# Making Ramps safer



## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

Heard a story over Thanksgiving about two young guys that could have been hurt badly using some ramps and had them slide on them. Only had some damaged machinery, some scrapes and bruises and hurt pride, but it could have been alot worse. I use ramps and modified them some time back just because of the same potential issue.

I got some 1/2" threaded rod, some nuts and spring clips plus some chain and extra hooks.
I figured our how wide I needed the ramps, threaded some nuts onto the rod to act as stops. Left a little room for the sides of the ramps and drilled a hole for the spring clip








I then added about an extra 1 1/2' of chain and hook onto the end of the existing chain on each half of the ramps








Now when I use my ramps, I hook the 2 sections together with the rods and clip them. Hook the end of the chains to the hold downs in the truck then use the original hooks to take up the slack








You need a couple of holes in the sides of the ramps where the rods will go. It's now solidly attached to the truck and can't slide side-to-side while loading or unloading something into the truck









Even something as simple as ramps can hurt someone, so be careful.


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## Wayne195 (Nov 16, 2010)

Great innovation HCBPH! I recently had an accident when I was unloading my Cub Cadet AGS 2140 and the deck caught on the ramp just as I was pulling it off the truck and onto the ramp. In an effort to lift the deck the ramps slid back and the whole rig went down. I'm still not quite sure how it happened, but the the tractor came down safely and nothing was damaged.

BTW, it looks like you have a Ford F150 just like the one I used to have...


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

Wayne195 said:


> Great innovation HCBPH! I recently had an accident when I was unloading my Cub Cadet AGS 2140 and the deck caught on the ramp just as I was pulling it off the truck and onto the ramp. In an effort to lift the deck the ramps slid back and the whole rig went down. I'm still not quite sure how it happened, but the the tractor came down safely and nothing was damaged.
> 
> BTW, it looks like you have a Ford F150 just like the one I used to have...


That's one of two F150's I have. That's a 07 Heavy Half Ton so it's more like a F250 in height, which makes it even a little harrier to load into and out of. I almost had that 10 HP 3 stage come down on me, which is why I came up with this in the first place. Now it's rock solid so definitely better than without the mods.


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## chevyman_de (Oct 2, 2011)

I prefer ramps with side rails. I have a set of Ramp Champ telescoping composite ramps and like them a lot. They come with safety straps to secure them to the rear bumper included.








The Ramp Champ Telescoping ATV Ramps

No, I didn't buy them for my little single stage blower, they're for my welder or the welding table.


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## kb0nly (Sep 22, 2011)

Awesome idea! Makes it a lot safer.

Those Ramp Champs look good to.

If i had a pickup i would probably do the same, but i have a couple sizes of trailers that i pull around, one has a ramp on it that folds down, the other is a small one about the size of a walkbehind blower, just unhook the ball and leave the safety chains hooked up and it will tilt enough to roll out, tongue can't hit anything as it comes up because it rests against my rear gate mounted spare tire. Crude but works... One of these days i plan on building a flip down tailgate ramp for it, or just hinge the existing one.


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## Full Throttle (Nov 20, 2010)

Good idea have to have a way to keep the kick back from happining. I have a set simular to these nice and wide and cant fall through center. Folds up to 1 width wide. When i put the atv in dont have to ride it can work the throttle from the side no chance of it falling off. I had a 1000 lb. wood burner in the bed hook the ATV and pulled it out pretty safe


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## chevyman_de (Oct 2, 2011)

A bed-mounted winch comes in handy as well.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Ideas*

All good ideas, keep them coming. Anything to help people work safely is a good thing. Hadn't thought about something like an electric winch, but I had thought about a comealong but never proceeded beyond the idea stage. I like the idea of the wide ramp along with the ones with the side rails, but I needed some and the ones I have were the only ones I could get on the same day, so they'll have to do for a while.


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## truder1400 (Oct 1, 2011)

*old school ramps*

Now your making all those who use 2 2x6's jealous!!

Got a utility trailer with a rear gate that lowers to a ramp. When I have to load stuff into a pickup, first drove onto the trailer and then used the rear gate to load into the pickup. Of course you then need some way to get it off the pickup bed when you get to where your going.


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## Full Throttle (Nov 20, 2010)

Have a neighbor who uses 2x6's I cringe when he uses them. For some reason I still watch like a train wreck waiting to happen. Like charlie


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Accidents*



Full Throttle said:


> Have a neighbor who uses 2x6's I cringe when he uses them. For some reason I still watch like a train wreck waiting to happen.


Watching that just give me goosebumps. That makes Chevymans winch even more attractive for a ATV.


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## kb0nly (Sep 22, 2011)

Its morbid curiosity.. LOL


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## theoldwizard1 (Nov 23, 2011)

Ouch !

I'm getting too old to "brute force" lift my rototiller into the truck and I wouldn't even think of it with my generator ! But I have some questions before I buy some ramps.



How long should the ramps be to get a "reasonable" angle up to a pick/full size van (sorry, no vertical measurement at the moment) ?
Solid "floor" or open/"ladder" style ? They will most frequently be used for rototiller, generator, 2 wheel "dolly", etc, but I will not rule out future use of ATV/snowmobile/motorcycle. (...and I'm closing in on 60 !)
Capacity ?
Folding or not ?


