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Taildragger tug

f14av8r

Well Known Member
I'm looking for a powered tug for my RV-8. I usually just push my airplane in and out of the hangar but, recently, fuel has become available on my little strip. I don't like having to start after fueling to get back to the hangar. I'd like a little battery powered tug to help me cover the 100 yards between the fuel pit and the hangar. It's sod, with a little up slope from the fuel farm to my hangar. And, I'm not as young as I once was!

I obviously want something that will either attach to the tailwheel bolts or, better still, lift the tailwheel off the ground. Most of the commercial tugs I've seen are way overpriced and overpowered for my application and most can't handle a tailwheel airplane.

Ideas?
 
Retired lawnmower or 4-wheeler will pull your RV splendidly on the turf strip. Will also cost far less and faster than the dedicated tugs.
 
What Sam said. Fire up the welder...here's your towbar. I use this one with a golf cart or my pickup.
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Retired lawnmower or 4-wheeler will pull your RV splendidly on the turf strip. Will also cost far less and faster than the dedicated tugs.

What Sam said. Fire up the welder...here's your towbar. I use this one with a golf cart or my pickup.
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Here is my tug and how I secure the "blue Cessna" towbar to it:
 

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Converted wheelbarrow?

I have been thinking also about a tug for my -7 and I have a PAW electric wheelbarrow that I wonder if that would be powerful enough to work if converted, it is a 24 volt motor with a 2 speed controller and geared axel. It has fwd and reverse also. My hangar ramp is slightly sloped and it can be a pain pulling the plane in. The PAW is not very expensive (around $500) and the batteries are standard 12v in series. It easily carries around 250 lbs up the hill to my back yard and will run most of the day doing that on a single charge.
Figs
 
...I have a PAW electric wheelbarrow that I wonder if that would be powerful enough to work if converted, it is a 24 volt motor with a 2 speed controller and geared axel. It has fwd and reverse also

That's a interesting drive axle. Should be easy to adapt into a custom tug frame of some sort. Wonder if it's possible to buy just the axle assembly and the hand control?

Two aspects to the capacity question, which we can call "load" and "pull". The axle will need to support a vertical load which is the sum of the tailwheel weight plus any downforce on the steering handle. The total is easily less than 200 lbs.

The ability to accelerate a 1100 lb mass from rest pretty much describes the pull question. I suspect it's not a mechanical problem because the gearbox is surely designed for load well in excess of what the motor can deliver. You can ease the motor load simply by installing wheels with a smaller diameter.

www.electricpaw.com/buyapawpaypal.html.
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Exact same issue here…..

i decided not to buy/build a tug.
I fill her up right after landing. i practice my hot start technique and taxi her back to the hangar. For the last 15 yards i have a tow bar.

I figured that, exempt from draining the battery a bit, no harm is done as the engine is warm anyways.
Full tanks also minimize the chance to get water in the tanks from condensation.
Performance, even at max gross weight, is sufficient at my homebase.

Maybe this works for you too, until you have your tug.

Having a tug is still cool!!!
 
Old mowers do well as tugs. I put a ball on my zero-turn and that works well as a tug. Plus I still mow with it.

I also have an electric John Deere E-gator I bought dead for $300. New batteries $800, new controller $500, and welded up a hitch ball on a 12" extension bolted to the front attach point.
 

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I built something very similar to the PAW wheelbarrow. It would move the plane around on concrete ok but grass not so well. Any uphill or wet grass and the wheels would slip. Could have modified it with bigger wheels and more weight but decided to buy a used JD grass cutter and that works very well as a tug.
 
I've found that pushing a 2500 lb Stearman around with main wheel A-frame style towbar is the easiest way to position it, especially into a T Hangar. Works well on lumpy grass or gravel too as long as the tug is geared for it.

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Might be overkill on a 1100lb RV though?
 
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I've found that pushing a 2500 lb Stearman around with main wheel A-frame style towbar is the easiest way to position it, especially into a T Hangar. Works well on lumpy grass or gravel to add long as the tug is geared for it.

Might be overkill on a 1100lb RV though?
Not overkill, it would work fine, but the problem for most RVs is the lack of attach points at the axle. For an RV-8 with the flat steel gear legs, tow bar attach rings could be fabricated and attached at the axles, but they’d have to protrude through the wheel pants and might cost 1/4 knot on airspeed. For a 6 or 7 with tubular gear, I don’t think it would work.

For taildraggers RVs the best towbar attach point is at the tailwheel, IMHO.
 
Or a Golf Cart!

There are lots of golf carts here at the home drome. Easy to add a hitch, and an extra hitch on the front is sometimes useful, too. Also useful for moving just people around the airport.
 
Not overkill, it would work fine, but the problem for most RVs is the lack of attach points at the axle. For an RV-8 with the flat steel gear legs, tow bar attach rings could be fabricated and attached at the axles, but they’d have to protrude through the wheel pants and might cost 1/4 knot on airspeed. For a 6 or 7 with tubular gear, I don’t think it would work.

For taildraggers RVs the best towbar attach point is at the tailwheel, IMHO.

I used to push my -8 using a similar/longer yoke attached to the tie down points. Worked well.
 
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