Trailer length required to trailer a J3?

[IainR]

I ended up borrowing a lovely aircraft specific trailer so had a relatively easy ride down (although a long round trip, 25hrs of driving in 36!). Unfortunately South African legislation is sticky in the extreme so flying her home was not a option. It will take a couple of months to get everything organized to have her flying again so in the interim I am giving her a good once over and a mandatory engine overhaul (again South African regs).

 

[tempdoug]

 

[Globemaster]

Hey all, this thread has already been super helpful but I'm hoping I can get some more help with my tow that's coming up.

I'm currently in Oklahoma and my Super Cub is in storage in Colorado. In August I'll be heading to Alaska via Colorado to pick the cub up and put it on a trailer. (I'd love to fly it up but it's been un-airworthy for a couple years. Shortly after I bought it I found some corrosion that my pre-buy mechanic didn't so I had to let the annual expire and now I'm planning to do a complete restoration.)

I'm looking at buying a 7x18 or a 7x20 trailer, the ones I'm looking at aren't crazy expensive but I'm still on a budget unfortunately. I've been in military training for over a year now and the military doesn't like to reimburse me for expenses until I get home to my unit so I'm operating on proverbial money fumes right now haha.

Anyway, I'm trying to make sure the cub will fit on the trailer. The 18 footer is preferable but I can get the extra two feet if absolutely needed. Since I can't get to my plane to measure it, does anyone know how long super cubs are from the main gear to the tail wheel? It looks like with a ~6.5' main gear base it should just squeak on to the 7 foot wide trailer but it does have railing on the sides that sticks up about a foot. Has anyone ever loaded a cub on to a trailer like this?

It looks like, based on previous posts, it might be best to lay the wings down on the trailer under the fuselage and maybe use some industrial packing foam between the wings and straps. Any advice, suggestions, or ideas for towing the cub up to Alaska would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Steve Pierce]

It is 17' from the center of the main tire to the center of the tailwheel in a 3 pt. attitude

 

[wireweinie]

And you should consider an enclosed type trailer for the road you'll be traveling.

Web

 

[a.crane]

Wings laying flat on the trailer under the fuselage definitely the preferable method. I made a wing rack for the sides of the trailer bringing a project from Arkansas to Maine and probably won’t do it that way again. Hauled a few Cessna wrecks with the wings under the fuselage it’s definitely easier on everything.