I need to make a ramp so that a small disability machine
Bill
To maintain that 40mm clearance the ramp will need to be huge. Rather than = make it dead straight you can begin from the interior side, fitting the ram= p to go up the 3" then fit each next 4' or so piece by hand, adjusting its = angle so it goes down as far as it can without the buggy grounding.
In such situations its really better to get a buggy with sensible ground cl= earance, then a much smaller ramp can be used.
NT
It might not have to be that huge as that chair has such a short wheelbase. When I built one for my father I used decking planks. I also added adhesive non-slip tape to each plank to improve grip. It was relatively cheap to build.
Tim
The normal ramps built around here are:-
2x2 60 cm sq concrete slabs for the level landing outside the door. The ramp(s) are 2 off 60 cm sq slabs with and no more than 1:10 fall. Any turns have to be level too. They all have to have an upstand at the edge of the ramp and handrails if there is a significant drop.The council builds them *free* for the elderly or disabled but it can take up to 12 weeks.
With apologies if I'm stating the bleeding obvious, have you considered the folding/roll-up/telescopic aluminium ramps which can be fitted into a car or van and so used to provide occasional access to other homes? The one time I had to look into them the better local providers even offered used ones on a "try before you buy" basis. But I did not have to follow through so I have no practical experience of using them.
You are supposed to have a slope of less than 1:10 but if it is domestic then you might want to make it a bit steeper to fit in. It isn't a good idea to go steeper than 1:6 and you need a flat bit at the top in front of the door for fiddling with keys etc.
What slope can the buggy climb up even with a semi flat battery? No good coming home and then being unable to get the thing up the ramp to the door because it is too steep and the motor can't cope!
The internal part should be easy enough in wood. Externally we found CCA wood turned slippy and rotted from the end grain fairly quickly due to runoff from the ramp itself. This was for a village hall - final solution was double width 3x2 flagstone platform with brick wall edging handrails and a concrete ramp.
For smaller drops and single steps the foldable glass fibre polyester portable ramps are pretty good but expensive.
Beware of sharks and charlatans if talking to disabled goods suppliers.
I just used 5/8 chipboard with a few cross braces but it only feeds into the carport and never sees bad weather.
Planning regulations Part M
To get over the threshold you need two ramps, a small one on the inside gives you the clearance you need to get over the threshold. The GoChair feels quite unstable on uneven surfaces so make sure there is plenty of room to approach the ramp straight on.
As far as construction goes 18mm marine or external ply or well painted shuttering is adequate. You need to build a simple frame to support the sides, decking board works well for this and is pretty weatherproof. How well it lasts depends very much upon the care taken painting it during construction, pay particular attention to the edges and ends of wood.
If you search for ramp at
Machine mart have a range of folding ramps, for example:
Another building technique that seems to work ok, is to make 4x2" "strings" for the sides, then use 2x2" cross bearers nailed to the top at approx 3/4" spacings. Creating a flat "hit'n'miss" surface (bit like a ladder with very closely spaced rungs). Wheels etc will run over it nicely, but it also drains well and stops it rotting.
Some posters appear to miss the fact that unless the indoor part of the ramp is excessively long, the exterior ramp by the door will actually have to go /up/ as it goes away from the door initially, or the buggy will simply ground itself on the door threshold. In short you'll need an unhappy ramp shape to fit it into a sensible space, a conventional type ramp would occupy excessive space. A buggy with better ground clearance solves the problem, albeit at quite a price.
A wood ramp surface gets much too slippery, unless its a fold away.
1:6 is about the physical limit for the sort of buggy mentioned, though there are some that can't do that. There isnt much performance loss at low charge with lead acids.NT ------------------- I have made two ramps so have learnt from experience. If possible do not use wood if the ramp is to left out in the weather. It will rot as some have already said. Also if any of the wood is touching the ground or concrete it can rot there and is often difficult to see. Metal is better but can be heavy to move.. Hand rails are needed as the reason the person is in the buggy will make it difficult to walk down the slope and prevent the buggy going off the ramp. If there is a side door so much the better. A buggy should of plenty of ground clearance not only for the ramp entrance but there is not always a convenient place to get off or onto the pavement.
Robbie
And again: have you discounted the idea of using a platform lift? They range from a portable platform raised by pumping air in and out of a sac through conventional motorised scissor jacks to expensive bits of hardware flogged by the disability shops.
