whats a good plan .....backet design for ramp installation..how long should ramps be to keep from hitting transfer case on car and tractor rear end parts.....bought rough trailer has ramps.no feet on ramps.. pulled my jeep on to trailer to test.before i didi put a log under rear of trailer. when i drove up i nicked transfer case on rear of trailer ..removed log and did not hit it going down or back up..when doig that the rear of trailer went down and just clears ,,,but can see pressure on trailer ball.. shoulg the ramps be longer? and have legs. thanks for all the input .....dewy
- Thread starter dewy
- Start date
Steve@Advance
Well-known Member
Depends on several variables...
The height of the trailer.
The ground clearance of the vehicle being loaded.
I have a 16' trailer, probably about 18"-20" high at the back. My ramps are about 4' long.
Just about anything I try to drive/winch on will drag high center unless it's something like a jeep or tractor.
The ramps are already a handful, any longer and they would be even heavier and harder to store/transport.
The best solution was a heavy duty tongue jack with an extendable drop leg so the front of the trailer can be jacked up to get sufficient clearance under the vehicle.
Feet on the ramps are only good for loading heavy vehicles with a LOT of ground clearance. They keep the trailer from lifting the back of the truck off the ground.
How do I know this? Driving the Bobcat on the trailer hooked to my 1/2 ton! LOL
So, if you will only be using this trailer to haul a certain vehicle, you can design the ramps accordingly. But, most of us haul whatever we have to, so there is no one fit all solution.
The height of the trailer.
The ground clearance of the vehicle being loaded.
I have a 16' trailer, probably about 18"-20" high at the back. My ramps are about 4' long.
Just about anything I try to drive/winch on will drag high center unless it's something like a jeep or tractor.
The ramps are already a handful, any longer and they would be even heavier and harder to store/transport.
The best solution was a heavy duty tongue jack with an extendable drop leg so the front of the trailer can be jacked up to get sufficient clearance under the vehicle.
Feet on the ramps are only good for loading heavy vehicles with a LOT of ground clearance. They keep the trailer from lifting the back of the truck off the ground.
How do I know this? Driving the Bobcat on the trailer hooked to my 1/2 ton! LOL
So, if you will only be using this trailer to haul a certain vehicle, you can design the ramps accordingly. But, most of us haul whatever we have to, so there is no one fit all solution.
I would not put legs on the ramps. You will find places you can't put the ramps down. Also if the load is toward the back the legs will not allow the ramps to fold.
I had a similar trailer years ago. I just figured out what height of wooden block I needed to hold the trailer the correct height. I would put it long ways under the center back of the trailer. That way if the trailer moved a little front or back the blocks still caught the trailer.
On ramp length. That depends on what weight you want them to be good for. The longer the ramp the flatter the load angle but the less weight they will carry. Most of the trailers like your have 4 to 5 foot long ramps.
I had a similar trailer years ago. I just figured out what height of wooden block I needed to hold the trailer the correct height. I would put it long ways under the center back of the trailer. That way if the trailer moved a little front or back the blocks still caught the trailer.
On ramp length. That depends on what weight you want them to be good for. The longer the ramp the flatter the load angle but the less weight they will carry. Most of the trailers like your have 4 to 5 foot long ramps.
mjsnodgrass
Member
I have a couple of trailers. the one I use the most is a 22' with the deck over the wheels. the trailer is high, and has 5 foot ramps. when hauling low slung vehicles that tend to hi-center, I have a set of ramps I back my truck up on. backing my truck up on 6" blocks, drops the back of my trailer about a foot, making the angle not as steep.
jon f mn
Well-known Member
All good advice so far. I can only add that for each additional foot of length on the ramps it takes twice as much strength to hold the same weight. That's why ramps get heavy real fast as they get longer. People that I built trailers for that wanted to haul both cars and tractors sometimes had 2 sets of ramps, short for tractors and light weight longer ones for cars. You can also find a depression or ditch to back the trailer into for cars and such. It don't take much of a dip to put the trailer wheels in to lower the rear of the trailer a lot.
