On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 05:07:33 GMT, Ignoramus23984
wrote:

OK... I think that I have the answer... I have a 8x4 wooden
board/member. If I place one end of it in the middle of my tailgate,
and the other on the ground, it becomes a relatively secure slide for
those 152 lbs devices. There is about 10-12" drop from the end of the
tailgate to the board, but, I think, I should be able to handle that
easily. Lowering that thing to the ground is what is troublesome.

The device is similar to this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7591573234

i
I use a pair of 2" x 10" x 8 foot planks as ramps. There is a bent
piece of 1/4" steel plate carriage-bolted to the end of each plank.
That sits on the tailgate to both "hook" the blank to the tailgate and
provide a nearly stepless transition from gate to plank. I load and
unload lots of stuff with those planks: a riding mower, a 250-lb
welder, gonna move a safe next weekend. I glued some 3M stairtread
on the planks so they have good traction even when wet. If I were to
load something of 300 lb or more, I might reinforce the planks with
vertical posts mid-span or maybe just a 2 x 4 beam lagbolted on the
bottom of each one.

A 4- wheel dolly -- some 2 x 4's or steel angle or rect tubing
assembled into a rectangle with sturdy casters -- can make things a
lot easier if a load doesn't have wheels of its own. It's best if
only one pair of casters swivel. Then it will "track" with a belaying
line on the load and the swivel casters on the uphill side.

Good downhill control can be accomplished just with a length of rope.
Hook a chain across the front stake pockets, wind the rope around the
chain. There's enough friction to afford good control of downramp
motion with modest tension on the rope.

I have a $49 electric winch from HF that I intend to rig to the front
of the truck bed for absolute control of loads on the ramps. Finger
off of winch control button, load stops moving either up or down.
Comalongs are too danged slow, and hand winches can be dangerous
because the crank can get away from you when downloading (ratchet
disengaged) and break a finger or wrist.
(Voice of experience!) A chainfall with a Weston brake would work
OK, but for $49 I'm gonna go electric. 30 seconds travel time up or
down with load always under complete control.

I have been just driving the mower on and off the truck, but as I get
older that is getting to be more excitement than I want.

On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 19:19:20 GMT, Ignoramus16172
wrote:

On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 12:11:07 -0600, Don Foreman wrote:
On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 05:07:33 GMT, Ignoramus23984
wrote:

OK... I think that I have the answer... I have a 8x4 wooden
board/member. If I place one end of it in the middle of my tailgate,
and the other on the ground, it becomes a relatively secure slide for
those 152 lbs devices. There is about 10-12" drop from the end of the
tailgate to the board, but, I think, I should be able to handle that
easily. Lowering that thing to the ground is what is troublesome.

The device is similar to this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7591573234

i
I use a pair of 2" x 10" x 8 foot planks as ramps. There is a bent
piece of 1/4" steel plate carriage-bolted to the end of each plank.
That sits on the tailgate to both "hook" the blank to the tailgate and
provide a nearly stepless transition from gate to plank. I load and
unload lots of stuff with those planks: a riding mower, a 250-lb
welder, gonna move a safe next weekend. I glued some 3M stairtread
on the planks so they have good traction even when wet. If I were to
load something of 300 lb or more, I might reinforce the planks with
vertical posts mid-span or maybe just a 2 x 4 beam lagbolted on the
bottom of each one.

A 4- wheel dolly -- some 2 x 4's or steel angle or rect tubing
assembled into a rectangle with sturdy casters -- can make things a
lot easier if a load doesn't have wheels of its own. It's best if
only one pair of casters swivel. Then it will "track" with a belaying
line on the load and the swivel casters on the uphill side.

Good downhill control can be accomplished just with a length of rope.
Hook a chain across the front stake pockets, wind the rope around the
chain. There's enough friction to afford good control of downramp
motion with modest tension on the rope.

