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Larry DeCamp

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Options are a truck that picks up dead/wrecked cars. Concern is pulling up the steep tilt bed angle by the gear legs at the motor mount. Might be 600 lbs without wings.

20Ft construction trailer for bobcats and mowers, Again even with ramps, you gotta get it up there.

A little uhaul car caddy. Front tires go in a depression and ratchet straps hold the tire down. This is really attractive except for concern how squirrely the tailwheel might be. With pneumatic tire and full swivel it should trail well. the risk is how stable the tires are in the depressions and ratchet straps > Another option is secure tail wheel to the trailer tongue and let the fuse ride on the two main tires. I have reservations about pulling on the fuse tail at the stinger mount.
Your experience and opinions are appreciated
 
This was how I chose to do it.
It was a complete non event. I had run the scenarios over and over, in my head at least a thousand times thinking of all the bad things that could happen. None of the bad stuff ever showed up. The driver was most professional in every way. He wouldn't do anything unless we discussed it first. We pulled the plane onto the truck using the motor mount and a nylon strap while steering the tailwheel with a hand tow bar.

There are likely less expensive ways to do this but I was happy to pay for this service, professional expertise, and insurance.
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Larry DeCamp said:
Options are a truck that picks up dead/wrecked cars. Concern is pulling up the steep tilt bed angle by the gear legs at the motor mount. Might be 600 lbs without wings.

20Ft construction trailer for bobcats and mowers, Again even with ramps, you gotta get it up there.

A little uhaul car caddy. Front tires go in a depression and ratchet straps hold the tire down. This is really attractive except for concern how squirrely the tailwheel might be. With pneumatic tire and full swivel it should trail well. the risk is how stable the tires are in the depressions and ratchet straps > Another option is secure tail wheel to the trailer tongue and let the fuse ride on the two main tires. I have reservations about pulling on the fuse tail at the stinger mount.
Your experience and opinions are appreciated
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Standard car hauler. No problems at all. We moved 3 RV-14As the same way.
 

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I would absolutely NOT do the U-Haul car caddy. In my mind, there are way too many risks with that approach.

The flat bed car carrier is probably the best and least risky way to go. With that said, mine was moved via a friend's low-boy trailer. It was almost ready to fly except for the wings. Had to tie it down in multiple places and make sure none of the tail feathers could flutter in the wind. We got lots of looks that day, including a bunch of people taking videos as they drove by. If I had to do it again, I'd probably pay the extra for the flat bed car carrier.

Whatever you do, just make sure it's well secured. If you have to make some ramps to ensure there's no damage rolling it up, then do that. You've got way too much time and effort invested to risk damaging it now over a few bucks or a few hours' worth of time.
 
I just got an estimate to haul mine. 45 miles from house to hangar. $750
Does that sound about right or is that highway robbery?
 
Used the same folks with a rollback for 8 fuselage moves over the years with my builds. Most recent last month. Best $150 you could spend by using a specialist and it’s kind of fun following you plane and watching the gawkers. On cost, moves are about 20 miles away so with coming here they probably put 50 miles on the truck for the haul and probably 2 hours of driver’s time. Not sure about Colorado costs but I would think double the mileage and time around here so more like $300. With that said, the same driver has now moved 4 planes for me so maybe I’m getting a deal.
 

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wirejock said:
I just got an estimate to haul mine. 45 miles from house to hangar. $750
Does that sound about right or is that highway robbery
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It's in the ball park. Mine was 30 miles away and the price was slightly lower. It's a steal in California
 
I looked at all the options because I was sweating the idea of some random tow truck driver not knowing anything about airplanes and dropping it or whatever. Eventually I bit the bullet and called a tow company that was recommended by another RV owner.

When I told the lady on the phone I wanted to move an airplane she asked how much it weighted, were the wings on, how long it was and how wide the mains were. It was obvious she knew what she was doing.

The driver backed into my sloped driveway, dropped the tilt bed within a few inches of the lip of my garage door, and had it loaded and tied down in about 20 minutes.

