I'm too old to push my 182

MountainDude said:
Can you please give us a review of your best tug A3?
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I've had it almost a year now and it's been outstanding! Very well made, plenty of power, easily moves my 182 full of fuel up slopes and over thresholds. I would give it a 9.5 out of 10. The only reason I don't give it a 10 is because the battery charger that comes with it is not powerful enough to charge the battery if it drops below about 40%. I did this once and the oem charger would not charge the batteries. I contacted support, they let me know I would need a regular car battery charger to get it back above 50%. You have to disconnect the 2 batteries and charge them separately. So, I just don't let it get that low again. Other than that, its just about perfect! I would 100% recommend it.
 
AlphaMike said:
I've had it almost a year now and it's been outstanding! Very well made, plenty of power, easily moves my 182 full of fuel up slopes and over thresholds. I would give it a 9.5 out of 10. The only reason I don't give it a 10 is because the battery charger that comes with it is not powerful enough to charge the battery if it drops below about 40%. I did this once and the oem charger would not charge the batteries. I contacted support, they let me know I would need a regular car battery charger to get it back above 50%. You have to disconnect the 2 batteries and charge them separately. So, I just don't let it get that low again. Other than that, its just about perfect! I would 100% recommend it.
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Thank you for the pirep. Very useful. It's unbelievable their charger has that deficiency. If it was 1921, I'd forgive them...
 
Hard to imagine you’d run the battery that low given the digital battery meter on the A3. Maybe some guys are new to batteries? Mine sure works good.
 
Mine is shipping next week. Couldn't say no to the Sun N Fun show price!
 
Whenever I have asked Best for a show price, they always tell me they will give me something. Usually is is the LED light bar ($195 retail, almost nothing in cost). They always steer me to the B5 with a base price of $6500. The A3, which should be perfectly adequate has a base price of $3500. Note these are base prices and all the pictures you see are pretty well tricked out. There are at least 6 or 7 options on an A3. The LED light and regenerative braking are a couple of them. The B5 has many more options. If anyone knows any secrets to get a better price, please share.
 
MacFly said:
For what these cost, a good used lawn tractor would likely be a lot cheaper
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That's what my old flight school used. A green DEER mower with the deck removed and a pintal hitch welded to the rear. They also had a small blade for winter snow pushing around.
 
Would you be ok with an old riding mower and a tow bar? If so, plan to put a trailer hitch on the front and back…backing a tractor attacked to a nosewheel is no fun.
 
I looked at all the tugs on the market and was flummoxed at the prices they're getting for them. So I designed and built my own out of steel tubes from home depot. The power unit uses components from the electric scooter industry. It has a 48 volt lithium ion battery pack and a 1 Kw motor. I control the speed with a motorcycle style throttle. Total cost was about $300 for materials. Since it was a home design, there was a learning curve that involved some rework. I'm happy with the final result though.
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The start of this video shows it in action:
 
The A3 is on my list, just not at the very top yet. Thinking of getting one later this year. When tanks are full, pushing the aircraft back into the T-hangar with a bit of upslope worries me that I may hit a wall with the tail or a wing tip. It just seems repairing a single incident could be about the purchase price of an A3...

But I would like to try one before I buy one.
 
JOhnH said:
I absolutely love my sidewinder by Redline. It isn't fast, but it pushes as fast as I would want to. Especially if you are pushing it around other planes. They are a little pricey but that is because of the demand. You can occasionally find a used one for sale, but they are gone in minutes. I really mean it; MINUTES.

http://redlineaviation.com/sidewinder-for-cessna/

I think it would be perfect for you. My wife bought me mine when I started complaining that I was too old to push the Bonanza around and I love it.
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Unfortunately it's not compatible with newer 182s with wheel pants. (Confirmed this with manufacturer.)
 
I found another use for my Best Tug A3...I also use it to move trailers around. Very handy for that.
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Has quick change ball, 3 sizes.
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If the battery is completely dead than the smart charger won't work. But it works all the way down to like 5% of my battery life.
 
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