Poverty / Ghetto Car Ramp ideas?

[GRW]

If you have a pad, second hand lifts can sometimes be found at fairly reasonable prices. I think I paid 350 for my 4 post. It's a proper old Bradbury. I then paid 750 for someone to fit it though but it made its money back on the first gearbox I changed on it and has learnt its keep a lot more since then.

(I probably could have fitted it myself amd saved that cost but I wanted a pro to check it over, I disnt have much soare time and since I bought it in bits I hadn't taken it apart so didn't know how it went back together!)

I don't have a pad unfortunately.
Even my "use the old silage pit" idea comes with issues (access in wet weather & no power supply (though running a long temp cable for power tools & lighting is do-able).
I need to do some of that thinking stuff.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Display ramps? They are very long drive up ramps which then pivot as the weight transfers, to level. You then add a support and away you go. You will often see cars on them outside main stealers, with the latest "must not buy" special offer on them.

 

[ajlelectronics]

I don't have a pad unfortunately.
Even my "use the old silage pit" idea comes with issues (access in wet weather & no power supply (though running a long temp cable for power tools & lighting is do-able).
I need to do some of that thinking stuff.

The Strongman classic lifts (I have one and so does @RWD3M ) are able to be used free standing. I have mine outside on pikey tarmac and the columns are gently making an 'impression' in it, but it is entirely stable.

 

[GRW]

As others have already highlighted. By the time you've messed about buying stuff for an alternative solution you could probably buy a second hand 4 poster and have a proper and safe solution.

It sounds like theres plenty of space, so there's no reason why it can't live outside, just make sure the Ropes and controls etc are well protected from the elements and it'll probably out last us.

Any idea how much (1-phase) juice/supply you need to start/run a Bradbury or similar?
(Lots of ideas run through my head, but actually doing/achieving is another!)

I reckon a 4-poster would fit in the old silage pit. Theoretically then you could even raise one empty & drive on it from above (or as usually done). The old railway track uprights are still there, plus there'd be some weather protection from the walls. I'm pretty sure there's no concrete pad in the base though - I'll have to look!
(Given time & money it could be re-roofed, which is something we'd like to do anyway.... given that it's easier (planning etc) to keep an existing structure than to be allowed to build another in future

 

[Agroshield]

Any idea how much (1-phase) juice/supply you need to start/run a Bradbury or similar?

In some respects, a three phase motor and VFD might be kinder to the supply than a single phase one. It would be hard to find a VFD without a soft start function. A single phase ramp is likely to command a price premium specifically because 'three phase' scares people off.

 

[GRW]

In some respects, a three phase motor and VFD might be kinder to the supply than a single phase one. It would be hard to find a VFD without a soft start function. A single phase ramp is likely to command a price premium specifically because 'three phase' scares people off.

I've thought of that yes, and seen plenty of folk on here running VFD's.
I've never actually fitted, wired or used one myself though (but imagine that esp with a few pointers from here, that I could manage. Given the "outside" situation - if I did do something like that, I'd build it on a portable stand with IEE IP67 plugs/sockets, so it could be dry-stored)

 

[Agroshield]

...I'd build it on a portable stand with IEE IP67 plugs/sockets, so it could be dry-stored)

If it is portable, a Systainer or any of the powertool systems could make a nice box for it.

Standard ceeform stuff is IP44. IP67 is unnecessary, especially if you use an angled input and output and slope them downwards.

3 core 2.5mm^2 or 4mm^2 on the input may be cheaper per metre than 4-core on the output, so the closer you have the VFD to the ramp, the better, and the single phase cable can be used as an extension lead at other times.

 

[RWD3M]

The Strongman classic lifts (I have one and so does @RWD3M ) are able to be used free standing. I have mine outside on pikey tarmac and the columns are gently making an 'impression' in it, but it is entirely stable.

Rated at 3 Tonnes by the way.

Any idea how much (1-phase) juice/supply you need to start/run a Bradbury or similar?
(Lots of ideas run through my head, but actually doing/achieving is another!)

I reckon a 4-poster would fit in the old silage pit. Theoretically then you could even raise one empty & drive on it from above (or as usually done). The old railway track uprights are still there, plus there'd be some weather protection from the walls. I'm pretty sure there's no concrete pad in the base though - I'll have to look!
(Given time & money it could be re-roofed, which is something we'd like to do anyway.... given that it's easier (planning etc) to keep an existing structure than to be allowed to build another in future

I don't know about the others, but mine has a 3hp motor running off a 16A commando socket though would run off a 13A plug.

