This retrospective review assesses 55 tibial nonunions with bone loss to compare union achieved with combined Ilizarov and Taylor spatial frames (I-TSF) versus a conventional circular frame with the standard Ilizarov procedure. Seventeen (31 %) of the 55 nonunions were infected. Thirty patients treated with I-TSF were compared with 25 patients treated with a conventional circular frame. In the I-TSF group, an average of 7.6 cm of bone was resected and the lengthening index (treatment time in months divided by lengthening amount in centimeters) was 1.97. In the conventional circular frame group, a mean of 6.5 cm was resected and the lengthening index was 2.1. Consolidation at the docking site and at the regenerate bone occurred in 49 (89 %) of 55 cases after the first procedure. No statistically significant difference was shown between the two groups. Superiority of one modality of treatment over the other cannot be concluded from our data. Application of combined Ilizarov and Taylor spatial frames for bone transport is useful for treatment of tibial nonunion with bone loss. Level of evidence Case series, Level III.