Geo-TH,In
Well-known Member
My new sur-trac trailer came with 5 ft ramps, 2 ft dovetail. The second pic, knees on ramp were too far back from hinge. I cut off knees and made new ones. Make sure knees are far forward under the ramp's hinge so ramps won't kick up and hit your bumper.
Look for the coil spring assist. Priceless.
I don't think 6 ft ramps would be too long. If you are worried about too long of ramps, just add another knee in middle of ramp.
You can make knees shorter to prevent hitting transfer case.
Look for the coil spring assist. Priceless.
I don't think 6 ft ramps would be too long. If you are worried about too long of ramps, just add another knee in middle of ramp.
You can make knees shorter to prevent hitting transfer case.
Butch(OH)
Well-known Member
What Steve said x2. I find that feet on the ramps are much more of a plus than a minus. Have seen twice now, once funny, other time serious when people tried to load something HEAVY without them and the truck and trailer were parked on a slope. When the rear of the ruck lifted it took off down hill. Like I said, once funny, the other time a bystander got a trip to the hospital out of the deal. If the ramps wont go down because of them back up, if you cant get them back up after loading, pull forward. that simple. All in all I like my new 20' P&J tilt deck a lot better than any ramps.
T in NE
Well-known Member
- Location
- Cambridge, Nebraska
If you're not hauling anything lower than the Jeep, just carry a few pieces of 2x6 or 2x8 with you. Set the end of the ramps on the 2X, and you're set, no mods needed.
For things lower than the Jeep, you could make extensions for the ramps- make them so they will hook on the current ramp cross-pieces, make them about the same length, hook them on about half-way up. Leave them home when you don't need them, or they are flat enough, you can just drive anything else over them, and again, no changes to the trailer.
If the trailer trying to tip up concerns you too much, get a couple implement jacks that mount to the piece of pipe, and put those on the sides near the back of the trailer. Or carry a couple more blocks and stick under the back of the trailer. A piece of rail tie and a couple short 2x4's work good for that.
For things lower than the Jeep, you could make extensions for the ramps- make them so they will hook on the current ramp cross-pieces, make them about the same length, hook them on about half-way up. Leave them home when you don't need them, or they are flat enough, you can just drive anything else over them, and again, no changes to the trailer.
If the trailer trying to tip up concerns you too much, get a couple implement jacks that mount to the piece of pipe, and put those on the sides near the back of the trailer. Or carry a couple more blocks and stick under the back of the trailer. A piece of rail tie and a couple short 2x4's work good for that.
Butch I have a two year old F8 PJ 102" 24 foot low profile with the three stand up spring loaded ramps and its a great trailer. Every time I load or unload my tractors I chock front axle of trailer both sides front and rear of tires.
Last summer PJ sent me a card wanting me to up grade my trailer to a hydraulic dovetail but it would add 1,100 lbs to the empty weight of trailer. On a 14,000 lb. trailer I couldn't justify putting on it the trailer all ready weighs 4,200 LBS. empty .
Last summer PJ sent me a card wanting me to up grade my trailer to a hydraulic dovetail but it would add 1,100 lbs to the empty weight of trailer. On a 14,000 lb. trailer I couldn't justify putting on it the trailer all ready weighs 4,200 LBS. empty .
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Just make the feet about 1 1/2" shorter than the ground. Also with the feet you can add a diagonal brace underneath that will give a lot more strength to the ramp without adding too much extra weight. Another thing to consider is that most couplers aren't designed for vertical loading. Horse trailers have Bulldog couplers because they are designed for some vertical loading. Most trailers come with the standard A-Frame couplers though. It's a not a big deal to have to drive the vehicle a little to get the ramps up or down. Having the truck and trailer take off is scary and sometimes there's nothing you can do to stop it. With the feet, you'll never have this problem.
Butch(OH)
Well-known Member
I think my P&J is a T6? Anyway it looks like the picture. Those hydraulic tails are really nice for certain things but heavy as you say. We already owned a H-D gooseneck but wanted a lighter duty trailer to pull around with the 3/4 ton truck. I think the P&J is 14,000 GVW, sure pulls nice I know that, LOL
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