I asked him if it was the first airplane he'd moved and he said nope, we move a lot of them, but the last one was recovered out of a field...
 

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wirejock said:
I just got an estimate to haul mine. 45 miles from house to hangar. $750
Does that sound about right or is that highway robbery?
Click to expand...
I'd have to go back and look, but I want to say I paid about $600 to move mine around 10 miles. Considering how stressed I was about moving it, that turned out to be about the best money I've spent on the project so far.
 
wirejock said:
I just got an estimate to haul mine. 45 miles from house to hangar. $750
Does that sound about right or is that highway robbery?
Click to expand...
Mine was $300 for 30 miles. About 3 years ago. Similarly, about a year ago, I had a car hauled maybe 25 miles. It was about $250.

So that price is high, at least for my area.
 
wirejock said:
I just got an estimate to haul mine. 45 miles from house to hangar. $750
Does that sound about right or is that highway robbery?
Click to expand...
Recent quote from my previous hauler charges $ 5.00 a mile for that length trip one-way. This is in Ohio. $ 750 seems high but not sure where you are at.
 
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Just last Sunday took the -12 to the airport, hauling on a big snowmobile trailer (this is Duluth, after all). Fuselage on one trip: winched it onto the bed backwards (lifting nose to bed height would strike the tail), turned around for the drive, and reversed again to go down. Wings a second trip, on the cradle. 35 miles, cost dinner & ice cream for the crew.
 
This was a 22 foot trailer. The tail wheel sat securely on the flatbed.

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wirejock said:
I just got an estimate to haul mine. 45 miles from house to hangar. $750
Does that sound about right or is that highway robbery?
Click to expand...

local wrecker company was thrilled at a "1st" of theirs to use their roll-off to move my plane. Best $200 tow ever for me.
 
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I used a 16 foot car trailer. Two of us were able to push my fuselage up the ramps without difficultly.
 

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Desert Rat said:
I asked him if it was the first airplane he'd moved and he said nope, we move a lot of them, but the last one was recovered out of a field...
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Same for the guy who towed mine to the airport. He said he personally moved 3 airplanes, and his company has done quite a few more. I was pretty surprised. Charged $200 for a 6 mile tow back in 2021.
 
Smooth as silk. Well-secured once inside, screwed down wooden chocks around main gear as well, easy peasy.
 

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Karetaker said:
Ed, did you make ramps to get the plane in the truck, or...?
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It's been so long I don't remember exactly, but if memory serves, the nose wheel went up the truck's ramp and I probably built ramps out of 2x6's. The bed of the truck was low enough that it wasn't an issue for two people to get it in there.
 
YankeeBravo said:
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Cool! Where there's a will, there's a way. It shows that seemingly insurmountable problems can be solved (with time, money and energy, of course!).

It doesn't count as a First Flight though unless you were in the cockpit making airplane noises during the lift! ;)
 
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Engine wasn't mounted yet. Gear off, tail dismounted...
Slid into the back of a full size cargo van. Picture one of those 1980's Econolines or something similar.
Cost ... fuel
 
It’s been 15 years since I moved my -6A to the airport. I borrowed a modified boat trailer that had 3 added U channels for the wheels to roll in. Ramps were just some wood planks reinforced with side rails of 2x4’s. Great to have friends who build airplanes. Trailer moved at least 3 RVs.
 
Jjackh10 said:
Your in snowmobile country buddy, those trailers are perfect. I'd bet you could find someone to do it for coffee doughnuts and beer lol.
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No snow mobiles in this area except the ones for sale because there's no legal place to ride them. That's a good point though. ATVs are everywhere. I may ask a local shop about a slow day job.
 
Moved fuselage twice. Once to a new house with a bigger garage, used a flat bed tow truck. Don't remember the exact price, maybe $70-90 in 2009 to go 2 miles.

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And then to the airport when done. Borrowed a cousin's flatbed trailer. Monetary cost $0.

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Using the trailer was easier then the tow truck. As you can see from the picture the tail just barely cleared the ground on the truck. Wasn't difficult to use the trailer's built in ramp and some careful pushing.
 
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