Yamaha 4x4 Hitch Mount

After I moved my aircraft to a private T-hangar, I realized that a small aircraft tug would be very useful. I looked at various ones offered in the aviation magazines, but they seemed to cost a lot for a single use device. At that time, I owned a Yamaha SECA 600 motorcycle. It turned out that I was only putting 1,000 miles on it a year, so I figured that I really didn't need it that much. I finally decided that I would get an ATV for a tug and trade my SECA 600 in on it. I went to the local Yamaha dealership and they gave me a reasonable trade-in on my bike for a new ATV.

The ATV came with a bracket upon which you could install a trailer hitch, but the towbar for my aircraft used a pin and I also needed to use a hitch ball for moving my utility trailer which I also store in my hangar. Also, the original hitch location on the ATV would not allow for very sharp turns due to its width in conjunction with the opening in the towbar's end. For these reasons, I decided that I needed to extend the hitch location somewhat rearward while also leaving a normal ball mount in the original location. Unfortunately, the original hitch mount bracket was angled down somewhat, so my new extension was also angled down. This did not work very well due to it being at the wrong angle for the towbar. After quite a bit of heating and beating of the metal, I got a slight angle in the new bracket and it now points rearward at a more horizontal angle. The new bracket was constructed from a thick piece of aluminum that was a leftover from the remains of my gyro crash.

Although the rear hitch made it easier to pull the aircraft out of the hangar and move it to the wash area, it left quite a bit to be desired for putting the aircraft back into the hangar. If the aircraft was not perfectly aligned with the hangar and it was necessary to turn it while backing it into the hangar, it was quite difficult to get the aircraft into the hangar. I suspected that a front hitch mount would make it easier, so I went about designing one. The brush guard on the ATV had four mounting holes (two in the front and rear) that would allow the forces to be distributed to the ATV's frame instead of just the brush guard. Originally, I tried creating a tow hitch that would mount in this area out of electrical conduit that was bolted together. It was not that difficult to create it out of electrical conduit and it proved to me that I was on the right track, but repetitive movements of the aircraft caused fatigue in the conduit and caused it to crack. I then scavenged some relatively straight pieces of aluminum from the spar of my twisted gyro rotors (that's why the profile of the aluminum has an airfoil on it), cut them to the correct lengths, drilled holes in them, and bolted them to the ATV. Here, you will see a front view of the completed project. It has turned out to be quite strong.

Here's a view from the right front showing a better angle on how the mount was constructed. The two horizontal pieces of the bracket provide a place to mount the piece that goes along the longitudinal axis of the ATV. Although welding might have been better, I did not have the facilities to weld aluminum, so I chose to bolt everything together.

Here's a view from the right rear showing the construction in more detail. As you can see, the entire bracket was made from the spar of one of my gyro rotor blades. This aluminum is quite strong, so I don't think that I'll be having any problems with this anytime soon.

By putting all of this together in addition to a little practice, it makes it quite a bit easier to move my aircraft into and out of the hangar or over to the wash area. It's probably a little bit of overkill, but it serves its purpose and allows me to use it for other things. It is still slightly difficult to back the aircraft into the hangar if it is not already aligned with the hangar, but it does not have to be aligned as perfectly as if I was using the rear hitch. I have found that it works best to park the aircraft in front of the hangar so that the ATV only has to push straight backwards. Although I will still have to reposition it somewhat with the ATV due to not usually aligning the center of the aircraft with the center of the hangar, this is not as difficult as trying to make a turn and getting the center of the hangar at the same time. Since I store my utility trailer in the same hangar and since it only fits under the wing of the aircraft if I position the aircraft correctly in the hangar, there is quite a bit of incentive for me to back it in correctly.