How to Choose an Electric Tugger for Narrow Aisles and Tight Spaces

To choose an electric tugger for narrow aisles, measure your three tightest spots first. Those are the narrowest aisle, the smallest door opening and the shortest elevator. Then pick the smallest tugger body that clears all three and still tows your heaviest cart. The compact electric tuggers on this site are 22 to 27 inches wide.

The narrowest Pony Express tuggers are the 1061, the 1061-HD and their lithium versions, at 22 inches wide. Their length adjusts from 22 to 42 inches, or 23 to 42 inches on the lithium models. The 1062 has a fixed body 25 inches long and 24 inches wide.

Measure your space first

The building decides the machine. Take a tape measure to the route before you read a spec sheet.

Aisles

Measure the aisle at its tightest point, not the average. An aisle that opens wide but pinches at one rack upright is as wide as the pinch. Then add room for the operator, who walks beside the handle, and for the cart behind.

Doors

Measure the clear opening with the door fully open, between the stops. The clear opening can be less than the frame size on the drawings. Compare the real gap with the tugger width plus room for the cart.

Elevators

The tugger and cart ride together, so the elevator depth caps their combined length. Measure the shortest car you use and subtract your cart length. What is left is the longest tugger body you can run. Send us your elevator size and cart length and we check that the tugger and cart fit together.

Footprint and fit

Body length and width decide whether a tugger fits and how easily it turns in a tight room. The motor moves the load. The body has to get it around the corner.

Width sets two things at once, whether the tugger fits the aisle and how much room the operator has beside it. The 1061 and 1061-HD are 22 inches wide and the 1062 is 24 inches wide. In a pinched aisle every inch counts.

Length decides how the tugger fits an elevator and how much machine swings in a turn. The 1061 and 1061-HD adjust from 22 to 42 inches, so one tugger can shorten for a small car and lengthen for a longer cart. The 1062 stays at 25 inches.

We have no published turning radius for these tuggers. Ask us, and send a drawing of the tightest turn on your route.

The drive wheels are puncture proof and non-marking, so they hold smooth indoor floors without leaving marks.

Compact tuggers compared

Read the table by your tightest limit. The narrowest aisles and smallest elevators point to the 22 inch 1061 or 1061-HD. Back to back shifts point to a lithium model. A route that may later need more capacity points to the 1062, because the 1065 and 1065-XHD share its body.

Pony Express 1061 and 1061-HD

The 1061 tows 1,500 lb and the 1061-HD tows 2,000 lb on a flat floor. Both are 22 inches wide, and their length adjusts from 22 to 42 inches. They suit small elevators and tight halls.

Each runs a 35 Ah AGM battery for up to 8 hours and recharges in about 4 hours on its onboard charger. The 1061 has two speed ranges, 0 to 1.5 mph and 0 to 3 mph. The 1061-HD has high and low speed switches on the handle.

The lithium versions

The 1061 Lithium and 1061-HD Lithium keep the 22 inch width and tow the same 1,500 and 2,000 lb. Their length adjusts from 23 to 42 inches. The difference is the battery. The 40 Ah lithium iron phosphate pack swaps in seconds and recharges in about 2 hours, so the tugger keeps working across back to back shifts. A Bluetooth app shows the charge on a phone.

Pony Express 1062

The 1062 tows 2,000 lb from a fixed body 25 inches long and 24 inches wide. The standard battery is a 35 Ah AGM, with a 70 Ah AGM package as an option for longer shifts. It runs up to 8 hours and recharges in about 4 hours.

Its front plate takes the Pony Express hitch range, including pintle, ball, ring, round bar and pin hitches. Tell us how your carts couple and we quote the matching hitch.

When loads outgrow 2,000 lb

You do not have to give up a small footprint. The Pony Express 1065 keeps the same 25 by 24 inch body as the 1062 and tows 5,000 lb on a 70 Ah AGM battery.

The same body goes higher. The 1065 Lithium tows 5,000 lb on casters and up to 20,000 lb on rails. The 1065-XHD tows 7,500 lb. Measure your aisles once, and the 25 by 24 inch answer holds from 2,000 to 7,500 lb.

For carts up to 3,000 lb in confined aisles and work cells, the CartCaddyShorty compact electric tug pushes and pulls the cart from a short frame 39.5 inches long and 27 inches wide. Its hitch connects to a cart in seconds with no tow arms to fit.

From measurements to a pick

• Narrowest aisles and smallest elevators point to the 1061 or 1061-HD.
• Back to back shifts in the same tight space point to the 1061 Lithium or 1061-HD Lithium.
• A fixed compact body and a wide choice of hitches point to the 1062.
• Loads over 2,000 lb point to the 1065 or 1065-XHD, in the same body as the 1062.

Send us your aisle, door and elevator sizes with your cart weights, and we confirm the model before you order.

Questions

How tight can an electric tugger turn?

We have no published turning radius for the Pony Express tuggers, so ask us. Body length is the best guide. The 1061 and 1061-HD shorten to 22 inches, and the 1062 is 25 inches long.

How wide an aisle does a compact tugger need?

Start from the tugger width and add room for the operator and the cart. The 1061, 1061-HD and their lithium versions are 22 inches wide, and the 1062 is 24 inches wide. Measure the aisle at its tightest point.

Can a small tugger pull heavy carts?

Yes. The 1061-HD tows 2,000 lb from a 22 inch wide body. The 1065 tows 5,000 lb and the 1065-XHD 7,500 lb in a 25 by 24 inch body. A ramp lowers what any tugger can pull, so send us the slope.