Yes; if you need to use your tug in snow or ice, a pair of snow chains is highly recommended.
All units use 20W50 Motor Oil in the hydrostatic transmission and 10W30 Oil in the engines.
We believe we are the oldest, longest-standing manufacturer of aircraft tugs in existence, having built the highest quality tugs for 50 years. We have customers that still use units that are 30-40 years old, older than most of our competitor’s companies combined. While you will likely need to replace certain parts over the years, as long as the unit is well maintained, we expect them to last a long time.
Yes, most inclines up to 2-4% can work, depending on the total weight and selected unit. If you are working on a notable incline, please contact us to discuss.
Yes, we can ship anywhere in the world; however, our website can only accommodate shipping within the US. Please contact us to get an international shipping quote.
Since these units drag the plane’s wheel on the ground, making contact with a large bump or lip can potentially force the wheel to pop out of the tug, risking damage to the plane or unit. To prevent this from happening, we suggest usage on flat surfaces. If you have a lip under .5 inches, we suggest smoothing it out as much as possible. If your lip is larger than that, please reach out as we have other solutions that will work for you. If you have a small lip and don’t have wheel pants on your nose wheel, we suggest purchasing the Bumper Roller as an additional layer of security.
In most cases, the decision between gas and electric is based on customer preference: would you rather deal with charging and maintaining the batteries or filling up the gas motor? Other considerations include the availability of an electrical outlet, whether you are using the tug indoors or outdoors, differences in sound, use in extreme heat or cold, etc. However, we would suggest a gas unit if your use case requires very frequent / constant use throughout an extended period of time.
The Bumper Roller is an extra set of rollers that add an additional layer of security to make sure your nose wheel remains securely within the unit’s gate. The Bumper Roller only works on the nose dragger units and with planes without wheel pants. We suggest using the Bumper Roller if you need to move your non-fairing plane over any notable bumps or lips. The Bumper Roller requires assembly in order to appropriately align with your nosewheel.
Our Nose dragger units can work with wheel fairings as long as you have more than 3 inches of clearance from the ground to the bottom of the wheel pants. While there can be differences among certain vintages and you must confirm your plane’s measurement, we have found that most Piper and Cessna planes have sufficient clearance, but newer Cirrus SR-22 may not, for example. If you are looking to move a plane that has insufficient clearance for the Dragger units, please contact us so that we can provide an alternative solution.
Our nose dragger and tail dragger units are designed very differently and thus cannot move planes in the other category. However, please contact us if this is your situation as we have other solutions that can accommodate both types of planes.
If your plane has a larger tailwheel and/or has a tailwheel situated more than ~20” under the plane, the 10-inch tires provide an extra boost to avoid the unit making contact with the ground and allows easier control while holding the handle in a more natural position.
The S-2 requires at least 9 inches of clearance from the ground to the bottom of the plane’s tail. If your plane has the necessary clearance and is under 2,000lbs, the S-2 will work.
The TDE requires 14 inches of clearance from the ground to the bottom of the plane’s tail and no more than 24 inches from the tip of the tail to the tailwheel. If both measurements are within our confines and your plane is under 4,000lbs, then our TDE-1 will be able to connect to and move your plane.