Airplane Tow Units

[170C]

There must be some of you out there using gas powered tugs (such as the Power Tow units) on you C-170's. What kind are you using? Cost? Which ones will work on tailwheel planes? I realize our planes aren't all that heavy, but some have unlevel areas to access the hangars, etc. I may be in the market for one in the next couple of months and am looking for suggestions. Several folks at my current airport have the Power Tow 40-EZ units or something comparable, but I have never looked them over close enough to see if they could work with a tailwheel.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

When it comes to towing aircraft the world is set up for a nose wheel.

I've often thought of building one of these and how I would use it with a tail wheel. the best idea I came up with is to build something similer to the hand tail dragger that Paul builds that lifts and captures the tail wheel.

Buy the time you buy one of these you could probably pick up a used lawn tractor in the 16hp and larger size and built your own tow bars for either the front or the back. I picked up a burn up 17 hp Simplicity lawn tractor with a hydro transmission for nothing. Replaced the melted 17 hp Briggs with a 7 hp Briggs I had laying around. Painted the whole thing yellow with some 30 year old enamel house paint I had then made a few tow bars. I'm able to tow from either end of the tractor in either push or pull which makes it nice.

[blueldr]

I solved the slightly uphill tail tow from the taxiway back into my hangar by using a small 120 volt winch that came from Harbor Freight. I modified it by removing the supplied winch cable and replacing it with a long piece of 1/8" cable from Home Depot terminating in a snap hook to hook into the tailwheel tie down ringbolt. The winch was fastened to the rear wall of the hangar.
The electric cord to the hand held control switch was cut and about 50 feet of 4 conductor SJ cord was spliced in so that t could be carried out to the airplane tail wheel.
Snap the hook on the ringbolt, punch the winch control button, and steer it in with the tail tow bar.
The whole system cost less than a hundred bucks.

[hilltop170]

Frank-
The do-it-yourself solutions are more personally rewarding but if you just want to get something, plug it in, and start towing, this might be a good solution. I have two of these and they work great. Get the 75' remote.

http://allenmachineco.com/pages/data/airplane.htm

Hangar winch.gif

If you don't want to pull on the tailwheel bracket, ask them to make a Y-yoke with two 10' legs and snap hooks on the ends that will hook into the main gear tow lugs. Either way, guide the plane with one hand and push the remote button with the other. Total control without any effort.

To pull the plane out of the hangar, sink an anchor in front of the plane and run the cable thru a snatch block. Any off-road or ATV shop will have them. This is where the main gear tow lug arrangement will work best.

snatch block.jpg

[cessna170bdriver]

I solved the slightly uphill tail tow from the taxiway back into my hangar by using a small 120 volt winch that came from Harbor Freight. I modified it by removing the supplied winch cable and replacing it with a long piece of 1/8" cable from Home Depot terminating in a snap hook to hook into the tailwheel tie down ringbolt. The winch was fastened to the rear wall of the hangar.
The electric cord to the hand held control switch was cut and about 50 feet of 4 conductor SJ cord was spliced in so that t could be carried out to the airplane tail wheel.
Snap the hook on the ringbolt, punch the winch control button, and steer it in with the tail tow bar.
The whole system cost less than a hundred bucks.

This is the way I plan on going when I get too old to drag the plane up the ramp into my hangar. Is that YOUR situation, Frank?

Miles

[jrenwick]

George has warned that this may be bad for the tail assembly, but I've used a Powertow with an adapter for the Scott 3200 tailwheel for about six years now. It's a two-tire model with a 5 HP engine, but I'm sure you don't need anything that big. It's always worked well for me. The two tires may help with traction on snow and ice.

[170C]

John, would you have any photo's or drawings of your modifications to the Power-Tow unit? I have had one of the Allen winches, like Richard posted, for about 25 years. It has always worked reasonably well. Sometimes a little slower than I might have wanted (that probably is a good thing) and changing pulley's sped it up, but it didn't have the power to pull my plane over the hangar door tracks without almost bogging down. I am about to move to a hangar at an individual's home and don't want to anchor the winch to the floor as it is now in my hangar. If I had one of the gasoline powered units it would probably work well. I just thought I would get all of your idea's & suggestions. Thanks!

[jrenwick]

Hi Frank,

No, I don't have any photos of it, but it's similar to this: http://www.powertow.com/40ez1.html. They sell an adapter for the Scott tailwheel, and it has a pair of steel cups that go over the ends of the axle. The axle is a bolt that goes through the fork, so the pushing and pulling pressures are applied to the head and nut of that bolt. As I said, I haven't noticed any problems from using this over the last six years. The tire acts as a fulcrum, and the handle of the unit makes a pretty long lever, so you can easily lift the tailwheel off the ground and shift the tail sideways as needed. Or you can lift the Powertow's tire off the ground and swing the whole unit to turn the TW.

Here's a photo of the adapter:

That's from here: http://www.powertow.com/options.html


John

[hilltop170]

The power tow works good but if the hangar is short, the plane can't be towed all the way in since the power tow is 4' or 5' long depending on the model. You also need to be careful about backing yourself up against the wall with it. Sure you can lift the drive wheel off the ground but if the plane is moving it will not immediately stop. Also, you cannot turn the plane while moving it with the powertow without picking up the drive wheel off the ground every few feet (since two tires in-line on the ground will not turn without skidding) or if the drive wheel is left on the ground while turning it must be leaned like turning a bicycle and will torque over, apply a twisting moment into the tailwheel assembly/spring/bracket. Just some points to consider.

[jrenwick]

To add to what Richard said: you have to be careful turning the Powertow at too great an angle, because it is slightly taller than the trailing edges of the elevators when the yoke is full-forward. I have the dual-wheel option:

so I don't know how much harder it would be to manage the single-wheel standard version. I would think that if you let it tip too far, it will disengage from the tailwheel axle.

Backing the plane all the way in to the back of the hangar isn't much of a problem. I just unhook the Powertow when it's getting close to the wall, move it out of the way, and push the airplane manually back the rest of the way.

John

[johneeb]

tug combination.JPG

[N8293A]

Johneeb has one of the nicest set-ups I have ever seen. A very elegant solution. I watch with envy from my hangar across the ramp every time he uses his home made tug. John, you need to sell plans, or hold a builders workshop, on how your tug works. The pictures above don't do it justice.

[blueldr]

The Allen Machine Co. winch looks like a pretty good set up, but it is about four times as expensive as the Harbor Frieght unit.

[jlwild]

Frank,

I have a airplane gas powered tug called Tail-Dragger Dragger. Have been using it for the past three years with no issues. Price is around $1500.

tail dragger photo.jpg

Check it out on http://www.dragger.com

It is easy to handle, very stable, and simple to operate. With two drive wheels and one swivel wheel I find it far safer to operate than a "Power Tow" chain drive single wheel I used to own.

[W.J.Langholz]

HA haha HA hahaha...........haha............... can't wait til you guys get a little older......ha ha ha ....you will all be wanting to put the wheel back up front


I just had to say it


W.