towbar

[Planegary]

due to taxiway difficulties at the airport that i base at I have to tug my plane. This got me to thinking about a towbar that attaches to a turntable for the fromt wheel to sit on. This would prevent oversteering the nosewheel. Is there anything on the market like that or has somebody already designed something like that? would hate to try to engineer something like that to only find that it doesnt work or somebody has already designed something.I would appreciate any input on this

[Mooneymite]

39 minutes ago, Planegary said:

due to taxiway difficulties at the airport that i base at I have to tug my plane. This got me to thinking about a towbar that attaches to a turntable for the fromt wheel to sit on. This would prevent oversteering the nosewheel. Is there anything on the market like that or has somebody already designed something like that? would hate to try to engineer something like that to only find that it doesnt work or somebody has already designed something.I would appreciate any input on this

[Planegary]

That is not a turntable and would move the nose wheel as I turned

[Hank]

A friend with an A36 has one, gas powered. Pretty simple to use, no chance of messing up the nose wheel linkage. 

[Mooneymite]

11 minutes ago, Planegary said:

That is not a turntable and would move the nose wheel as I turned

No.  All four wheels castor.  Think about it.

There are a ton of variations on this dolly; some do not require lifting the wheel.  Google "car dolly", or something like that.

[N201MKTurbo]

It must be rigidly mounted to the tow vehicle. If it pivots at the tow vehicle and the nosewheel you wont be able to stop the plane or push it. Especially if it has castoring wheels. 

If you had an arrangement like a trailer with two fixed wheels and a tongue with a turntable in the middle, that would work because the wheels would only move in the direction of the tongue and the inertia of the plane can't push the dolly off to the side. The trick will be to get the nosewheel on and off of the turntable. It would have to be a couple of inches off the ground at a minimum.

 

You would need to build something like this that is lower profile, with a turntable and a way to secure the nosewheel to it.

[DonMuncy]

Yes, they make tugs that lift the wheel and do not turn it, as it is towed. However, they are expensive.

[N201MKTurbo]

https://www.aerospecialties.com/aviation-ground-support-equipment-gse-products/towbar-head-equipment/general-aviation-towbars-heads/general-aviation-ftd-flat-tire-dolly-towbar/

[N201MKTurbo]

https://www.ajproducts.co.uk/warehouse-industry/handling-lifting/transport-dollies/transport-dolly-with-turntable-plate/459467-19435704.wf

 

[Planegary]

Yes I was thinking of a tow at with 2 wheels and a turntable between them.The tire would have to be held secured to the turntable with maybe a drop bar to keep it from rollin when I move foreword or backward

[N201MKTurbo]

41 minutes ago, Planegary said:

Yes I was thinking of a tow at with 2 wheels and a turntable between them.The tire would have to be held secured to the turntable with maybe a drop bar to keep it from rollin when I move foreword or backward

Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

[RLCarter]

1 hour ago, N201MKTurbo said:

Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

@Planegary, me too...... 

[carusoam]

let me start with... I am unclear of what the challenge is...

what are you trying to avoid?

How far do you need to tow the plane?

As the owner, doing the towing, you have complete control to not over steer the nose wheel...

Only the completely under informed people bend the nose gear...

As an owner, your biggest challenge is an under engineered solution that will do something in an uncommanded way...

Or are you just trying to invent a really cool device?

In that case... What is it your really cool device is going to do that isn’t done by all the other tow devices...?

many MSers have used lawn tractors, golf carts, trucks, industrial airport tow carts, and Redline sidewinders...

Of course, you may want to be in competition with Don.... for making one of the coolest tow devices ever. 

 

So... if you want to go really cool... get some electric skateboard parts and drive the nose wheel using an iPad app...

Best regards,

-a-

[CharlesHuddleston]

I have thought seriously about trying to use this Harbor Freight dolly as nose-wheel towing apparatus. Just have had so many other projects that I have never gotten around to it, but it might work. You slide it in from the side, and it closes in  and lifts up the wheel. All 4 corners are casters. I've seen a video of someone using one under each tire to basically roll a car around a garage. 

https://www.harborfreight.com/1250-lbs-capacity-vehicle-positioning-wheel-dolly-61917.html

[Hank]

This looks like what my Bonanza buddy has, now also available with electric power.

https://dragger.com/

[Planegary]

one of the problems i neglected to mention is i have to cross am unpaved area to get to the taxiway to my hanger. It will have to be a towbar with tires that can handle soft terrain

 

[Planegary]

to learn the challenger look upon goolge earth m74  my hanger is one of the four running north to south and if the ground isnt asphalt it is rough

 

[BDPetersen]

Sometimes I think I should part with this. Fun but overkill.

[Mooneymite]

 

[DonMuncy]

4 hours ago, Mooneymite said:

 

It looks like that one might be able to exceed the Mooney tow limits.

[Mooneymite]

16 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

It looks like that one might be able to exceed the Mooney tow limits.

If you watch the whole video, they have an add-on which allows the nose gear to swivel.....something for everyone, at a price.

[DonMuncy]

Just now, Mooneymite said:

If you watch the whole video, they have an add-on which allows the nose gear to swivel.....something for everyone, at a price.

Sorry, I didn't watch the whole thing. Short attention span

[DonMuncy]

14 hours ago, carusoam said:

 

Of course, you may want to be in competition with Don.... for making one of the coolest tow devices ever. 

 

 

Thanks for the compliment

[Planegary]

Well I finally got it completed (almost) I still ha e to make the ramp/tire stop. Here are photos of it. I made where it should easily handle 1000 lbs according to the bearing I bought (we will see if that is true. For. Ow I can tell you it moves and swivels easily

[gsxrpilot]

On 10/12/2019 at 6:32 AM, BDPetersen said:

Sometimes I think I should part with this. Fun but overkill.

If you ever do want to part with it, I'll take it.

In fact, I'll send you a deposit to put my name on it. :-)