.
 
Hi Dan
I am looking forward to the material and supplier lists you are planning on posting. Videosand building instructions will/would be a great asset.
Thanks
Peter
RV9A
Flying since 2004
 
This design could well become the electric VAF standard! Looking forward to the parts list.
 
Added link to parts files drawings in Post #1 and here.

A build video will be coming up to provide some tips and tricks to the build and my thoughts on modifying to fit other RV's.
 
Hi Dan
Thanks for the lists to build your tug. However, I can’t get the motor source &
Tug frame to open. Is there something that I am doing wrong or they can’t be opened?
Cheers
Peter
 
If you don’t have Autocad, or one of the many clones, You will need an App like edrawings, available here to view the files. There are many others similar .dxf file readers on the web.
If you want to edit or print, a cheap App is Qcad, $39 USD.

Note: You will likely need to download the .dxf files to open them. I don’t think google will open them directly like it does for the excel files.
 
Last edited:

Attachments

  • sheet1.png
    sheet1.png
    115 KB · Views: 406
  • sheet2.png
    sheet2.png
    190.1 KB · Views: 414
  • sheet3.jpg
    sheet3.jpg
    129.8 KB · Views: 425
  • sheet4.jpg
    sheet4.jpg
    67.5 KB · Views: 288
  • sheet5.png
    sheet5.png
    164.4 KB · Views: 282
  • sheet6.png
    sheet6.png
    178.4 KB · Views: 294
Sorry folks, I didn't realize that .dxf files would be such a problem.

PDF's for the tug are now in the google drive folder. They vary in scale to accommodate paper size limitations but the dimensions and so on are accurate.
In some cases you may have to zoom way in to read the text.
 
Started construction of my tug. Most parts are on order, some on their way. I noticed the mounting plate for the motor is in mm's and the rest in inches. No biggie to convert the dimensions.

Blue Skies
Peter
 
Started construction of my tug. Most parts are on order, some on their way. I noticed the mounting plate for the motor is in mm's and the rest in inches. No biggie to convert the dimensions.

Blue Skies
Peter

It is in mm because the motor is metric. If you print out the motor mount plate 1:1 it is a template. You can center punch the holes and drill.
 
It came to my attention that the tug drawings omitted any info on how to mount the sprocket to the wheel. PDF attached. Not sure why the PDF attachment shows up as a black box but if you open it the drawing is there.
 

Attachments

  • Tug Wheel Mod Open source.pdf
    84.8 KB · Views: 324
The plans appear to be similar to the WagAero tow buddy... https://www.wagaero.com/ground-support/tow-buddy/heavy-duty-tow-buddy-cordless-powered-tow-bar.html. I have a tow buddy and modified the connection of the tow arms to the main frame to have a pivot. It was originally made so that the arms are fixed, just like the tug plans posted in this thread. The pivot is robust so that it allows the arms to turn from side to side (yaw), but not up or down. This avoids having to lift the machine to make turns. It really works well in the tow mode--that is pulling the plane, but one has to be much more careful when in the push mode, though once you get the hang of it, it works in well in that mode too, to be able to make turns without having to lift the machine. I use it for a taildragger. All of the above FWIW....
 
2 electrical questions were asked. I left the unused controller connectors on. There are several for bike functions, like brakes and brake lights. You could remove them and cap and stow the wires by insulating the ends with heat shrink.

I did not show the wire sizes between the controller and the batteries. The wire size is AWG 14. Same with the jumper between batteries and return wire. All of the power wires for the motor are AWG14. The motor can draw 15A when stalled.

I’ll have to add this info to the drawing.

BTW, I added a drawing to show the hardware stackup for the linear actuator mounting.
 
Pivoting arms

As I promised now that I am back in the States, here are pictures of my Wag Aero Tow Buddy, modified so that the arms pivot in one axis. Two Oilite bearings were purchased from McMaster Carr and with shims, lightly press fit into the square tubing receiver which used to allow height adjustment of the arms assembly. I use my exclusively with a taildragger, so fixing the height with the pivot was not a problem. The nice thing about the Tow Buddy is the arms can be fixed high or low. On the arms assembly the square tube shaft/socket was cut off and a solid round shaft was welded on in its place. When assembled, a pre-load is set, much like the nosewheel of a Van's aircraft, so that the arms will pivot when pushed, but otherwise will not freely rotate.

Here is a LINK to the photos.

As noted before, this setup makes turning and changing directions with the tug much easier, no lifting the tug, though in the push mode, it takes a bit of practice to get the turning done without starting to jackknife--kinda like learning to fly a taildragger...😃
 
Tug

I should add too that another modification I made to the Tow Buddy was an electric clutch on the drive wheel. Clutch was bought on Ebay. This essentially disengages the motor drive and allows the tug to be free wheeled to and from the airplane. Originally, the motor was directly connected through the chain reductions to the drive wheel, and one always had to use the motor to move the machine, which is also pretty slow. Now, only when the forward or reverse buttons are pressed, the clutch engages and the motor and chain drive will drive the wheel. Another handy feature IMO..
 
RV10 Tug

Edit- updated with links to files.

Aging and an injury started to make it harder for either my partner or I to move the airplane into the hangar and we decided to look into tugs. Commercially available tugs were just a bit more money than we were up for spending, and I decided to look at making my own.

