Hmmm...Peter the Anonymous received some experienced advice -
nevertheless, he feels entitled to deride folks' efforts on his
behalf. Y'all just didn't READ his note!

There IS a difference between a hydraulic drive garden tractor and a
tractor, which perhaps Peter is not grasping. In turn, I notice that
Peter refers to a "first wheel" - now THERE'S an aeronautical term if
ever I heard one. :-)

And finally, it's true: the nose-wheel tows that Peter points to are
more compact than even a small garden tractor. So that's maybe the
prime consideration.

Regards

Brian W


On Tue, 26 Apr 2005 22:58:52 +0100, Peter
wrote:


Looking at the responses I don't think anybody has actually read what
I originally wrote:

A colleague is looking for a tug, perhaps an electric one, capable of
towing the aircraft (a TB20) by the first wheel a distance of about 50
yards.

I say "electric" because petrol engined tugs seems to be a bit
temperamental, and this is in a very tight hangar and a lot of control
over the forward/reverse speed is needed.

and people suggest using TRACTORS???

The options I am looking at are

http://www.aero-tow.com/ (e200 or e300)
http://www.powertow.com/12V.html
http://www.dragger.com/ndd.html (the first two)

One thing I've learnt is that at least some of these electric tugs
don't have variable speed control - the motor just goes on and off.
Whereas the gas powered tugs have the rudimentary control of throttle
and a clutch.