Used Yard Spotter Inglewood - Tow tractors, sometimes call towing tractors or tow tugs, are vehicles used in transporting loads horizontally in warehouses, manufacturing plants, airports, arenas and other large facilities. These machines can tow numerous trailers in a train or snake-like formation. Some are designed specifically to tow large aircraft in order to position them into and out of airport terminals and hangers.
All tow tractors use the concept of tractive effort to move loads. Tractive effort is the amount of traction a unit has on the ground. Tractive effort says that the heavier the load, the more tractive effort is required. 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 tractive effort is increased by the unit’s hydraulic mast. This has been engineered to produce downforce on the drive wheel directly under the mast. Traction allows the machine to deliver very large and heavy loads.
Types of Tow Tractors
Two types of towing tractors include heavy-duty tow tractors and load carriers.
Load Carriers
Industries such as e-commerce, manufacturing, and airport baggage and parcel systems must regularly move many individual and varying sized items to or from a single location. 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.
Load carrier tow tractor models are categorized in the material handling equipment that covers cranes, forklifts and pallet jacks. Load carrier tow tugs do not transport items from high places such as shelves or platforms. They only move cargo at ground level. This means that the load has already been on wheels or placed on a wheeled platform before transport. The wheeled platforms are called bogies, trollies or skates. The tow tug is attached to the trolly similar to train cars being attached to a locomotive. Usually, the tow tug has a male-end steel coupling that couples to the female-end fixed to the front of the trolly. Trollies move in a train-like system thanks to the male-end steel coupling on the back which can connect to numerous units and allow a single tug to transport them.
These machines can transport a variety of items in varying conditions. Trolly types differ to provide customization options. 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.
A key benefit of using a load carrier tow tractor is that operators can enjoy a clear view instead of relying on forklifts. Further, load carrier tow tractors tow their trollies behind them in a forward-only direction which decreases the safety concerns created by forklifts operating in reverse. This design is excellent for locations that have a high level of safety such as manufacturing locations and airports.
Towing many items at once saves time and money compared to relying on forklifts to move single things. Tugs are simple to move and provide a safe transport option. One benefit of these tow tugs is that an operator usually does not require a license. This is because the load is not lifted from the ground so it does not fall under the usual restrictions and licensing required of standard forklifts, cranes and other load lifting equipment.
There are three subtypes of load carrier tow tractors:
1. Pedestrian;
2. Stand-in; and
3. Rider-seated.
Pedestrian Tow Tractors
A pedestrian tow tractor, also referred to as an electric tug, electric tugger, electric hand tug or tow tractor, is a walk-behind machine designed for easy movement of wheeled loads. 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. These units deliver a secure driver platform and deliver a smaller footprint compared to the rider-seated models.
Rider-Seated Tow Tractors
The rider-seated tow tractors are similar to the stand-in tow tractors with the exception they provide a seated platform for the driver. 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. Reducing rider fatigue, the rider-seated models deliver more efficiency.
Heavy Duty Tow Tractors
The pushback concept is commonly used in aviation for cargo and large passenger planes. Pushback is the process of pushing an aircraft back from the terminal by means not originating from the aircraft’s personal power. Heavy-duty tow tractors are known as pushback tugs or pushback tractors complete this task.
Pushback tractors are built with a low-profile to allow them to move underneath the nose of the aircraft so that it can attach. Since the aircraft weight is heavy, these units need to be heavy in order to retain adequate ground friction to move the aircraft. Large aircraft tractors can weigh as much as fifty-four tons. These models have a driver’s cab that has the option of being raised or lowered during reverse for better visibility.
The unit is called a pushback tow tractor or pushback tug but it is additionally used to move aircraft in situations where taxiing is not safe or practical including into and outside of aircraft maintenance.
The two subtypes of pushback tow tractors include conventional tow tractors and towbarless tow tractors.
Conventional Pushback Tow Tractors
Conventional tugs use a tow bar to connect the tug to the nose landing gear of the aircraft. Laterally attached to the nose landing gear, the tow tractor can make certain slight vertical height adjustments if needed. 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. Each aircraft type has a unique tow fitting so the towbar also acts as an adapter between the standard-sized tow pin on the tug and the type-specific fitting on the aircraft's landing gear. On heavy towbars for large aircrafts, the towbar rides on its own wheels when not connected to an aircraft. Attached to the wheels, the hydraulic jacking mechanism allows the towbar to lift to the proper height to mate with the aircraft and tug. The same mechanism is employed in reverse to raise the towbar wheels off the ground for pushback. The towbar can be connected at the front or the rear of the tractor, depending on whether the aircraft will be pushed or pulled.
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 design facilitates higher speeds greater aircraft control and can eliminate the necessity of having a worker inside of the cockpit to apply the 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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