I have a $49 electric winch from HF that I intend to rig to the front
of the truck bed for absolute control of loads on the ramps. Finger
off of winch control button, load stops moving either up or down.
Comalongs are too danged slow, and hand winches can be dangerous
because the crank can get away from you when downloading (ratchet
disengaged) and break a finger or wrist.
(Voice of experience!) A chainfall with a Weston brake would work
OK, but for $49 I'm gonna go electric. 30 seconds travel time up or
down with load always under complete control.

I have been just driving the mower on and off the truck, but as I get
older that is getting to be more excitement than I want.

Don. thanks. How do you mount the winch to the front of your bed? I
have pretty thin sheet metal there. I am doubtful it would withstand
really have loads.


I don't know yet. I think it will involve a 2 x 4 that spans the bed
and connects near the sidewalls of the bed. Might have posts that
drop into the stake pockets with holes and pins.

I'll probably be doing this pretty soon because I have a safe to load.
No hurry on it, but I should do it sooner than later.

On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 16:02:08 -0600, Don Foreman
wrote:

On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 19:19:20 GMT, Ignoramus16172
wrote:

On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 12:11:07 -0600, Don Foreman wrote:
On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 05:07:33 GMT, Ignoramus23984
wrote:

OK... I think that I have the answer... I have a 8x4 wooden
board/member. If I place one end of it in the middle of my tailgate,
and the other on the ground, it becomes a relatively secure slide for
those 152 lbs devices. There is about 10-12" drop from the end of the
tailgate to the board, but, I think, I should be able to handle that
easily. Lowering that thing to the ground is what is troublesome.

The device is similar to this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7591573234

i
I use a pair of 2" x 10" x 8 foot planks as ramps. There is a bent
piece of 1/4" steel plate carriage-bolted to the end of each plank.
That sits on the tailgate to both "hook" the blank to the tailgate and
provide a nearly stepless transition from gate to plank. I load and
unload lots of stuff with those planks: a riding mower, a 250-lb
welder, gonna move a safe next weekend. I glued some 3M stairtread
on the planks so they have good traction even when wet. If I were to
load something of 300 lb or more, I might reinforce the planks with
vertical posts mid-span or maybe just a 2 x 4 beam lagbolted on the
bottom of each one.

A 4- wheel dolly -- some 2 x 4's or steel angle or rect tubing
assembled into a rectangle with sturdy casters -- can make things a
lot easier if a load doesn't have wheels of its own. It's best if
only one pair of casters swivel. Then it will "track" with a belaying
line on the load and the swivel casters on the uphill side.

Good downhill control can be accomplished just with a length of rope.
Hook a chain across the front stake pockets, wind the rope around the
chain. There's enough friction to afford good control of downramp
motion with modest tension on the rope.

I have a $49 electric winch from HF that I intend to rig to the front
of the truck bed for absolute control of loads on the ramps. Finger
off of winch control button, load stops moving either up or down.
Comalongs are too danged slow, and hand winches can be dangerous
because the crank can get away from you when downloading (ratchet
disengaged) and break a finger or wrist.
(Voice of experience!) A chainfall with a Weston brake would work
OK, but for $49 I'm gonna go electric. 30 seconds travel time up or
down with load always under complete control.

I have been just driving the mower on and off the truck, but as I get
older that is getting to be more excitement than I want.

Don. thanks. How do you mount the winch to the front of your bed? I
have pretty thin sheet metal there. I am doubtful it would withstand
really have loads.


I don't know yet. I think it will involve a 2 x 4 that spans the bed
and connects near the sidewalls of the bed. Might have posts that
drop into the stake pockets with holes and pins.

I'll probably be doing this pretty soon because I have a safe to load.
No hurry on it, but I should do it sooner than later.

Don't forget that with 8 foot ramps rising 3 feet to the bed, the
pull to roll a weight up the ramp is only about 3/8 of the weight --
so a 500# load would only need 187 lb of pull (plus rolling friction).
The ramps can't move toward the front because they butt up against
the bed, with the bent steel flaps resting on the bed. They won't
skid back because there is a component of the force vector on the
ramps that is horizontal toward the truck. Think about it: if the
ramps were on wheels and the load (also on wheels) is restrained by
the winch, the ramp, now a cart with a slanted top, would want to
toward the truck.