Hi Aaron;
I inherited a long towbar that spigots into the cups that hold the nose gear axle in place. I turn a handle to close the two stubs that fit.
It has a tow ring on the other end. It is meant to be grabbed and held by a pintle hook. I have only used it once when due to a malfunction my engine died out of a taxi way and I couldn’t get it started.
I don’t see any reason you couldn’t tow it with a truck but urge you to have a second person who know how to apply the brakes sitting in the airplane when you’re towing it.
You raise a good point when you ask about turn limits. The biggest drawback in using a long tow bar is the very distinct possibility of shearing off the turn limit stops by turning too sharply. This is pretty common when a small airplane (like your Seneca) is left in the care of a big FBO where the line crew is not familiar with the limited turning range of our nose gears.
According to the POH, the nose gear on a Seneca II is limited to a 27 degree arc to each side from straight ahead. That’s not very sharp.
Slow and gentle is always the byword when towing an airplane. I suggest you always have a brake man in the cabin when towing, and be very careful to limit the sharpness of your turns.
If you do those things you should be fine.
Steve