Nick
These are quite feasible but also difficult to make stable.
These require a minimum space not too different from the height of the step - the force required goes up rather alarmingly when the scissors is near the ground so you can never get particularly low platforms with them.
The Go-Chair has quite a short wheelbase so this isn't a problem if you have a 1:12 ramp or thereabouts. The interior part won't need to be more than a foot or so long.
Buggys have longer wheelbases and not much more ground clearance so actually it wouldn't necessarily help much.
Wood ramps can be made non slip and long lasting quite easily. One I looked at a few weeks ago was 5 years old and other than needing a new coat of paint and a bit of carborundum dust on top was fine. If the location is subject to lots of leaves falling on it the use of plastic garden mesh on the surface is a particularly effective non slip solution (not my idea - it is commonly used in New Zealand on boardwalks for tourists in temperate rainforest areas where it is very wet).
rot as some have
Using the right materials and carrying out routine repainting minimises this risk, we still have ramps going strong 10 years after being built.
On concrete a 10mm stainless steel bolt in the end of the leg prevents this. On soil, do the same but also put a small concrete paving slab under each leg .
Hand rails won't stop a buggy going off, if this is a concern you need side panels of about half the wheel diameter in depth. For most people with limited mobility a ramp is harder to negotiate than steps and for those (if there are any) you may need a handrail or two.
The Go-Chair isn't really an external chair. It is designed for use around the house and in places like shopping centres and buildings where there is flat access and good smooth surfaces. The whole idea is to make it easily portable so it goes in the car, gets reassembled in the destination car park attached to the shops and allows the user to go shopping in the shopping centre. It certainly won't cope with things like kerbs and is rather unstable when used on uneven pavements. A larger vehicle isn't necessarily better as most are not as easily car transportable and are too big to use around the house.
constrained within a frame. The OP would still need a big indoor ramp thoug= h for the 3" threshold
Yeah, if you put the hoist at roof level and enlarged the bedroom window it would save having a stairlift inside too.
The *obvious* solution is to replace the side hung door with a drawbridge.
Owain
Lovely idea! Might be a bit dodgy when you go to answer the door for callers though. ;-)
Tim
Not at all - they'll still be on the far side of the moat.
Not if you put some hinged spikes at the top to deal with the electricity salesblobs.
3" threshold at 1:12 is 3' long.
Some have several inches clearance, and that enables a much more compact ramp. But cheap they're not. Its all a tradeoff between available space, slope and ground clearance.
NT
It will rot as some have
The Pride Go-Chair has a quoted slope capability for stability of only
8.75% (5 deg) incline so 1:12 is the maximum it is specified to and the inside slope to maintain that will need to be about 3ft long. How realistic this figure is I'm not sure, Pride is an American company and the ADA mandatory limit for ramps is 5 deg so they tend too use that figure for all their wheelchairs including some I know will happily deal with more. (A lightweight indoor ramp can be made by cutting a block of Kingspan to shape and then gluing 3 ply on top and the sides.). What the chair will actually cope with varies with the weight and height of the occupant, the worst case is an overweight person with a double amputation of the legs, the best a slight lady or child.The interior threshold ramp doesn't usually need to be anything like as gentle as 1:12 as it is essentially a sloping step rather than a ramp. Going to 2" or 2.5" height and letting the wheels ride over the last 0.5 - 1" of threshold may be perfectly acceptable depending upon the outside slope and will take the interior length down to 24-30 inches. 30-33" is useful as it usually keeps the ramp inside the door width and minimises any trip hazard. Similarly going to more than
1:12 as long as the anti tip wheels don't ground is acceptable for a suitable occupant and very short ramp. The rear anti tip wheels should stop the chair trying to climb an obstacle which will cause the tilt limit to be exceeded, unfortunately the manual doesn't give dimensions for these or the wheelbase.None of these are cheap, the likes of the GoChair are however, no cheaper than a scooter. The GoChair is about £1000, most pavement (4MPH) scooters are about the same price. Only when you get to the Class 3 8 MPH road scooters do you nearly double that price.
Indeed, there isn't a one size fits all solution. The other limiting factor is often the fitness of the usual partner when these chairs are being transported and who will have to lift the bits out and re-assemble them.
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