I just read today in a trade journal that I get that a top executive for a large forest products company was killed when he was UNLOADING HIS ATV FROM A PICKUP AND IT BACKFLIPPED ON TOP OF HIM.
Everyone should be made aware of the danger of improperly loading/unloading their ATV off a truck bed or trailer.

ksk
2000 Traxter

 

Cowboy, here's what you do. Find a new housing developement and get a few asphalt roofing shingles and tack them to your ramps. The shingles act like a non-slip surface with all that crushed gravel that is imbedded in them. I used to have a tilt bed trailer and that is what I put on the lanes where the tires ran on the bed. Works real well, even with snow on the trailer.

CatLance, put an eyebolt on the bottom side of your ramps and temporarily while loading use your tie downs to go between the eyebolts and your rear bumber on the truck. That way even if your truck takes to moving a great deal the ramps are firmly attached to your truck and you need not drill any holes in your truck to encourage further rusting.

Just my $.02 to each.

 

Minehunter:
Good idea! Thanks! Never thought of shingles before. We've got a lot of new houses going up all over around where I live. I'm sure I could find a bunch laying around all over up here. We get a lot of wind too, so you'll see them just laying in the streets occassionally when peoples roof's get torn apart.

I'll give that a shot, thanks again!

Mike

 

Cowboy,

I have not experienced any problems going up and down the ramps in wet, muddy, or snowy conditions, so I did not add anything to the surface of the ramps.

My buddy, who has a 2WD Lakota, got 12-inch sections of metal grating from Home Depot and screwed those to the surface of the ramps. It provides incredible traction and is not subject to wear the way shingles would be. The next time I talk with him, I’ll ask him exactly what be bought, and I’ll post the info here.

Army Man

 

That gives me a great idea armyman.

I've got some grating (I'm not sure what they call it) that they use behind stone to hold the cement to the wall. I can cut it in sections & line my aluminum diamondplate ramps with. That should give me great traction in any condition.

Now if I could just figure out an easy, dependable way to secure the ramps to my truck.

By the way, I'll have hunting pics posted soon.

Lance

 

Armyman:
Thanks for the idea as well! I'll look into that. I actually have some 3/4" raised wire mesh stuff that I built my tailgate for the trailer out of. I imagine that is pretty close to the same type of stuff, and might work just as well. Being raised, it may help "bite" a little better as well.

Lance:
Anxious to see your hunting pics, let me know when you get them posted! My Dad liked my deer pics, and is buying a tag tomorrow. He wants to go out and get one for himself now, with me "guiding" the way. I was down in the same area this morning, and a guy pulled out a 6x4 non-typical! He also said he'd seen a 6x6 monster, but it had found him before he saw it. All he saw was the rack dissappear over the edge. Turned around, and saw the non-typ., dropped it. I saw 7 other legal bucks within about a 45 minute time frame, so I'm hoping my Dad will be able to find one as well.

Happy hunting,

Mike

 

The answer to slipping ramps is easy and very inexpensive.

Tie a safety cable to the ramps [you can u-bolt them to the ramp side] and install a S type hook to the bumper side of your cable.

Each time you hook-up the safety cable,make sure the S hooks are securly in place somewhere on the rear of the trucks bumper.You will never worry about a slipping ramp ever again,
Bill

 

I always worry about ramp slipping when loading in the bed of truck. I can always find a low spot to load or unload. That reduces the amount of a fall by 2 foot usually.I just bought a set of folding ramps to replace the 2 single ramps. Feel a little better now. If at all possible i use my 16 foot trailer to haul the quads.