After watching Youtube videos of what other people did, I found someone who would share what major parts they used. I was concerned that If I chose a motor, gearbox, controller and wheel, it either wouldn't have enough torque or wouldn't be controllable. Having someone provide some insight into the key parts was very helpful. Also, I have gained access to a TIG machine and wanted to refresh my welding skills.

The tug is designed specifically for the rV-6A. I tried it on the RV-9A and it will work with different lugs to pick up the tow bar points. A fairly minor change. It will probably work on a -7A but I haven't looked at a -7A to know for sure.

Besides the basic requirement for it to help me move the airplane, I also wanted to minimize the space the tug took up in the hangar. The result was a unit that was more compact than most and that stores under the airplane wing.

I am open sourcing the information and will make details available to anyone building their own. Depending on how many folks ask I may just email the info to them, or I may make another "how to" video and link the files there.

The tug is quite easy to handle both while maneuvering it for hook up and while towing. It has plenty of power, and at top speed moves at a good fast walking pace. It isn't going to win any races, but that is not what it is for. In some cases, tire traction needs to be increased by applying some weight to the tug handlebar. Maybe 10-20 lbs. tops. The tug itself is fairly light- I can pick it up to my workbench, but heavy enough to get the job done.

https://youtu.be/qyoJmfmVC4g The link to google drive folder for the parts list and drawings is there, and I am putting it here- https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nhCcJ7EcGvWAVpNUV5nWRmeD1kqfciHV?usp=sharing

I had a significant number of requests for the info, and I have decided to do a tug build video in a couple of weeks.


Thanks Dan for the Tug plans and parts list!!

I finished my tug build last week, based on your plans and parts list. I used it several times and it works great. I did make some modifications based on my own needs. I don’t have electric at my hanger so relocated the motor forward to allow for more room in the rear for the battery compartment. The two batteries are in a tray with a quick disconnect so as to easily remove and take home for charging. I also enlarged the sprocket to an 84 to allow for more torque/power. I am using this tug on an RV10. If I was to build it again I might consider using a larger tire? As the tire will sometimes spin loosing traction, at that point I apply enough down pressure until we start moving again. One other reasons for the tug build is so I can pull the plane over to the fuel pumps without getting in and starting the plane up and taxiing. The pumps are about 200 foot away and it works great at pulling/pushing to and from. Attached are a couple photos of the completed tug.

Mike C.

BB41BA69-6D4B-4320-89C9-2BB957AD0B16.png

A996BA5D-0A89-481F-84EF-707263696D51.png

CD6470FB-260D-408D-AE8A-4C9B81339821.png
 
That looks great. Thanks for posting your results here. I am curious what mods you made to accommodate the RV 10 nose wheel.
 
tug mods for RV10

Dan, thanks so much for these great, detailed plans! We have just finished building two of these for our two RV10s. They are wonderful.

Here are the changes we needed to make for the RV10:
1- It needed to be 1" wider to accommodate the wider nose gear.
2- The lug points were changed to tubing to match the rv10 tow bar (.75 od, .625 id)
3- The 10" wheels were reduced to 8" to have enough ground clearance. This is because the lug attach points are higher than the 6 and change the angle of the frame.
4- The 15 amp breaker needed to be changed to 20 amp, because under intital load the motor was drawing more than 15 amps to get the heavier plane moving. I believe the 14 guage wire is still adequate.

Those were the necessities, but in addition we wished we hadn't used the offset hub on the main wheel because we had to drill a new hole for the tube stem on the other side to avoid sprocket interference. That was after we couldn't get enough clearance for welding the cross member on the side with the offset hub.
A minor point, we customized the length of the handle parts to match the owner height.

The only other problem we had was that if hole into handle-end cross member (for wire pass through) is centered, we couldn't orient the batteries lengthwise because the wires interfere with battery installation. We had enough space to turn them sideways because of the extra inch of width.

Rick Solana, RV10, Richmond, VA
and
Park Dodd, RV10, Richmond, VA
 
Thanks for posting the specifics for the RV-10 for everyone to see. As for handle height, yes adjustment in the length of the handle was envisioned to enable builders to customize to their height.

As for the fuse size, it makes sense that the initial startup load could exceed the 15A that I saw. When first experimenting with the motor I noticed that if the chain jumped a tooth, the sudden load surge could blow the 15A fuse. I’ve never experienced that in use however.
 
Raw materials

I know little to nothing about different kinds of metal materials. What kind of steel did you use for the various parts?
 
I know little to nothing about different kinds of metal materials. What kind of steel did you use for the various parts?

Just about any structural steel is fine. ASTM A513 hot rolled steel is what I used for the square tube. Check metalsdepot.com. The round tube for the handle was 1020 but not critical.
 
Thanks! What wall thickness did you use on the square tubing?

The tubing thickness is in the bill of materials. If you haven’t seen it the youtube video, the description includes a link to the files for the drawings and other info.
 
Worthwhile add on for any tug motor

Folks in the northeast and midwest will recognize these. For all you southerners, those reflectors are placed at the end of your driveway, so you know the driveway's width when covered in snow. No sense plowing the grass!

These prevent you from cranking the engine with the tow motor still attached to the nose wheel. Saves you from a very costly mistake.

20230606-092130.jpg
[/url][/IMG]

Charlie
 
Back
Top