Towing X2 - Possible? Dangerous? Illegal?

A friend of mine (seriously) is about to retire and wants to begin touring the US with an RV while towing a glider trailer. Been done many times. No issues to speak of with this concept.

But he also does NOT want to use the RV to tow the assembled glider around the airport during events. He would much rather bring another smaller vehicle along for the tour for the "tow out".

His current idea is using a three-wheeler motorcycle. It would be on a ramped flat bed suspended from the back of the RV and then the glider trailer behind that. You can see some of those ideas here http://www.mightyhauler.com/ (with a car instead of a glider). Anyone done this? So that is idea number one.

But a car might be better than a motorcycle (for events and for side trips) so is there an option for that? It might be a hair-brained idea but could an RV haul a ramped car trailer and add a glider trailer behind that? Obviously, you cannot back up but is it too long? Too dangerous? Too illegal?

Expiring minds want to know.

Thanks, John OHM

On Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 4:04:41 PM UTC+3, OHM Ω wrote:
A friend of mine (seriously) is about to retire and wants to begin touring the US with an RV while towing a glider trailer. Been done many times. No issues to speak of with this concept.

But he also does NOT want to use the RV to tow the assembled glider around the airport during events. He would much rather bring another smaller vehicle along for the tour for the "tow out".

His current idea is using a three-wheeler motorcycle. It would be on a ramped flat bed suspended from the back of the RV and then the glider trailer behind that. You can see some of those ideas here http://www.mightyhauler.com/ (with a car instead of a glider). Anyone done this? So that is idea number one.

But a car might be better than a motorcycle (for events and for side trips) so is there an option for that? It might be a hair-brained idea but could an RV haul a ramped car trailer and add a glider trailer behind that? Obviously, you cannot back up but is it too long? Too dangerous? Too illegal?

Why can't you back up? It's only a matter of skill :-)

The most evil thing I've reversed with on a regular basis is the Bamford hay rake, which is a trailer with the hitch attached to a steering front wheel via a pretty short tongue. But we do it :-)

http://images2.hellotrade.com/data3/...ke-500x500.jpg

I have no idea about the legality.

If you can arrange for the glider trailer to hitch onto the car trailer right above the axle (i.e. have the axle at the back, not in the middle) then you might well end up with something both more stable to tow and easier on the glider than attaching it directly to the RV.

If you use a tray for a trike/quad then you'd want to extend the glider trailer tongue to still attach to the regular hitch, not to the back of the tray.

It's too long in New Mexico and Colorado. I researched it. Thankfully I
never tried it since losing the car would also result in losing the
glider. Better to simply rent a car while at the event.

On 10/20/2016 7:04 AM, OHM Ω wrote:
A friend of mine (seriously) is about to retire and wants to begin touring the US with an RV while towing a glider trailer. Been done many times. No issues to speak of with this concept.

But he also does NOT want to use the RV to tow the assembled glider around the airport during events. He would much rather bring another smaller vehicle along for the tour for the "tow out".

His current idea is using a three-wheeler motorcycle. It would be on a ramped flat bed suspended from the back of the RV and then the glider trailer behind that. You can see some of those ideas here http://www.mightyhauler.com/ (with a car instead of a glider). Anyone done this? So that is idea number one.

But a car might be better than a motorcycle (for events and for side trips) so is there an option for that? It might be a hair-brained idea but could an RV haul a ramped car trailer and add a glider trailer behind that? Obviously, you cannot back up but is it too long? Too dangerous? Too illegal?

Expiring minds want to know.

Thanks, John OHM

--
Dan, 5J

A friend just bought an RV with a "toy box" in the back end. He has a three wheel Morgan on its way that he will haul around in there, park, open the back door, and drive the Morgan out. It will be his "get around" vehicle once he gets where he wants to stay for a while. Or, for any stop where he decides he wants to do a little "cruising around" without doing it in a big, clumsy for close quarters RV.