 

[Erie Fred]

i like this one simple

While #9 might be cheaper and easier to build, #7 is easier & faster to use.

 

[voipio]

If there's a suitable ground slope from a track or hardstanding, then one of these would do it:

For a closer look, this one's here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/caxV1FfchFsgQyH59

 

[chrismac]

If there's a suitable ground slope from a track or hardstanding, then one of these would do it:
View attachment 493767 View attachment 493768
For a closer look, this one's here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/caxV1FfchFsgQyH59

Thats brilliant,

 

[RWD3M]

If there's a suitable ground slope from a track or hardstanding, then one of these would do it:
View attachment 493767 View attachment 493768
For a closer look, this one's here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/caxV1FfchFsgQyH59

I think that's the one @cheb uses for oil changes!

 

[GRW]

View attachment 493761

(This is a welding forum, after all)

The see-saw ones concern me somewhat... esp with a big, long, high vehicle like my Master Camper.
I can envisage very unpleasant outcomes.
I think if you had the two ramps clamped together fore/aft with scaffold pipes or similar it would be more stable (less unstable?) But they wouldn't be my first choice.
I think if I were to go down that route, I'd go for multiple link-together sections (so drive on via ramps, then be able to remove centre sections for better access, & easier to move/stack/store).
I think a member on here once posted a system like that, & I thought it was a neat solution.

 

[GRW]

I think that's the one @cheb uses for oil changes!

That sort of idea was what I thought my old silage pit might be good for.
There's a flat (ish) run to the topside, and I can't recall, but perhaps a 1.5 metre 9-inch block wall and sides for the pit. If you had ramps/runners off the back wall, and suitable supports at the open end... you'd have a drive on/off pit about 5 metres wide by maybe 8 metres long

 

[Mick Annick]

If there's a suitable ground slope from a track or hardstanding, then one of these would do it:
View attachment 493767 View attachment 493768
For a closer look, this one's here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/caxV1FfchFsgQyH59

But why is it there?

 

[GRW]

But why is it there?

DIY motoring Euthanasia point?

 

[voipio]

But why is it there?

For working on the undersides of vehicles. It's in a remote area, and garages aren't exactly round the corner. The nearest garage is in Tarbert, some 10 miles distant and, after that, Stornoway, nearly 50 miles away. There's a strong community spirit in the Outer Hebrides, so the "ramp" is probably for shared use by the locals.

 

[Farside]

If you are actually building with them, mortar gluing them together on a decent sort of foundation, to create a drive on ramp – an above ground inspection pit between them sort of thing, then other than the risk of falling off as you drive on, I can’t see problem. As a kid, I used to ride a bike past a local coach company that had exactly that – a block built access ramp. It was there years.

Ditto that. When the steelworks closed, the maint dept left a huge set of such just lying around and I had access to them for a few years before the demolishers moved in to clear the place. I did many an oil change under / between those ramps.

 

[cheb]

If there's a suitable ground slope from a track or hardstanding, then one of these would do it:
View attachment 493767 View attachment 493768
For a closer look, this one's here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/caxV1FfchFsgQyH59

I think that's the one @cheb uses for oil changes!

When I looked at the photo I thought the rock looked recognisable. It's not the island I live on but it's close.

Why is it there? It's close to the road and has a suitable drop. That's easier than digging out rock or building a track elsewhere. There's quite a few of these dotted about the islands, and yes I have used them but not that specific one.

 

[GRW]

If you are imply stacking the blocks, then no.



If you are actually building with them, mortar gluing them together on a decent sort of foundation, to create a drive on ramp – an above ground inspection pit between them sort of thing, then other than the risk of falling off as you drive on, I can’t see problem. As a kid, I used to ride a bike past a local coach company that had exactly that – a block built access ramp. It was there years.



I have limited head room in my garage – I have a scissor lift bought 20 plus years ago one side, and an inspection pit the other. Pit gets much more use.

I've seen a few. Some on commercial / agri yards for steam cleaning trucks, dumpers, track machines etc... and others as loading ramps (to put plant / machinery onto flat bed or container truck beds).