There have been 2 reported deaths around here in recent years. I seen a fellow loading his ATV in an un-safe manner and I just thought I would post a safety note.
The un-safe technique I am speaking of is not having the ramps chained, pinned or cabled to the trailer or truck.
This is what happens.
One death was on a Polaris and the other on a full time 4x4 Bayou. Rather it being a 2x4 or 4x4, it does not matter.
Once the front wheels are into the loading area and off the ramps the rear wheels pull the ramps off the loading surface laying them on the ground, and the back of the ATV falls to the ground causing the ATV to flip over on the rider. This happens fast enough for the rider not to be able to react.

Many serious injuries have been reported and loads more probably not reported.
Lock you ramps to you loading vehicle.

 

Good advice and it only takes a second. People should be a little more Conscientious when loading and unloading. One story that was relayed to me from a friend was:

My friend was with a girl he was dating at the time. Her father decided to go riding around and they went along to watch. Long story short, he gets out of the truck. Takes out the ramps and sets them to the side. Jumps in the back and starts up the quad. It was a ute, but I don't remember what kind exactly. Anyways, in his excitement he forgets to put the ramps on the tailgate and throws it into reverse. Off the back he goes, and just like you said- the back end falls down and the quad came over on top of him. Luckily no bones were broke, but I guess it hurt like hell and he was very banged up. My friend said it was one of the funniest and dumbest things he has ever seen. I'm just glad the guy didn't get seriously hurt.

It is surprising how many people get hurt just loading and unloading their quads. It's not supposed to be the dangerous part, I guess that's why people screw up so often.

 

Good point ROCK... I nearly never load in the back of my truck ( I have a trailer ), however I went to an Ice Race, some distance from my place & was traveling light... no problems, until I went to load up on the lake... on the ice, it was easier to shuck the ramp, & I did several times, before getting the quad in the back of the truck... ( fortunatly, the suspension was strapped, so it wouldn't go over, but I'm haveing a set of ramps made, I will definately include a set of pins or safety chains...

 

I did that once. I was loading my 400EX into the back of my cargo van to take it to a local riding spot. I set the tops of my ramps at the back of my van. Rode the quad up the ramps. I got to the top of the ramps, to where the front wheels were in the van, and tapped the gas. It shot the ramps backwards, and boom, I was staring at the sky. Fortunately for me, the only thing hurt was my pride, as three of the neighbors had a front row seat.

 

Hey Quadfather .... where in Akron are you located .... and where is that local riding spot ! grin

 

This is an important topic, as we really do need to be more careful loading our ATVs. We have an ATV rack that mounts in the back of our truck that allows us to carry two ATVs side by side, facing forward. But the rack is just above the level of the bedsides of the truck, so it is quite HIGH. One day while picking up the V-Force at the local dealer I parked my truck on a rather steep sidehill, because their parking space is very limited. I admit that I was in a hurry, and just too lazy to move the truck to flat ground before trying to load the ATV. But I set the ramps up anyway, and when I tried to ride the V-Force up onto the rack it wheelied when it was halfway up the ramps. With the truck being on such a sidehill, as soon as the front tires of the V-Force came in the air they went sideways (downhill), and when I let off the gas the front tires came back down off to the side of the ramps. I have never came so close to dumping an ATV off the side of a truck in my life. That one scared the crap out of me, and I almost didn't get the V-Force back off of the ramps without dumping it on its head, from five feet off the ground, on pavement. That would have hurt more than just my pride.

Be careful out there folks.

 

ok this is beyond scarry. Now I load / unload my machine a lot. I know where it's dangerous etc... Now I have one set of I call leathal ramps. I'm the only person I would let use them. They are strong but I never finshed them with clamps or anything. Every time I unload they will fall off the truck after the bike is off the truck thou. I've been using them for about 7 years now and the quads fell 3 times in total; the 3rd time was last night. Now I react very quickly I was over the front headlights to before you hear the bang but everyone around me jumped. I'm going to address this problem this week.

 

Great topic Guys I have fell 3 times not having proper ramps, Now i use ratchet straps and use 2 of them and strap my ramps tight to the truck bed .. it seems alot more comfortable loading and exspecially unloading my P700.. Not to fun when it dumps you while unloading first time i Drove right off the tailgate 2nd and third times it dumped me pretty damn hard, Guess third times the charm .. well worth the investment on some good loading ramps

 

Does anyone hook their winch on and just use that to load the quad. I am new to atving, but I am thinking of purchasing a winch mainly for this. It seems alot safer to just hook the winch up and pull the atv on. Has anyone tried this? Would it work? I imagine it would be slower than riding it on but a whole lot safer.

 

jcwhitney loading ramp

This is pretty cool, I saw it the other day. You would have to purchase cables or straps to secure still but still pretty cool. My 650 weighs around 650-700 lbs with all fluids and equipment. Plus I'm 200lbs that is close to 900 lbs coming up on the tailgate. Can't be good for continuous use on the tailgate.

Just a thought............spend a few extra $$ on a trailer then never worry about it again.