BestTugs B5 vs B8 for DA62

[foehammer]

I'm pretty set on getting a BestTug for my DA62 that supposed to be about a year out.

The B5 looks like it would work well, but the folks at BestTugs unshockingly recommend the B8 ($2100 more before options) saying that the B5 barely clears the nose of the DA62.

Anyone with the B5 wishing they had gone with the B8? (couldn't find anything on the forum that spoke to this)

Thanks much!

[MarkO]

Hi Curtis - I have a B5 and it is perfect for the DA62. It is what Best Tugs recommended when I purchased it and it doesn't come anywhere the nose. It handles max weight with no trouble at all. Highly recommend this tug. Cheers Mark

[MarkO]

[Boatguy]

The B5 works fine for me. The only issue I have is getting the nose wheel up onto the tug. But once on, the B5 has plenty of power.

[thommy152]

Best Tugs told me that the B5 wasn’t long enough to clear the nose and recommended the B8 which I ended up purchasing. From the picture posted above, it seems like the B5 is plenty long. The B8 has been great, but if the B5 is long enough then that would probably be the best option unless larger planes are in your future.

[foehammer]

Mark, that picture was super helpful, thank you! The B5 looks like it will work just fine.

Russ, great pirep on getting the nose wheel up on the tug. I'd been looking at the EZ Load option and I think I'll go for it.

If anyone has thoughts on other options on the BestTugs Bravo series (Lights, GPU/Jumpstart, Lazy Susan), that'd be interesting to hear and hopefully won't be too big of a thread drift.

Thanks all!

[Ed McDonald]

I realize that it’s not a Best Tugs device but I having been using this for almost a year and love it (https://acairtechnology.com/). It easily handles a DA62 including on snow. What I particularly like is no hardware near the pointy nose of the aircraft as well as being able to have a close-up look of the wingtip as the aircraft goes in or out of the door (if the hangar door width is close to the wingspan of the DA62).

[CFIDave]

Russ, great pirep on getting the nose wheel up on the tug. I'd been looking at the EZ Load option and I think I'll go for it.

If anyone has thoughts on other options on the BestTugs Bravo series (Lights, GPU/Jumpstart, Lazy Susan), that'd be interesting to hear and hopefully won't be too big of a thread drift.

I've got a Best Tugs B8 that I used with my DA62 for multiple years before selling the plane.

Fortunately the B8 is also usable with the Epic E1000 single-engine turboprop (max gross weight of 8000 lbs) that replaced our DA62. Compared to the Diamond twin, the Epic has much more weight on its nose wheel -- making it difficult to manually winch the plane up onto the tug. When I explained this problem to Best Tugs last year at their Oshkosh booth, they sold me a 2-speed winch for a little more than $200. It looks exactly like the standard B5/B8 winch, except that you can pull out on the handle to engage "low gear" (requires more revolutions of the crank handle) if needed. Highly recommended if you'd like to make it easier to winch a DA62 up onto the tug.

[Zebedee]

Thinking about a B5 for DA62.

I have a pretty good slope up into current hangar.

For those that have one, would you say the B5 has enough power to push plane uphill into hangar at close to max weight?

Thanks

[Boatguy]

I consider max weight to be a full fuel load, but no people or luggage, about 4,700lbs. I usually fuel before putting the plane away and full tanks is common. I think it has plenty of power. I typically maneuver on the "Low" setting because "High" is pretty sporty and the DA62 48' wingspan is just looking for a place to snag a wingtip as I push it into a 50' hangar.