Used Yard Spotter Fresno - Tow tractors, also called tow tugs or towing tractors are popular for moving loads horizontally in airports, arenas, warehouses, manufacturing plants and other large buildings. Tow tractors are responsible for moving multiple trailers in a train. Certain tow tractors can transport helicopters and giant airplanes for the purpose of positioning inside and outside airport hangars and terminals.
The tractive effort concept is how loads move from place to place. Tractive effort refers to the total amount of traction a vehicle deploys on the ground. The heavier the load is, the more tractive effort is needed. Based on this principle, the tow tractor works by lifting a part of the load it is towing while making sure the load’s wheels remain on the ground. The load is partially lifted by use of the tow tractor’s hydraulic mast which is specifically designed to produce downforce on the drive wheel immediately beneath it, increasing the tractive effort. The tow tractor is capable of transporting very heavy and large loads thanks to the traction it provides.
Types of Tow Tractors
Heavy-duty tow tractors and load carriers are two types of tow tractors.
Load Carriers
Numerous businesses need to transport items of different sizes on a regular basis including manufacturing, parcel delivery services and airport baggage. Load carrier tow tractors or tow tugs are especially useful for these types of applications because they allow the single items to be gathered and stacked on the wheeled platforms, ready to be attached for tow and transport by the tow tractor.
These load carrier tow tractors fall under the material handling equipment industry which includes other machines such as pallet jacks, forklifts and cranes. These units only transport loads at ground level and do not lift or lower items from shelving or off the ground. In order to be ready for transport, items must be secured on a wheeled platform or already on wheels to use the tow tractor. The wheeled platforms are called bogies, trollies or skates. The tow tractor joins to the trolly and functions similarly to a train locomotive. Typically, the tow tug features a steel coupling male-end that attaches to a female-end on the trolly’s front. The back of the trolly has a male-end steel coupling that can then be used to attach multiple trollies onto a single tow tug, transporting all the trollies in a train-like formation.
Tow tractors are capable of moving many machines in a variety of conditions. The availability of many different types of trollies also allows for greater customization in transporting items. Trollies can connect together and are compatible. This means several different types of trollies can be used in a single train allowing greater flexibility for operations.
An additional benefit of operating with load carrier tow tractors as opposed to forklifts is the unobstructed view offered by a tow tractor, increasing the safety of work areas. Load carrier tow tractors transport trollies in a forward direction which decreases the safety concerns common with reverse forklift operations. This design is excellent for locations that have a high level of safety such as manufacturing locations and airports.
Towing solutions are a good alternative to traditional forklifts to handle many single items. Tugs are easy to move and safe to use. One benefit of these tow tugs is that an operator usually does not require a license. No license is necessary since these units do not lift loads up from the ground like cranes, and forklifts that require licensing.
Three subtypes of load carrier tow tractors include rider-seated, stand-in and pedestrian.
Pedestrian Tow Tractors
A walk-behind model that can transport wheeled loads is called a pedestrian tow tractor. These machines may go by the names of electric hand tug, electric tugger, electric tug or tow tractor. These compact machines are simple to use and can maneuver easily.
Stand-in Tow Tractors
The most common design for businesses that rely on horizontal manufacturing transport and order picking are stand-in tow tractors. They provide a secure platform for the driver to operate while still having a smaller footprint than that of the rider-seated tow tractors.
Rider-Seated Tow Tractors
Similar to stand-in tow tractors, rider-seated units have a seated operator platform. These types of load carrier tow tractors are popular where loads are transported over longer distances, such as airport baggage systems where checked baggage is transported from the check-in counter at the front of an airport to the aircraft at the terminal, often a great distance from one another. These rider-seated options help to decrease driver fatigue allowing for greater efficiency.
Heavy Duty Tow Tractors
In the aviation industry, large passenger and cargo planes usually employ the concept of pushback. Pushback refers to the process of pushing an aircraft back from an airport terminal by some means other than the aircraft’s own power. Pushback is achieved by employing pushback tugs or pushback tractors.
Pushback tractors are designed with a low profile design to enable them to move under the aircraft's nose in order to attach to the aircraft. Enough ground friction is required to move the weighted aircraft, so these models need to be heavy themselves. A common tractor for moving large aircraft can weigh in up to fifty-four tons. Their driver’s cab has the ability to be lowered and raised for increased visibility during reversing.
While the vehicle is referred to as a pushback tug or pushback tow tractor, it is also used to tow aircraft in areas where taxiing the aircraft is not practical or safe, such as moving large aircraft in and out of maintenance hangars.
There are two subtypes of pushback tow tractors:
1. Conventional; and
2. Towbarless.
Conventional Pushback Tow Tractors
These units use a tow bar to attach the tug to the nose landing gear on the aircraft. The tow bar is laterally fixed at the nose landing gear; however, it is possible to make height adjustments with slight vertical movements. The tow bar is able to pivot vertically and laterally at the end that connects to the tug. The tow bar functions as a sizeable lever to facilitate nose landing gear rotation. There are a towbar and precise tow fitting that acts as an adapter between the standard-sized tow pin and on the landing gear of the aircraft. Heavy-duty towbars required for sizeable aircraft ride on their own wheels when they are disconnected from the machine. The wheels are attached to a hydraulic jacking mechanism which can lift the towbar to the correct height to mate to both the airplane and the tug, and once this is accomplished the same mechanism is used in reverse to raise the tow bar wheels from the ground during the pushback process. The towbar is capable of being connected at the tractor’s rear or front, depending on if the machine needs to be pulled or pushed. Depending on whether the aircraft needs to be pushed or pulled, the towbar can be attached to the front or rear of the tractor.
Towbarless Pushback Tow Tractors
Towbarless tractors work without a towbar and scoop up the aircrafts’ nose landing gear to lift it off of the ground instead. This allows better control of the aircraft and higher speeds; it may also eliminate the need to have a worker in the cockpit to apply the aircraft's brakes. Simplicity is the main advantage of the towbarless tugs since it is not necessary to maintain a variety of towbars. Directly connecting the tug to the landing gear allows operators to have better responsiveness and control while moving the aircraft.
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