So my tow tractor/Land Rover is going away, sigh. I was thinking of replacing the 'tow the aircraft' function with a quad. So has anybody put a 2" receiver on the front of theirs? Which model quad might be best for this function. I had a few Honda Ranchers down in Mexico at the mine, they seemed robust, but finding a cheap one to decorate the hanger with is a bit pricey.

I would vote a 3 wheeler. Will take some ingenuity to make a front yoke but imagine the steeze of pulling an amphib caravan out of a hangar with a old 3 wheeler.

I use a 35 year old John Deere 300 hydrastatic drive lawn tractor I bought from a friend for $1000 15 years ago. You can still find them in good shape for $800 or so, less without the mower deck which you don't need anyway other than as ballast weight for the tractor. The hydrastatic drive gives nice smooth starts and slow speed control without the jerking of the clutch. I have a Polaris Ranger UTV and don't think it would work very well as the variable speed belt drive engagement is not very smooth. I don't know if an ATV with an auto clutch is smooth or not. Tiffin Air in Ohio used to sell a tug conversion of a couple of brands of garden tractor. A friend of mine uses an Oliver farm tractor, that he restored, that his grandfather purchased new to move his 185 on amphibs. Lots of options to get the job done.

Tim

I used a Polaris farm sportsman for 10 years. I had a 1 7/8 ball mounted to the front and had the 1 7/8 hitch on the tow bar. It was ok. Did you notice the small ok. Shifting from low to reverse cus you got out of align was a pain and steering was hard. Well I had a mechanical failure on the sportsman and was waiting for parts and had to install a ball on our John Deere lawn tractor. Ten time better. Hydrostatic drive is the cats meow. Steering is just outstanding

Great for a 182 but not be robusts enough for a DC3

I have a front and rear ball on my Honda Rancher, and a couple different small trailers I use around the place. Here's the thing, and I wonder if anyone else has noticed this? Like any real man, I can back a trailer up no sweat, if using my car, SUV, or best of all the 1 ton flatbed (it's bed is seamed right in the middle, which really helps), but the ATV is a different story. All I can think is that the handle bars don't compute in my head like the steering wheels do, but it is a bitch to back up! I can do it, but I'm slow and thinking hard the entire time, and still catch myself turning the handle bars the wrong way. It's better pushing with the front ball for sure, but not as easy as I thought it'd be, partially due to the short coupled tongue on the trailers.

Been using a john deere lawn tractor for over 30 years. Works

asa wrote:imagine the steeze

Mind your age demographic, now.

Zzz wrote:

asa wrote:imagine the steeze

Mind your age demographic, now.

I was talking to dogpilot whom I believe, from his previous posts, transcends age

I have a 2” receiver on the front of my Polaris Ranger. I use an 6” drop hitch and that seems to line up height wise with my boat trailers, flat bed trailer, etc. I realize that it is a side x side and not a quad, but like the extra weight. Moves stuff easier.

If you can fine one the John Deere gator 6 wheeler atv would be fantastic. Have a bed for other stuff as well.

Well, after much checking. I have found that the Honda Rancher is actually the best choice, since there is already a front 2" receiver fitting available, $50. One of my buddies uses it to pull a Citation CJ-4 in and out of his hanger. You need to put it in 2WD or it does not like to turn well according to him. Street tires also help traction.

While the utility of lawn tractors is without a doubt, it is not the only thing I will use the ATV for and its resale, apparently is quite high. After gasping for breath looking at Craigslist prices for 15-20 year old ATV's, I may as well buy a new one.

I bought used this year, then after discovering the tranny had been cracked and repaired with epoxy (but still leaked bad), took it back to the dealer for a full credit on a new Rancher. It's a good simple machine, all I need for mostly weed spraying and taking the dog for a ride. I know the ranchers around here beat them to death and they still last and don't break. One rancher I know has 1500 head of cattle, and I asked him once "why no horses?" He scoffed and said Honda ATV's were all they had used for years, and then he rode off with 4 of his cattle dogs onboard and 2 more running behind.

Buddy of mine made a tug out of a retired three-wheel traffic enforcement vehicle. I laughed when I saw it, but it qualified as an electric commercial vehicle, and he got about $36k worth of tax credits every year for using it in his aviation business.

Wonder if a golf cart would qualify...probably has enough torque to horse an airplane around a flat surface.

So I did end up getting a Honda Rancher Quad. It took a bit to order in the front & rear receiver adaptors for that model. I must say, the kits sucked badly, with none of the hardware being correct. So I had to do a bit of back & forth to the hardware store to make them work. Heck they even supplied the wrong size nuts for the U bolts, the term, "Mentally Challenged," or something stronger came to mind. The fun part was modifying the plastic skid plate to accommodate the receiver kit.

Rating: Moose front receiver hitch kit, D-, all the hardware was wrong. Strong rear receiver kit, C+. At least the hardware fit, instructions written by an illiterate, far worse than me.

It does just fine on the 206 and is actually considerably easier than it was with the vehicle, since I can make smaller quick corrections. Of course putting it in in the rain/snow will be a lot more interactive with the environment. I have everything for the street legal mods, like the mirror, horn and am just lacking a license plate light, which is ok, as my plate is not here either.

Bottom, line I like the quad for this, so now I have to modify my miniature trailer to accommodate it. Then perhaps I may use it someplace else occasionally.

Hammer wrote:...Wonder if a golf cart would qualify...probably has enough torque to horse an airplane around a flat surface.

Back when I was a line boy, we used a golf cart to tow all kinds of airplanes. It was the preferred method for both tailwheel & tricycle piston singles, biggest planes I remember towing with it were piston twins like Barons & 310s. Had a ball hitch on the front and back but I only used the rear ball for both pulling and pushing, just gotta be careful on planes with narrow limit pins for ground handling