Utility Ramp

Although I made this unit for "my" scooter and it works quite well, the decision as to whether it will work safely for you depends on your load and material being transported. The final decision as to compatability with your material to be moved, will have to be made by yourself. Although my ramp is for a scooter, the ramp can be used for many purposes.

The decision to make my own ramp for my scooter instead of buying one, was made VERY quickly once I heard the price they wanted - almost $600.00 for a 1/4" piece of fibreglass with a 1" x 2" retainer on each side,,, PUHLEEZE!

After I discovered it would work just fine and not collapse, I thought I'd put it on my site in case anyone else needed a relatively strong yet easily portable ramp. I was concerned about the weight...... I didn't want to be carrying around a big ole cumbersome thing, but most of all, was it strong enough to support the 125 lb. weight of my scooter. In order to give it any strength, it would have to be made from at least 1/2" plywood with 1 x 2 hardwood runners. A short call to my friend Hap - an engineer - relieved my fears. Hap said it would be fine and not to worry,,, and guess what? As it ends up, he was totally correct! Thanks Hap!

NOTE: The seat has been removed for loading & transporting and is easily reinstalled when ready for use.

How it Was Made

MATERIALS

After deciding the length, dictated primarily by the length of the rear compartment of my Saturn Stationwagon, I purchased a 4 x 8 sheet of 1/2" poplar plywood, good 2 sides, two poplar 1 x 2's, some 1 1/4" #8 screws and some 1/2"L, 1/4" bolts, and T-nuts to accept them.

Note: All metal fastening points are comprised of 1, 1/4" bolt - 1/2" long, going through a metal strip and into a T-nut which was embedded from the other side & into the predrilled hole in the 1/2" plywood. There are 2 connecting points in each piece of metal stripping.

The scooter's back wheels are the widest part of the scooter at 25" so to be safe, I made my ramp 31" wide. I cut the plywood into 1 piece 15"W and the other 16"W. That way one would nest into the other and take up less space during travelling. 1" x 2" runners are attached from the bottom of the plywood with glue and screws every 6". One end of the ramp would of course be on the ground, and the other resting on the rear bumper. In order to stop any "creeping", I used 2 metal ducting straps 36" long, the ones with all those holes, and bent them in my vise, into an "L" shape and attached them to the bottom side of the ramp after having drilled the plywood at the appropriate spots. Those bent "arms" are only meant to keep the unit in place and support no weight. The end of the ramp is resting on the bumper and that takes the load.

Then to hold the halves together and to lend a bit more stability to the unit, I decided to attach the halves together with pieces of a 3rd strapping bar, held in place with bolts and T-nuts, which go through it in a similar way as the arms. After a final sanding and cleanup, the unit is painted the colour of your choice and silica sand is sprinkled into the fresh paint. When dry, the silica sand adds to the traction you get.

The 2 halves are assembled right at the bumper so there is no need for carrying. With the threaded T-nuts embedded in the plywood, the metal parts are are easily attached by inserting a bolt and catching a thread in seconds.

Solving the Shallow Underclearance Problem

When the front wheel of the scooter dropped down over the rear compartment wall, the danger of damage to the unit existed due to the shallow clearance of the unit. To solve this problem, I made a small interior downward sloping ramp to hold the front end up till sufficient clearance was gained by the advancing and rising rear wheels of the unit on the exterior ramp. It works quite well.

This unit cost under $50.00 all total, a far cry from the quote of $600.00 - more money for tools! ;-))

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