Technically, you are not supposed to drive the machine up the ramps at all. You are supposed to winch it up. I'm sure everyone here (myself included) drives them up, but if you read the directions that came with your ramps (or board brackets) there is probably a warning telling you not to drive it up the ramps.

I think I would rather be on the machine rather than walking beside it. If it's going to fall off, you can jump clear. If you are walking next to it, it could fall on top of you.

 

I had a bad experience a couple of years ago. I had always rode my atv up into the bed of my truck. I had chains cut the correct length to secure the ramps so they could not slip. One morning after a successful deer hunt i rode back up to the truck, Dropped the doe off on the gound, threw my jacket with my cell phone in the truck and proceeded to ride up into my truck. Just as the front wheels were in the truck, the ramp on the right had weld break and flipped the atv backwards and over and landed on top of me. I was bent in ways a fat man should not have been bent. After struglging to get the atv over on its side i could finally breathe and i got my legs free and out from under it. Other that a small cut on my head and some sore ribs i was okay. The atv was ok as it landed on me! I am a big guy, but i was well under the weight total for the ramps and myself and gear. I took the ramps back to the dealership where I had bought the atv and the ramps and they ordered me a set of one piece ramps at no cost. I was the third person that had this same weld break. I now use my landscape trailer most of the time.

 

My experience and general bad luck when it comes to life in general prompts me to give my 2 cents on this subject. When trailering, or hauling anything in the back of a truck you should plan for anything and everything. You could be the safest driver on the planet and you can't plan for what the other guy is doing. On a smooth road the quad may be safe on the tailgate. What if you run over something and make that 800 pound quad bounce on that tailgate? If your roads are anything like the ones I drive on I wouldn't take any chances. The very fact that you are wisely questioning this potential weak link answers the question. It isn't worth the possibility of your quad bouncing out of your truck, or off of a trailer and injuring or killing innocent people that you meet on the road, let alone destroying or damaging your ATV. To those who put their quads in the back of the truck and don't tie them down, big mistake. You may get away with it forever, but you may not. I had my 98 Griz in the bed of my truck and had to slam on my brakes and that thing came through the back window. No one was injured, except for a lump on the back of my head from the back window hitting it, but I HAD IT COMING for being too ignorant or lazy to strap it down. Anything that can happen will happen, and usually at the worst possible time. Sorry if it seems that I am on a soapbox about this, but I have personally witnessed the results of someone not preparing for hauling a load. I saw a horsetrailer come un-hitched from the tow vehicle and the goose neck went through the windshield of an innocent guy driving his pickup. The gooseneck went through the cab and took his head with it. It's better safe than sorry no matter what.