What tug to get?

Any DA40 related topics

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beetlebug
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Re: What tug to get?

Post by beetlebug »

Rich, the A3 was just shy of $4k with shipping. Shipping was approx. $500 if I remember correctly.

Regarding using the A3 to get the DA40 over the hangar door tracks, it handles it without any issue at all. The trick is to center the plane (I have a line on the back wall that I line up with the tail) about 3 ft or so away from the tracks using the low speed mode, stop, make sure the nose wheel is straight, switch it to high speed mode and off you go over the tracks.

Even if you do somehow get stuck in the tracks the A3 has the power to pull it out if you pull one wheel over at a time.
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Boatguy
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Re: What tug to get?

Post by Boatguy »

I got an A3 for $3,500 with shipping at an Aircraft Expo. It will pull my DA40NG out over the hangar tracks with no problem. But pushing back against the trailing link was a problem. Now I place a big piece of plywood (3/4" x 12" x 30") in front of the outside door track (i.e., outside the hangar), and then a little piece of plywood between the two hangar tracks. I get up a little momentum with the A3 and it pops up onto the plywood outside the hangar where if anything goes wrong there is no risk of the wings hitting anything. Then the A3 pushes it back, it has a little bump over the hangar door tracks and then rolls of onto the hangar floor.

My biggest problem with the A3 has been leaving it ON and draining the battery. I've done this twice. I return to the hangar and the battery is stone dead, the Best Tug supplied charger would not do anything. The first time I called support and ended up buying new batteries locally. The second time, I used the optional battery clips on my GPU and connected them to the tug battery for about 10 minutes. That got the voltage temporarily high enough for the supplied charger to start charging. After 4-5 hrs the battery was back to 100% and doesn't seem to have suffered any permanent damage.
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gtmize
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Re: What tug to get?

Post by gtmize »

AndrewM wrote: Sun Aug 18, 2019 1:34 pm Of course it depends on your specific hanger environment, but you may wish to consider installing an electric winch at the back of the hanger to pull your plane in. This solution works very well in my case, and is extremely fast. It takes longer for the hanger door to fully open than winching the plane in...
I did install a wench but how do you keep the nose wheel from pivoting as you pull the plane into the hanger ..?
The wench control cord is too short to control the nose while wenching
I'm going to try adding drag weights to nose to keep it straight
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ZAV
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Re: What tug to get?

Post by ZAV »

Hold the tail down with your body weight to get the nose off the ground as the plane is pulled in.
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Boatguy
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Re: What tug to get?

Post by Boatguy »

gtmize wrote: Wed Nov 13, 2019 2:16 pmwench control
It's always been a challenge for me.
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Sandy
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Re: What tug to get?

Post by Sandy »

@gtmize

Rather than installing a winch with a wired remote control, you could have, for a lot less money, purchased a 12v DC powered winch with a wireless remote along with a 12v power pack that even includes an inflator pump. While leaning on the tail cone to raise the nose gear you simply winch the plane into the hangar, preferably while keeping the main gear aligned on lines that you’ve painted on the hangar floor. A full description, along with a parts list is found on the YouTube video I posted at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5BShoqQG2G8
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Lance Murray
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Re: What tug to get?

Post by Lance Murray »

You guys winching your airplane in don't worry about stressing the structure in a manor not designed for?
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Rich
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Re: What tug to get?

Post by Rich »

Yesterday was one of those days where I needed the tug to get the plane out of the hangar. A nice little band of ice right across the front of the hangar door. (Now I'm using the Thundervolt I bought from Brock.) Trying to pull it out with just a tow-bar or, as I usually do, using the tug as a towbar is inviting slip/fall/crack/911 :(

This battery-power version moves the plane more slowly than the 40EZ will but that is a good thing, as the speed is just right.
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Sandy
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Re: What tug to get?

Post by Sandy »

@Lance Murray

You guys winching your airplane in don't worry about stressing the structure in a manor not designed for?
When we tie our planes down we we pull on the tail tie down. The winch does the same thing on a smooth, level hangar floor. While I realize that others use a far more powerful winch than the one that I have (1500# pull), mine is quite adequate to pull the plane, whereby I doubt that it's putting any more stress on the structure than when I tie the plane down and then tighten a tautline hitch.

Having mentioned that I use a tautline hitch brings up an issue that I rarely see mentioned, namely, the proper way to tie down an airplane. As I mentioned, I have always used tautline hitches, as they are quick to tie, and after having been tied they can be pulled taut, and they will stay taut. I am constantly amazed by the weird ways that others tie down their planes with the (mistaken) impression that their planes will remain in place.

Sandy
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chili4way
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Re: What tug to get?

Post by chili4way »

This is the start of a good topic (tie-downs and knots)! Further discussion is here:
https://diamondaviators.net/forum/viewt ... =13&t=5807
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