Bearhawk Tailwheels Tundra Tailwheels are finally Ready

[Enewton57]

Hi Everyone,

After a lot of work and Bob Barrows testing, we are finally ready to offer the Tundra version of the Bearhawk Tailwheel. Bob redesigned the standard Bearhawk Tailwheel to have a larger, wider and beefed up fork system. He also included a modification of the Tailwheel main body to include an adjustable friction control.

For testing, the prototype Tundra tailwheel was bolted on to a Bearhawk and Bob did a series of flight tests on asphalt runways, including some cross wind landings, bouncing the tailwheel up and down, swerve testing, etc. He did a series of landings with differing friction adjustments to determine an adjustment for minimal shimmy. He said that with the friction control all the way loose, he got some slight shimmy but not real bad. He then tightened the friction control a little and the shimmy went away.

So It all checked out and Bob has given us the thumbs up to start offering the Tundra Tailwheel for sale.

You might be asking yourself, "Do I really need a Tundra Tailwheel?"

Here are my general recommendations:

• If you run 8.00 x 6 or smaller tires on your mains, use an 8" tailwheel.
• If you have 8.50 x 6 or larger use a 10" tailwheel.
• If you run 28" Tundras or larger on your mains, or if you do a lot of rough terrain off-airport landings, use a Tundra Tailwheel

If interested - Here is the website for the Bearhawk Tailwheels LLC

http://bhtailwheels.com

Please allow 3 to 4 weeks for delivery.

Thanks,

[Battson]

Great news.
Have you got any photos of it mounted on a Bearhawk?

[Enewton57]

I will ask Bob to take a picture and have his daughter send it to me. Will post it when I get it.


Eric Newton - Long Beach, MS

http://mybearhawk.com

[Enewton57]

I got some pictures of the Bearhawk Tundra Tailwheel mounted to Mark's Bearhawk. I am posting these through TapaTalk so I hope this works.


Eric Newton - Long Beach, MS
Bearhawk Tailwheels LLC
Bearhawk Manuals

http://mybearhawk.com

[jaredyates]

I'm seeing the pictures on the web version, and they look great!

[LukeS]

Hey Eric,
Did you end up using a different wheel for the tundra tailwheel than the 8"/10" version? The reason I ask is I already have an 8" wheel/tire.

[alaskabearhawk]

I'm going to be picky here. There doesn't appear to be much clearance on the side walls and very little at the center of the tread. Gar Aero first made the baby bushwheel and the complaints were that rocks, mud, sticks, etc were getting caught between the wheel and yoke, Alaska Bushwheels came up with a version that allows for much more clearance and no complaints from the owners of those, or very few. See attached. White is Gar Aero.gar aero.jpg Bushwheel.jpg

[Enewton57]

Interesting comments. Bob required a clearance of no more than 3/16" and he would prefer 1/8". I made one with larger clearance and he asked me to keep it as close to 1/8" as possible.

Bob's reasoning was that the smaller clearance would prevent rocks from getting in there and getting wedged between the fork and the tire. He said smaller rocks would be less likely to jam the tire and lock it up. A larger opening would allow a larger rock to get in there and lock the tire up.


Eric Newton - Long Beach, MS
Bearhawk Tailwheels LLC
Bearhawk Manuals

http://mybearhawk.com

[Enewton57]

The outer wheel halves are the same but the center insert is 1" wider.


Eric Newton - Long Beach, MS
Bearhawk Tailwheels LLC
Bearhawk Manuals

http://mybearhawk.com

[nichzimmerman]

Eric, outside of the friction adjustment, can the fork and wheel assembly from the bush version be used on your 8" tailwheel body? I bought the 8" tailwheel from you a couple months ago hoping to eventually upgrade without buying a whole new body, but if I mounted the bush wheel it would be with the intention of avoiding pavement as much as possible. Thanks.
Nic

[Enewton57]

Yes - it's the same Tailwheel body. The friction adjustment needs to be added unless all your operations are not on asphalt or you keep the tail up until you slow down significantly.


Eric Newton - Long Beach, MS
Bearhawk Tailwheels LLC
Bearhawk Manuals

http://mybearhawk.com

[Enewton57]

Yes - if you buy the fork assembly for the tundra and send me your tailwheel body, I will install the friction adjustment for free.


Eric Newton - Long Beach, MS
Bearhawk Tailwheels LLC
Bearhawk Manuals

http://mybearhawk.com

[Battson]

That is good to know - I would rather just buy the fork and wheel, if I can reuse the body.
Being overseas, it's unlikely I can on-sell sell my existing set-up, so just buying the parts I need would save on storeroom parts gathering dust.

Eric, would you be selling "upgrade kits" more widely?

[Enewton57]

If you access to a welder, I could send the friction adjustor to you. You would drill a 3/8" hole in your tailwheel body right at the back and then weld a nut on the outside lined up with the hole. Then repaint the body. Pretty easy to do.

[jaredyates]

Would the traditional tailwheel benefit from an added friction adjuster too?