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Tug kit?

rv8ch

Well Known Member
Patron
Every time a thread comes up about tugs, I look at them, and find them to be just a bit outside my desired budget for something like that. With winter coming, bad weather, spare time, just wondering if anyone has put together a tug kit?

Even thinking about buying a used quad, but it would have to be a very small one, as the hangers around here are very tight. The R/C tugs seem like the best solution.
 
Every time a thread comes up about tugs, I look at them, and find them to be just a bit outside my desired budget for something like that. With winter coming, bad weather, spare time, just wondering if anyone has put together a tug kit?

Even thinking about buying a used quad, but it would have to be a very small one, as the hangers around here are very tight. The R/C tugs seem like the best solution.
FWIW I just bought a used riding lawnmower with no deck ($100) added a hitch and bought a used towbar. Works GREAT!

Plane and Tug.jpg

:cool:
 
Snow blower

You can also use an old snow blower for its drivetrain. Remove the blower parts and make you own tow connection for your plane. Quite compact also.
 
You can also use an old snow blower for its drivetrain. Remove the blower parts and make you own tow connection for your plane. Quite compact also.

What a great idea...I'm surprised I've never thought of that. The only thing I'd note is that here in Minnesota, I wouldn't remove the snowblower parts...;). They do a great job of keeping the taxiways plowed, but there's always a 3-4 foot strip where their big plow can't get close enough to the hangar door.
 
Golf Cart with a hitch

Golfers and people who drive them for other endeavors don't like old golf carts. Translation; you can get them cheap. They also serve as runabouts on the ramp, tool carriers, etc. If there's a more versatile tug/tool for the money, I'm unaware of such. To our friend in CH with winter approaching, the sky strange effects in the photo are due to the Sun.
 

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depends where you live. old golf carts are like gold around campgrounds etc. on lakes. at least around here. small riding lawnmowers with in/op mower decks seem to be plentiful and cheap IF the deck is in/op.
 
towbar - kit???

Selfmade towbar, foldable, 20$US worth of hardware from around the corner….fits in my -8.....

let´s put the SPORT back in Sportaviation!!

No????

But to answer your question:

Sounds like a great winter project if priced reasonable.
Thinking like a R/C, electric driven, Tow-bot-kit...…-ish.

maybe this is a good starting point to beginn with….

https://www.pistenking.com


cheers...and keep me posted
 
snowblower

I wish I could take credit for the snow blower idea, but I saw other people do it, probably on this site. As far as keeping the snow blower attachment on, I have seen where people have run a bar across the blower to attach to both ends. You could design it for easy removal so it doesn't interfere with snow blowing. Another idea is if you have a two piece tow bar, is just get a piece of pipe with the same size outside diameter then you remove the "T" bar handle, attach what ever you need to the pipe to hook up to whatever you use to tow the plane with.
 
Tugs

Don’t have much snow removal equipment down here in the south, but in my travels I see new snow blowers at Home Depot with elec start and lights for $600 or so. Looks like a great starting point to build a tug. Side note-I know some folks that put a heavier duty elec motor in a standard golf cart and they moving Kingairs around with it.

Don Broussard
RV9 Rebuild in Progress
57 Pacer
 
Rototiller

I made one out of a used rototiller. I took out the blades, added some weight and a connection up front.
 
I tried making one out of an electric wheelchair. With two batteries and me on it, it wasn't heavy enough to provide enough traction to pull my C180. Came close though. Perhaps with more development I'd have gotten it to work.

In any case, don't overlook that as a source of wheels, motors and chassis.

Bought one of these, works great. Not a kit and unfortunately not cheap, either. But a handy tool, to be sure.

Dave
 
Another suggestion is to get a used wheelchair and make an attachment device. They are usually reasonably priced on Craigslist.

Or you can use wheelchair motors and some sweat to make a tug. Here is a video of the latest from a neighbor.

https://youtu.be/ella7_dpEG8

ADD: I am working on an article for Kitplanes. It is hard to find the time. This is version 4, version 1 used the wheelchair controller on a long cable and did not have dual wheels, video in another thread.
 
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I have thought of building something along those lines also, but struggle to figure out the parts/sources. Any info would be appreciated. Would make a great kitplanes article.
 
Another suggestion is to get a used wheelchair and make an attachment device. They are usually reasonably priced on Craigslist.

Or you can use wheelchair motors and some sweat to make a tug. Here is a video of the latest from a neighbor.

https://youtu.be/ella7_dpEG8
That looks like a very fine tug! I think I might opt for an umbilical control. Too many old RC memories of the plane occasionally doing it's own thing!! :)
 
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I purchased a tug for our Glasair Sportsman... It's an older Aero-Tow model similar to their current Get-Jet which lifts the nose wheel off the ground. I made the purchase because moving the tricycle-gear aircraft backwards up an incline into the hangar, and over asphalt which frost heaves and often has a two or three inch "step" was nearly impossible without two people helping to push the airplane.

Fast forward a year or so post purchase. The lesson's I've learned are as follows:
1) support for the product from Aero-Tow is simply incredible. I did something stupid and popped the motor controller. Terry at Aero-Tow supported me like I had purchased the tug from him yesterday rather than it being a long-discontinued product owned by third- or fourth-hand owner. As a guy who spent his working life providing customer service I take my hat off to Terry for a job very well done!

2) my mental model of the benefits of placing the nose wheel weight over the drive wheels was right on the money. Traction is excellent, including on glare ice last winter. I tossed out a couple of soup cans of grit onto the ice where the tugs wheels would pass and the airplane was moved with absolutely zero concern for loss of traction. If building a tug, having it support the weight of the nose wheel over its drive wheels is an excellent idea. (The homebrew tug featured in the video linked in the post above works this way - it's just a great idea to let the weight of the airplane work for you rather than against you.)

3) the motor controller supplied by Aero-Tow features a significant speed differential between "pulling" and "pushing" the airplane. In fact I think it pushes the airplane at about half the speed available in "pull" mode. At first I didn't like this feature but now realize this is in fact an excellent safety feature. If building a tug, please give consideration to limiting the speed at which it can push. As most of us "nose wheel drivers" have discovered, pushing an aircraft equipped with a castoring nose wheel back into a hangar is a far more delicate exercise than dragging it out nose-first. Given that extra delicacy required in pushing the airplane back into the hangar, reduced travel speed is a really, really good idea.

4) the Aero-Tow tug uses a simple 12VDC ATV strap winch to haul the aircraft up onto a teetering treadle. The aircraft is pulled up to a hard stop block and held in place by the winch. The winch connects to the standard towbar attachment point on the nose wheel. For a homebuilt tug this mechanism may be easier to accomplish than the linear actuator-driven "chock" system shown in the video linked in the post above.

5) if you have a good tug, beware your hangar neighbors! They will all be envious and will want to borrow your tug. Don't let them, otherwise you may never see your tug again! :D
 
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