Sinistar
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Brad
TLDR: A set of weights on a jack. Used tent weights vs workout weights to save a crap ton of $$$. See pictures below if interested.
Our new AP managed to service our 182 strut better than the last mechanic and I thought it would hold out all winter but the nearly -30F evenings the past week or so finally had its way and the 0.000000001 cubic inches of nitrogen finally leaked out So gonna need to shift gears and solve that problem...when its warmer. However, I got sick of placing sandbags or cases of oil on the tail and home brewed up something simple to pull the tail down.
For the 182 you need around 170lbs of weight on the tail if the nose strut it fully collapsed. Or you can put about 120lbs on the tail and push it the rest of the way down where it will stay due to the larger angle on the plane. I was never comfortable with placing that much weight on the surface of the plane so decided I am going to use the tail tie down instead. Here were my goals:
1.) Be able to move the weights without having to lift them
2.) Use just enough angle on the plane for the nose wheel to come off
3.) Find a cheap source of weights (exercise weights is pushing $3/lb up here!)
So the first part is easy. Having the weights on a floor jack means its easy to move around and easy to lift up and down.
As for the angle it just took some trial and error to find the distance of the tail hook to the ground. The reason I don't want it all the way to floor (maximum angle) is that the nose goes up so high its hard to reach down in and air up the strut.
Cheap weights were the most difficult part. Then one day on CL I found this guy selling off tent weights. Never even knew there were tent weights. Anyhow, these were $1.20 a pound and interlock! Each half is 30lbs. So three full disks are 180lbs.
The last step was to either fabricate a holder or buy something. When looking at exercise equipment I soon noticed there are Kettlebells handles. Funny aside - always thought they were called kettle balls. The kettlebell kit came with (2) full assemblies and a empty one is also shown in the last picture. The base of the kettlebell handle fits perfectly in the cup of the jack. About $40 for these two units. I did cut a 2x8 just long enough to sit under the weights at a 90deg angle to the split for a bit more stability. So if we don't count my 30yr old jack, about $190 for everything else. Using work out weights would be $400...$550. If you already have the weights you could do it for $40.
Disclaimer: I am well aware of the tail tiedown arguments for/against pulling(winching) it or placing weight on it.
Our new AP managed to service our 182 strut better than the last mechanic and I thought it would hold out all winter but the nearly -30F evenings the past week or so finally had its way and the 0.000000001 cubic inches of nitrogen finally leaked out So gonna need to shift gears and solve that problem...when its warmer. However, I got sick of placing sandbags or cases of oil on the tail and home brewed up something simple to pull the tail down.
For the 182 you need around 170lbs of weight on the tail if the nose strut it fully collapsed. Or you can put about 120lbs on the tail and push it the rest of the way down where it will stay due to the larger angle on the plane. I was never comfortable with placing that much weight on the surface of the plane so decided I am going to use the tail tie down instead. Here were my goals:
1.) Be able to move the weights without having to lift them
2.) Use just enough angle on the plane for the nose wheel to come off
3.) Find a cheap source of weights (exercise weights is pushing $3/lb up here!)
So the first part is easy. Having the weights on a floor jack means its easy to move around and easy to lift up and down.
As for the angle it just took some trial and error to find the distance of the tail hook to the ground. The reason I don't want it all the way to floor (maximum angle) is that the nose goes up so high its hard to reach down in and air up the strut.
Cheap weights were the most difficult part. Then one day on CL I found this guy selling off tent weights. Never even knew there were tent weights. Anyhow, these were $1.20 a pound and interlock! Each half is 30lbs. So three full disks are 180lbs.
The last step was to either fabricate a holder or buy something. When looking at exercise equipment I soon noticed there are Kettlebells handles. Funny aside - always thought they were called kettle balls. The kettlebell kit came with (2) full assemblies and a empty one is also shown in the last picture. The base of the kettlebell handle fits perfectly in the cup of the jack. About $40 for these two units. I did cut a 2x8 just long enough to sit under the weights at a 90deg angle to the split for a bit more stability. So if we don't count my 30yr old jack, about $190 for everything else. Using work out weights would be $400...$550. If you already have the weights you could do it for $40.
Disclaimer: I am well aware of the tail tiedown arguments for/against pulling(winching) it or placing weight on it.