Is it a major modification to put the ABW extended gear on a spring gear maule? Welding modification to the frame?

Here's an old thread on the Backcountry Pilot forum which might be a decent starter point:

https://backcountrypilot.org/forum/maul ... ange-11988

Thanks for that, as I suspected - not something to really do..

Not a good idea. There are major differences in the tubing attachments for spring aluminum gear vs. oleo gear. It would definitely be a FAA field approval too. Depending on your FSDO, that might be really hard.

Thanks, Andy. Just was pondering as I keep an eye out for the right maule to purchase.

What about something like this instead? Theses extensions are commonly used on Cessna 140 models. What if an extension like this could be made in the vertical plane. It would help tremendously with AOA and Prop clearance issues on Skis. Seems cheap and too easy.

It does indeed seem like a physically straightforward way to achieve those ends. Getting that approved these days however would be a bit of a chore. Certainly going to require the involvement of an engineer or three. The FAA would likely want a serious amount of data, and possibly some rather expensive testing. They would probably want to do it through the STC process vs. field approval.

My guess is that there aren’t very many folks with the need/desire to extend the spring gear. Seems like most people who are looking for that sort of thing want to be on oleo gear. I know I do...

I do miss the days when common-sense mods were relatively easy to get approved.

Only problem is that common-sense is not that common anymore.....