FastTex Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 On 6/15/2020 at 10:57 PM, carusoam said: The L needs to be a few degrees shy of 90°.... Under load it is going to want to open up and think about pulling out if given the chance... Or the part that goes into the nose gear is long enough to come out the other side.... Slide a bolt through a hole it won’t escape that way... Or put a lock through it, so nobody can take your towbar... without stealing the whole plane.... The classic Mooney Towbar isn’t 90°... Some tow bars, There are a few bends used to center the pulling force in front of the nose wheel... How fast are you going to tow the plane... by hand? Or connected to lawn tractor....? You want it locked and not able to slide out, if it is following you.... no prize for errant towing accidents... pilot memories only, not a mechanic... Best regards, -a- Thanks for the info. I will pull/push with a tractor, slowly. I'm not going to move the airplane around the ramp with it. It seems that one pipe only, like @gsxrpilot did, is enough. that saves some work. Initially I was concerned that I needed a two-side clamp. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilot_jb Posted June 18, 2020 Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 My homemade tow bar for vehicles came with the plane, but I think the previous owners got it right, except for not making the pin long enough to pin the other side and lock it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLCarter Posted June 18, 2020 Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 2 hours ago, pilot_jb said: My homemade tow bar for vehicles came with the plane, but I think the previous owners got it right, except for not making the pin long enough to pin the other side and lock it in. Slide the bar all the way in and drill through the guide and bar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastTex Posted June 18, 2020 Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 7 hours ago, pilot_jb said: My homemade tow bar for vehicles came with the plane, but I think the previous owners got it right, except for not making the pin long enough to pin the other side and lock it in. Thanks! This looks like exactly how I want to build it. Do you mind sending me the dimensions and size of the metal? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilot_jb Posted June 18, 2020 Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 8 hours ago, RLCarter said: Slide the bar all the way in and drill through the guide and bar Damn. Sometimes a second set of eyes is worth the world. Major, "Why didn't I think of that" moment. lol! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilot_jb Posted June 18, 2020 Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 3 hours ago, FastTex said: Thanks! This looks like exactly how I want to build it. Do you mind sending me the dimensions and size of the metal? I'll be at the hangar tonight. I'll gladly send you whatever you need. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastTex Posted June 18, 2020 Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 56 minutes ago, pilot_jb said: I'll be at the hangar tonight. I'll gladly send you whatever you need. Mainly need the size of the metal and dimensions of the towbar. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLCarter Posted June 18, 2020 Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 1 hour ago, pilot_jb said: Major, "Why didn't I think of that" moment. lol! Been there, done that........... I would drill through both with like a 3/16" bit the drill the sliding bar out to 3/8" ~ 5/16" drill, will make it a lot easier to get all the holes to line up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted June 18, 2020 Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 2 hours ago, RLCarter said: I would drill through both with like a 3/16" bit the drill the sliding bar out to 3/8" ~ 5/16" drill, will make it a lot easier to get all the holes to line up I would buy the locking pin first, then drill oversize as stated based on the actual pin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilot_jb Posted June 29, 2020 Report Share Posted June 29, 2020 My sincere apologies that this took so long. My Mooney and I have been racking up CC time. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominikos Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 reviving old topic, excellent information tho... Debating a cost effective mooney tug... any reason why a trailer dolly such as this one, https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tow-tuff-electric-trailer-dolly-tmd-3500etd, would not work with a tow bar like the one above? the only reason I can think of is that the ball is too high... Am am I missing something? Seems to cut the cost by 50% comparing to commercial tugs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
