Due to the height of a shed floor and the slope of the yard, I need to make a ramp that is about 6 to 7ft long. The ramp needs to support up to 700lbs.
If I put the joists of the ramp 12" on center, can I use 2x6 PT lumber or do I need something more substantial like a 2x8"? Also, should put some kind of support in the middle of the ramp?
Thank you for your time.
How high is this shed floor above your yard, anyway??
Width of ramp? Height of floor above ground (i.e. what is the slope?) However you could probably use as many 2 by 6 sloping joists as possible for example if the ramp is say 36 inches wide; you could use several 2 by 6, say four or five or even more. Five could be spaced at widths of 0, 9, 18, 27 and 36 inches. Four could be at 0, 12, 24 and 36 width spacing. This would be similar to putting in a middle stringer or stringers when making a set of steps. Approx. 700 lbs is about the same weight as two people wrestling an engine block. Persons A and B @ 200 lbs each =3D 400 lbs. Engine block
300 lbs. Total 700lbs. Not that extreme? Rather like three people standing near the kitchen stove in a conventional frame house?
So you will bury the joists as the ramp hits ground? 700 lb, a tractor? Weight is spread out at 4 points 2x4 should work and be easier to do and bury, even consider a few angle irons.
Looks like a good job to me.
Put the door hinges on the bottom and use the door as the ramp. Or the bottom half of the door.
Looks like a decent job.
Get two sheets of 3/4" treated plywood, and three 8-foot treated 2x12s. Trim each 2x12 to the length you want, then cut each one diagonally so you have six long wedges. Then build yourself a wedge-shaped box. That will give you
12-3/4" overall height -- the additional inch and a quarter probably isn't going to cause you any trouble; I assume this is for a riding mower, right? It'll get over 1-1/4" easily.
OR
Get some retaining wall block units and build a sloping wall on both sides from the ground up to the doorway, fill between the block walls with the dirt stacked on the right in the picture, top with sod, gravel or interlocking bricks. This way you will have a permanent ramp and won't have wood in contact with the soil which could start to rot or attract termites into the cut ends or edges of the PT lumber.
-snip-
I second a dirt ramp. Gets better with age instead of rotting.
Jim
how do you get 12 and 3/4 out of a 2x12 and 3/4 plywood? Seems like it would be 12 to me. Or did you mean to use the two sheets on top of one another?
s
re: Or did you mean to use the two sheets on top of one another?
Doug wrote: build yourself a wedge-shaped box
One sheet on the bottom, one on top. Very stable, shouldn't sink.
Since when does PT lumber rot or attract termites? That's kinda sorta the entire point of treated lumber...
I explicitly said, "Get two sheets ..."
A 2x12 is 11-1/4 wide. Add two thicknesses of 3/4 plywood -- one on top and one on the bottom, to "build ... a wedge-shaped box" (as I said) -- and you get 12-3/4.
gotcha. thanks
s
It may be the point, BUT since the treatment only soaks into the edge of the wood, the center is vulnerable to damage, if cut into or cracks with age the center can deteriorate. I have seen many examples, even now, I have some deck stairs that need to be replaced because they have rotted in the center. PT extends the wood's life, but doesn't make it last forever.
Nobody else said it, so I will- go to local trailer place and get a couple of those metal ramps the yard service companies and ATV owners use on their trailers and trucks, so that they can drive the machines up from ground level. A tad pricey, and you may have to modify the door threshold to make them work, but they won't rot out and will basically last forever. And you can unhook them and put them in the shed so you don't have to look at them or mow around them when not in use.
-- aem sends...
As I already had them, that is what I use. I had gone to Lowes to get the ramps to put my riding mower on my truck. Later when I got a building I use the same ramps to get the mower in the shed. Just put them down , ride out, mow, ride back in and put them up. They are aluminium so they do not weigh that much.
I put joist hangers 16' on center across the front of the door low enough for 2x4 PT joist that are cut at an angle to rest on the ground. I allowed enough room for 3/4 decking only because that is what I had available as scrap. I painted the bottom side of the plywood with old drained motor oil as a precaution. Nothing to support this move other than I had an old paint brush, freshly drained motor oil, and I figured wasps wouldn't want to build under the ramp this way.
I built the ramp and screwed it together with drywall screws. That is something else I had in abundance. Ring nails would have worked but I would have had to delay the project to get them. I covered the ramp deck with old vinyl that is commonly used to protect carpet first.
On a trip to one of the "Big Box Stores" HD in this case I checked for roof shingles and it happened that there was a broken bundle with a few shingles missing. The manager for that area marked the partial bundle down to the point I dare not refuse to bring it home to cover the ramp. I put hand rails on each side to prevent me from walking off of the side of the ramp without thinking an twisting my ankle again at night.
Photos at links below.
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