2424 Wisconsin Ave, Downers Grove, IL 60515 3535 S State St, Lockport, IL 60441 2755 Division St, Melrose Park, IL 60160 424 W Main Street, Gardner, IL 60424

Towing Company Lifts 120,000 lbs!

O’Hare Towing Company Brings Two Rotators to the Airport

An international freight company in need of a towing company reached out to the O’Hare Towing team. The company had purchased a used tug and had it shipped to Chicago from Baltimore. The tug arrived at the airport on the back of a trailer but the company had no way of getting the 120,000 lb vehicle onto the ground!

Let’s take a step back here. What in the world is a tug? Anyone who’s taken a plane has probably seen these tank-like vehicles but never knew their name! Tugs are used for a procedure called a pushback. Pushbacks are quite literally pushing an airplane backwards from it’s parking position!

Now that we’ve gotten our aviation fact of the day, how did O’Hare Towing manage to get a 120,000 lb tug off of a trailer? The team used two rotators to lift the tug into the air. One rotator had two lines to the front end of the tug while the other had two lines to the back end. 

Thankfully, this particular airport tug was fitted with lifting eyelets on the top, making hooking onto the tug a relatively easy task. The rotator operators worked in unison, slowly lifting the tug into the air. 

Once they stabilized the tug in the air, the trailer was driven out from underneath it. The team then gently placed the tug back onto the ground, ready for the freight company to use!

Details of O’Hare Towing Company Brings Two Rotators to the Airport

A call for a towing company was received at O’Hare Towing’s headquarters located at 2424 Wisconsin Ave, Downers Grove, IL, 60515. An international freight company needed a towing company with heavy duty lifting capabilities to offload a tug from the back of a trailer.

The towing company dispatched two rotators to O’Hare International Airport. Once at the freight company’s hangar, the team got to work. They positioned one rotator on each side of the tug. The first rotator attached to two eyelets on the front end of the tug using two lines. The second rotator attached to two eyelets on the backend of the tug.

The towing company used snatchblocks to facilitate the lift. With everything in place, the towing company began to slowly lift on both ends in unison. With the tug now in the air, the truck driver was able to drive the trailer out from underneath it. 

With the trailer out of the way, the towing company slowly lowered the tug onto the ground. They detached all four of their lines from the eyelets on the top of the tug. The towing company then put all their equipment away and ensured that the customer did not need anything else. The towing service made their way out of the airport and back to headquarters where they awaited another job.

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