47U Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 There needs to be some amount of tongue weight on the ball of the trailer dolly so the tires will have traction. I’m sure that adaptations could be designed and implemented, but then the price point may be approaching a purpose-built aircraft mover. The product description says it weighs 110 lbs. Is that enough weight by itself to provide traction to the wheels? The working load weight limit is 3,500 lbs. Certainly it has the capacity in that regard. Now I’m curious to hear what tug owners think. How much weight does it take so the tug wheels have traction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 6 hours ago, 47U said: There needs to be some amount of tongue weight on the ball of the trailer dolly so the tires will have traction. I’m sure that adaptations could be designed and implemented, but then the price point may be approaching a purpose-built aircraft mover. The product description says it weighs 110 lbs. Is that enough weight by itself to provide traction to the wheels? The working load weight limit is 3,500 lbs. Certainly it has the capacity in that regard. Now I’m curious to hear what tug owners think. How much weight does it take so the tug wheels have traction? I don't have a Mooney or trailer tug, but in my experience, the tongue weight of a trailer is generally ~10% the weight of the trailer. So for the tug above with 3500 lb. capacity, tongue weight would generally be limited to ~350 lb. Surely even the nise of my C weighs more than that . . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
47U Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 5 hours ago, Hank said: So for the tug above with 3500 lb. capacity, tongue weight would generally be limited to ~350 lb. Surely even the nise of my C weighs more than that . . . . The tug in combination with the proposed tow bar is carrying half the weight of the tow bar, right? The other half of the tow bar weight is on the nose gear. Incidentally, the weight on my C’s nose gear coming out of the factory was 474 lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris K Posted December 9, 2020 Report Share Posted December 9, 2020 On 10/25/2020 at 11:24 PM, 47U said: There needs to be some amount of tongue weight on the ball of the trailer dolly so the tires will have traction. I’m sure that adaptations could be designed and implemented, but then the price point may be approaching a purpose-built aircraft mover. The product description says it weighs 110 lbs. Is that enough weight by itself to provide traction to the wheels? The working load weight limit is 3,500 lbs. Certainly it has the capacity in that regard. Now I’m curious to hear what tug owners think. How much weight does it take so the tug wheels have traction? I could see rotating this 90 degrees so the hitch receiver faces the plane, then weld a new handle on the opposite side. Result would still be 1/2 off anything else you pay double for simply because the word airplane is included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tx_Aggie Posted December 10, 2020 Report Share Posted December 10, 2020 On 10/25/2020 at 8:51 PM, dominikos said: reviving old topic, excellent information tho... Debating a cost effective mooney tug... any reason why a trailer dolly such as this one, https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tow-tuff-electric-trailer-dolly-tmd-3500etd, would not work with a tow bar like the one above? the only reason I can think of is that the ball is too high... Am am I missing something? Seems to cut the cost by 50% comparing to commercial tugs... Have Don Muncy build you one. As an engineer I thought this would be easy and straight forward. I’m also not one to reinvent the wheel. Don saved some a lot of tinkering time and money! Just flew home with my new Muncy tug - it is robust and works excellent! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browncbr1 Posted December 12, 2020 Report Share Posted December 12, 2020 https://www.ebay.com/itm/392076915240 Weld a bracket to hold the wheel on the nose tire and you’re good to go like the sidewinder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMuncy Posted December 12, 2020 Report Share Posted December 12, 2020 6 hours ago, Browncbr1 said: https://www.ebay.com/itm/392076915240 Weld a bracket to hold the wheel on the nose tire and you’re good to go like the sidewinder. That looks like it has real possibilities. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N201MKTurbo Posted December 12, 2020 Report Share Posted December 12, 2020 I would take that thing, cut the jack and steering handle off, weld on a tow bar handle and tow bar like a power tow. in a weekend you could make one of these and save $2000 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingfree Posted April 9, 2023 Report Share Posted April 9, 2023 Hi Just adding a few pictures to say modifying the trailer tug as suggested earlier in this thread worked for me! Such a trove of great information, knowledge and experience shared on this site. Thank you all for the time you take answering all of our questions and freely sharing! Before starting the project some months ago I messaged @DonMuncy and he was so helpful! I wouldn’t have had the push to try making this without his words of encouragement! Hopefully the pictures help someone else in the future. Now that I’ve been using it a few months I’d modify a few things like extending the attachment point as the tug sits too close to the airplane making maneuvering a bit uncomfortable. Also incorporating some way to auto clamp the tug to the nose gear without have to squat under the cowling would be nice! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted April 9, 2023 Report Share Posted April 9, 2023 Nice work @Wingfree! +1 for the nice pirep for @DonMuncy too! Don’s a long time great MSer! Best regards, -a- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinecone Posted April 9, 2023 Report Share Posted April 9, 2023 I like my Redline Sidewinder. And you can fold it and take it with you for use at other locations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingfree Posted April 9, 2023 Report Share Posted April 9, 2023 Yes! It’s on my wishlist. This was just cheaper and fun to build ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.