And with this setup, the other vehicle is stored indoors while on the road (basically, the back 10 or so feet of the motorhome is the garage).

Steve Leonard

I have a 34 foot class A that I tow my Glider with. I also tow a toad 4 wheel down cavalier when I don't have the glider. The problem I have is the weight I could put on the rear axle is limited to about 200 lbs. So I custom built a rack for the front where I had 600 lbs to use and mounted a Honda Rebel 250 motorcycle. Most States have max vehicle length combined at 65 feet and you can't have more than one thing in tow unless the first vehicle is a fifth wheel configuration to which you can add a trailer. The real issue then becomes total length. Also I thought of a "Stacker" trailer for both a Car and glider trailer, but they are expensive as well. I don't ground tow the glider with the motorcycle at flying sites but probably could if very careful and slow. There are usually friends with other vehicles to borrow and in case of the occasional land out I can use the Motorhome to retrieve.

Why not get a fifth wheel set up, with the trailer with the entire back acts as a ramp. The guy that go tear up the desert use these, they have living space and space for the toys inside.

On Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 9:17:13 AM UTC-7, wrote:
I have a 34 foot class A that I tow my Glider with. I also tow a toad 4 wheel down cavalier when I don't have the glider. The problem I have is the weight I could put on the rear axle is limited to about 200 lbs. So I custom built a rack for the front where I had 600 lbs to use and mounted a Honda Rebel 250 motorcycle. Most States have max vehicle length combined at 65 feet and you can't have more than one thing in tow unless the first vehicle is a fifth wheel configuration to which you can add a trailer. The real issue then becomes total length. Also I thought of a "Stacker" trailer for both a Car and glider trailer, but they are expensive as well. I don't ground tow the glider with the motorcycle at flying sites but probably could if very careful and slow. There are usually friends with other vehicles to borrow and in case of the occasional land out I can use the Motorhome to retrieve.

On Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 9:27:55 AM UTC-5, Steve Leonard wrote:
A friend just bought an RV with a "toy box" in the back end. He has a three wheel Morgan on its way that he will haul around in there, park, open the back door, and drive the Morgan out. It will be his "get around" vehicle once he gets where he wants to stay for a while. Or, for any stop where he decides he wants to do a little "cruising around" without doing it in a big, clumsy for close quarters RV.

And with this setup, the other vehicle is stored indoors while on the road (basically, the back 10 or so feet of the motorhome is the garage).

Steve Leonard

I think he got one of the Class A of this type.

https://thormotorcoach.com/outlaw/

Should be able to pull your glider behind, and have your run-about with you inside in the "toybox" at the back end. You don't need two trailers...

Talk to the Willats.
They used a pickup and toy hauler with two gliders (Nimbus 3 and Discus) and one trailer inside.
Jim

I'd forgotten about that Jim. Brings back great mental pictures complete with granny Clampett on top in a rocking chair.

7Q

On Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 9:04:41 AM UTC-4, OHM Ω wrote:
A friend of mine (seriously) is about to retire and wants to begin touring the US with an RV while towing a glider trailer. Been done many times. No issues to speak of with this concept.

But he also does NOT want to use the RV to tow the assembled glider around the airport during events. He would much rather bring another smaller vehicle along for the tour for the "tow out".

His current idea is using a three-wheeler motorcycle. It would be on a ramped flat bed suspended from the back of the RV and then the glider trailer behind that. You can see some of those ideas here http://www.mightyhauler.com/ (with a car instead of a glider). Anyone done this? So that is idea number one.

But a car might be better than a motorcycle (for events and for side trips) so is there an option for that? It might be a hair-brained idea but could an RV haul a ramped car trailer and add a glider trailer behind that? Obviously, you cannot back up but is it too long? Too dangerous? Too illegal?

Expiring minds want to know.

Thanks, John OHM

Tom Kelly- 711 brings his Motorcycle on the back of the RV when towing his trailer. The bike is his local transportation and has a tow ball for bringing the glider to the grid.
He's been doin' this for years.
UH