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## theoldwizard1 (Nov 23, 2011)

HCBPH said:


> Even something as simple as ramps can hurt someone, so be careful.


Those folding ramps make me "nervous" (all though I do like the comapct size when). Have you thought about adding some kind of adjustable height "support" under the hinges ?


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## Snowmann2011 (Apr 5, 2011)

Full Throttle said:


> Have a neighbor who uses 2x6's I cringe when he uses them. For some reason I still watch like a train wreck waiting to happen. Like charlie Charlie's Accident - YouTube


This just made me sick. But it is definitely a good example of not using safety more carefully.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Ramps*



theoldwizard1 said:


> Those folding ramps make me "nervous" (all though I do like the comapct size when). Have you thought about adding some kind of adjustable height "support" under the hinges ?


These are the ones I have: Tri-Fold Load Ramps - Pair, 6 ft. x 9"
If any complaint on them, the lowest section seems a little steep to me, but I've backed several snowblowers up them so far without a problem, and the truck is tall.
Supposed to be good for 500 lbs per side so 1000 pounds total. I have taken my Searsasaurus in original config (10 HP 32" 3 stage) on them and that had to weight 300+ and no movement what so ever. I've never felt any flexing in them at all though I suppose you could add a support leg is you like.

On the question of open vs step design - I don't like plate ones, I slipped once on a rental truck one. I don't like the ones with the wider gap between the cross pieces, too much chance on slipping there too IMO. These are pretty close together and so far chains have not been an issue if you have them on the wheels.

Not the best, not the worst and since modded, about the best I can do for now.


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## Full Throttle (Nov 20, 2010)

theoldwizard1 said:


> Ouch !
> 
> I'm getting too old to "brute force" lift my rototiller into the truck and I wouldn't even think of it with my generator ! But I have some questions before I buy some ramps.
> 
> ...


 Reasonable is a gray area. Mine are 7 ft and use them on a stock height super duty no problems. Every ramp has a purpose. Ladder type is best for bigger tires ATV/ Snowmobile or skid type cargo. A roto tiller will fall inbetween and have to horse it a little to go up. No real safe way to follow or pull if you have to walk on the ladders if getting up in age. American made ramps have safety on the weight. Example if the load rating is 1000lb it takes 1500lb for them to fail


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

With that ramp angle how can you not expect to have some sort of problem.

That just hurts to watch.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Ramps*



Kiss4aFrog said:


> With that ramp angle how can you not expect to have some sort of problem.
> 
> That just hurts to watch.


It's not that bad if loading a running blower. With the connectors between the 2 sections and I use the chains to hook the ramps onto the strapdown loops in the truck and it doesn't move. I just back the blower up the ramps into the truck. If I have a dead one, I have a strap I wrap around the impeller section of the auger housing and I have a small hand winch and drag it up the ramps. 

So far it's worked out for me, but I wouldn't do it without the connectors between the 2 sections of the ramps and chaining it to the truck.


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## Runner50 (Jan 21, 2013)

I think he was referring to the Youtube video.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Sorry, late to the party. Yup, the video.

Was up late didnt' see how old the thread was


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

I had a wild thought, but never got around to actually doing it. This is in place of using and installing a winch, but make the snowblower self recovering. 

So here's the idea, I have a two stage MTD, the one below. And I was thinking about creating a pair of pulleys that would sleeve over the existing axles. They would lock into place, using the existing spring pins. 

These would be wide enough to accept an appropriate ratchet strap, and anchor in the corners of the bed, and in a hole of the pulley. To prevent ride up of the bucket, install u bolts, and pass the strap through it. 

Problem is, I only think of this stuff when it's cold outside, and not when I get time in the summer to try it out and get it to work.


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## nt40lanman (Dec 31, 2012)

I nailed a scrap of plywood across the end of each 2x6 and let 'et rip.


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## RayZor Fist (Dec 21, 2013)

*red bull ramp*

Well, I'm even later to the party but I thought it appropriate/relevant to post my el-cheapo ramp setup since it was this thread that inspired me.

My new red beauty is twice as heavy as my old blower (265 lbs!) and there is no way I could lift it into the bed of the truck like I used to be able to do with the old one, so I had to do some ramps.

I run a simple ratchet strap around the cross board and hook it to my hitch.

The bolts running through the boards are not threaded but instead use cotter pins to hold them in place so it is pretty quick to remove the cross board and toss the ramps into the bed of the truck.

It works so well I am going to cut a board for my two-wheeler cart to make getting stuff into the bed simple for that too.

[Edit - photo disappeared so see post after Blue's for the image]


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

Welcome to the forum Ray Z! I took an old door (fir, six panel) and screwed 1/2" plywood to one side to strengthen it and bolted on a set of those ramp end brackets. Works ok, I rarely use a ramp so it does the job.


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## RayZor Fist (Dec 21, 2013)

Hmm. My photo was gone. Not sure what's going on.

I'll attach it to this post instead of linking it and see how that works.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

That looks safe and simple !!


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Ramps*



Kiss4aFrog said:


> That looks safe and simple !!


 That sums up the original intent of this thread - how to make ramps safe and simple to use. Even if only 1 person is saved an injury then it's work it.
I guarantee that pair of 10HP 3 stages will take every bit of stability to load and unload then, and maybe a hand-winch too (Having had 2, I've used the winch too).


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