Powered tug

[Tim213]

My BH is pretty hard to move by myself and I have to juggle around fitting it in my hangar along with my RV7. I’m interested in getting a powered tailwheel tug.
Have any of you used or have a good tug that works well on the BH? Mine is the four place if that makes any difference. I’m looking at one from a company called Minimax.. I know most of you could fabricate one it I’m not interested in doing that. Thanks for any input

[spinningwrench]

I've got the E200 from aero-tow.com Super simple machine that pulls on the rear axle, all electric. The owner prides himself in that he has sold one to every astronaut who is a pilot.

[500AGL]

I had the pleasure of operating a customer's Best Tugs Bravo (B5 maybe?) and I was suitably impressed. It's by far the smoothest operating tug I've ever used. Blows away the gas jobs we have, and has a built in power supply and air compressor.

[Bdflies]

Mine is an older gas powered tug. Powerful, but not too smooth.
The E200 is a great little tug. I’ve seen and used them for years.
A friend has one of these: https://acairtechnology.com/product/...cktech-t1v2-2/ He likes it a lot! Seems to work well.
Best tugs seems to make the 'hands down' best. The price reflects that.

Bill

[JimParker256]

Best tugs seems to make the 'hands down' best. The price reflects that.

Bill

Hey, SOMEBODY's gotta pay for Draco, Scrappy, and all of Mike's toys! (Just kidding, but you can color me ultra-jealous, but the man has more energy in his pinkie than I do in my whole body... Much respect!)

[Chewie]

A few extra Benjamin's doesn't hurt either. (Assume you're talking about Patey.)

[m.mooney]

AC Air technology is the best tug out there, in my opinion. Remote controlled little tank. It’s not cheap, around $3500, but worth every penny. I got away with too many 100% effort hand drags up a wet ramp, my luck was bound to run out and I dropped the $$$ for this and haven’t looked back. No more fear of slipping at max effort and ending up in a bad way as I use all of my energy to pull the airplane.
Mike

[Bdflies]

Mike is right! It's really quite cool to watch the thing approach the plane, capture it and walk away with it. Looks like something out of MadMax!

[TrueAirSpeed]

If you want a MiniMax, I’ll sell you mine, BUT I wouldn’t recommend it. I have the basic Taildragger model and like the DeWalt power drill feature, but the shaft piece between the drill and the tug assembly is too short. This requires me to have to put nearly all my weight on the top of the shaft to pick up the tailwheel on my 4 place BH. In the hangar I’ve partially remedied this by setting it on a wheel dolly to maneuver it around. Can’t use the wheel dolly out on the ramp, so I’m left with muscling it around.

[btdobie]

I saw a tug someone built out of an old snow blower. He claimed it works well, and I don't see why it wouldn't. The blower part was removed and replaced with a tail wheel cradle he welded up. Then you just utilize the existing self propulsion of the snow blower.

[Sir Newton]

Yes, buy an old heavy snowblower. Preferably with electric start! A few little mods and away you go.

[alaskabearhawk]

I just finished one using a really worn-out snow blower. It should have been hauled off to the landfill, but it lives again. Sometimes I feel like the patron saint of lost causes!

I made the replacement front end with a trailer hitch ball instead of a cradle so I can connect it to my towbar and my fuel trailer. It works pretty good, but chains are a must. There is no way I could move my airplane in the winter without something to help push as the ramp in front of my open hangar has a slight uphill component....and it's covered with ice and snow!

20250107_162419.jpg 20250107_162420.jpg 20250206_142132.jpg 20250206_153215.jpg 20250206_153200.jpg

[mbaerobat]

My take on a tow bar that has worked for me that doesn’t cost much and doesn’t involve a lot of work.
Gearcase is from a snowblower/garden tiller with the output shafts shortened and cheap hardware store wheels adapted. Handle is 1” square tubing split in the middle for quick disassembly. Driveshaft is thin wall tubing with a 1/2” socket adapter/nut drive socket. 1/2” socket adapted to the gearbox input shaft. Welded a fork to the front of the frame suitable for the tail wheel. Cordless drill powers it and disassembles to throw into the baggage.
Two small day project. Cost about +/- $200.
A variation of Paul’s snow blower mod..

[rrbeck11]

Brilliant! I love it! Any advice on gearcase and wheel/tire selection?