Towbar.....powered

[DemoDollCate]

Ok, I will swallow my pride and ask........is there a powered towbar option that works for the 4 place? My days of eating Wheaties and gettin' er done are apparently over. When I was flying Mark's there weren't many times I had to manuever inside of a hangar. Not to mention the 8.50's are lower psi than Mark's and I guess that means whenever I put on the 26's I'll seem ever whimpier than I do even now.

[AZBearhawk272]

Get hold of Scott, a friend of his has an electric, crawler tractor, remote controlled,
Tailwheel dolly, moves a Stearman, travels light as baggage. It is on my bucket list.

Kevin D

[jaredyates]

I use an ATV winch to pull mine into the hangar under certain circumstances, particularly when it is full of fuel or other stuff. Last time I saw Erbman he used an AC electric winch, along with a clever tool to help spool the cable evenly. The winch idea may not work if you don't park in the same place every time, but tailwind mentioned he might use the parts from a similar winch to create a standalone powered towbar.

[Chris In Milwaukee]

I purchased a winch a to put in my hangar as well. The plan was to pull the plane in on those icy winter months.

[S Lathrop]

Here is a rendering of a tail wheel tug I drew up several years ago. I even have all the parts and material sitting under the bench waiting for me to build it. The power is from a power wench that I used to load race cars onto a top deck of a 2 car trailer.

I would be happy to share the drawings if anyone is interested.

[Chris In Milwaukee]

That's very similar to the nose-dragger tug I use for the Cutlass. :-) Works well, but can be a challenge on an icy day in Wisconsin. I imagine they all are.

[n144sh]

File Jun 03, 7 53 02 PM.jpeg


I took a DIY approach as well. I figured if I could build an airplane, a powered tow shouldn't be too hard. Looked at various options and noticed that powered wheel chairs / scooters are readily available on Craigslist at bargain prices and have most of the elements needed. Bought a "Jazzy" brand chair for $150, took the seat and other unnecessary parts off. Welded up a handle and a cradle mechanism for the tailwheel. It has already a nice speed / steering joystick. It seemed to work but badly needed batteries so would only move the plane about 15 feet before needing charged. New batteries are on the way from Amazon. Total so fair is $260 for the chair and batteries and about 4 hours labor. Update: Installed the new batteries - works great! Easily pushes the BH, even over the gravel.

[jaredyates]

This is the beginnings of a fine Beartracks article!

[tailwind]

Here are some pictures of mine which is similar to the rendering. If you wish I can send more pictures.

[S Lathrop]

Here are some pictures of mine which is similar to the rendering. If you wish I can send more pictures.

Looks like we bought our wheels from the same place.

[CharlieZulu]

I use a bogert bar with towball ring. works great. have used it with my truck, tractor and atv. if you use it with something that goes under the wing (mower or atv) it will work great even in a tight hangar.

[Erbman]

Jared is correct. I use a 1000 lb AC winch to pull Three Sigma into its hangar. I can still move the airplane around on level ground, but the ramp into the hangar is about 18 feet long and a 10 degree slope uphill. I can push the tail wheel up the ramp, but the winch is required as soon as the mains hit the ramp.

There was no good place to attach the winch in the hangar. Because the hangar is rented, I didn't want to suggest drilling holes and putting screws into the concrete. Instead I attached the winch to a piece of plywood that sits on four 2x4s to give some ground clearance. On top of the plywood is 800 lbs of concrete pavers that were left over from an above ground swimming pool I used to have. The resulting friction with the floor is so great that the anchor has never moved.