Towing a Cessna 182 out onto grass - with what?
 

More advice please. Got to get a means of towing the 182 out of a concrete floored shed onto the grass area in front.
What would be the ideal bit of kit to do this? Must be able to do it on my own.
Concerned that starting and stopping must be very gentle so as to place no strain on the towing lugs on nose gear but also needs to be able to get sufficient traction on the grass to get going.
Is there a limit to the angle the nose wheel can be turned before damage occurs?
Cheers Guys

This should do the job nicely :

http://www.dragger.com

With the current exchange rate between US/GBP its cheap as chips !

What's wrong with the good old fashioned towbar? Anything in the 182 POH that forbids operating on grass? Or is it your personal strength that's not sufficient?

Remember that an electric dragger or anything will probably use the exact same lugs that the manual towbar uses, only with an electric dragger you have less "feel" for what the aircraft is doing, so it is easier to cause damage if, say, one of the mainwheels or the tail gets caught somewhere.

There is a limit to the angle each nose wheel can be turned. I don't know about the Cessna, but with a Piper you can see the stops (consisting of adjustable M8 bolts, I think) just inside the cowling.

it's unlikely you will be able to break the limits lugs by hand. the smallest electric or petrol dragger will do your job. failing finding a dragger, find a very small (like a kids one) 50cc 4 wheeler motorbike to do the job. great fun on the airfield if the weathers too crap to fly too :)

here's a new one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/QUAD-BIKE-50cc...QQcmdZViewItem

or 2nd hand with reverse:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/quad-bike-150c...QQcmdZViewItem

If it's just a matter of pulling the aircraft far enough out of the hangar to start it, you could simply rig a ground fixing and winch? Probably not what you had in mind or need, but sometimes the simple option is workable.

SS

I use a nosewheel stick and the 'armstrong' method for my Bonanza...surely unless medical problems preclude it that is the best, most simple, solution?

I 'paid' 1 carton of beer to have it made by a local young engineer...best of all it stows in the rear and goes everywhere.

My experience with doing this many times causes me to offer the warning that the nosewheel lower attaching forging, and it's attachment to the firewall and belly skin are a little delicate. In particular in the fore and aft direction. It is also possible to damage the steering by turning too far.

Don't pull too hard on the tail tiedown ring either. It's intended maximum load is in the 700 pound range (down, not back), and bending of the bulkhead and doubler has been known to occur.

The original drawn aluminim tube hand towbar, and a fair amount of muscle are the safest way to move the plane. The towbar was designed to break before any airplane did. Other towbars and tugs may not offer this protection. I'm not saying that they won't work well and safely, but I pull my Cessna by hand.

If a Cessna is really stuck - a suitable rope or tow strap around both main landing gear legs (but NOT the brake lines or fairings) and the plane can be safely towed by machine, with a second person steering with the hand towbar.

Pilot DAR

If a Cessna is really stuck - a suitable rope or tow strap around both main landing gear legs (but NOT the brake lines or fairings) and the plane can be safely towed by machine, with a second person steering with the hand towbar.

This won't work, because

Got to get a means of towing the 182 out of a concrete floored shed onto the grass area in front.

It its stuck in concrete, pneumatic drills are going to be required :}

My mate has built something like 'the dragger' for his Glastar. It lifts the front wheel with a small hydraulic jacket and then two friction drives move it at somewhat less than walking pace.

With the aircraft full of fuel it really takes two people to handle - the little dragger copes well and needs additional traction if something stops the aircraft moving - so there is an element of load limiting built-in.

Having seen this in action I can well understand why people want something similar.

Second hand Golf buggy with 36V electric motor works a treat for our Arrow:

I did quite a bit of research and most of the US - made single wheel tugs are not guaranteed by their manufactureres to work on (wet) grass: they are mainly designed for tarmac/concrete surfaces:

Don't be tempted to fork out 4-figure sums of bucks only to find out the hard way they don't work.

If you've got elecy in your hangar (for charging) go for electric motors: if not you'll have to have a petrol powered bike thingy: but remember you get what you pay for: it'll be NBG if you can't start it.

Safe flying

Cusco;)

Done alot of looking now and it seems that we will go with some sort of towbar and a 4x4 quadbike with a good clutch.

Where can I find a towbar that fits the bill, it needs to have some torsional give in it as the bike and therefore towbar will almost certainly roll relative to the towing lugs on the nose gear of the Cessna as it moves over the grass.

Is there something that fits a standard car towbar - as used by the RAF to tow the Tutors?

Tim

If you use a towbar fitted to a standard 50mm ball hitch on your bike you'll need some sort of shock absorbing mechanisn to protect the nose leg: We're currently thinking of using the front forks of a track mororbike but haven't come up with a design yet.

Let me know what you settle on.

Cusco

We have an attachment fitted to our ride on lawn mower for moveing aircraft.It has a shock loading handel which attaches to the mower and aircraft. Works a treat.

Get down the gym!

Moped with Grippy tyres?