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Veteran
Posts: 123
Location: Bridgeport,wv and Gaffney,sc | hey yall I have a hart 4h with a rear tack and a ramp with a door on top of it, Any ideas to make the ramp easier to put up its hard for me to lift it |
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Expert
Posts: 1416
Location: sc | yeah, cut it off and teach the horses to step up. JK |
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 Veteran
Posts: 246
Location: Northern IN. | I'd think about the only thing that you could do is take it to your local fabricating shop and have them add (more) helper spring to it so that the springs help it raise up for ya. They may have to play around with it a bit in order to figure out how many/how big springs to put on. You don't want the springs so strong that they hold the ramp a foot off the ground until one of yer trusty steeds step on it, that's no good, but if they don't get them strong enough you won't notice any "help" from them. That would be about it short of adding some gauty lookin' pulley, cable, and crank set up to the wagon! puke on that idea. talk to y'all later... |
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Expert
Posts: 3802
 
Location: Rocky Mount N.C. | You sure that in don't need a little oil on the hinges? A lot of "crap" and such gets into the pipe hinge tube deal thing and has a tendency to seize up over a period of time. May just need a good cleaning and touch of oil, grease or "never seize". How old of a trailer is it? Your springs may be becoming un-sprung. One tip for all with ramps, leave the ramp up when not in use. I see alot of trailer sitting around for weeks at a time with the ramp down. With it down the springs are loaded and will become weak over time. With the ramp up, the springs have much of the load off and will keep their tension alot longer. That's a fact jack! |
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Veteran
Posts: 246
Location: Northern IN. | great point retento, very true! I assumed (I know, bad on my part) that the obvious had been looked at/done, with regards to cleaning and lubrication. That would be the best place to start if not already done. talk to y'all later...
Edited by Broken Bit 2007-01-04 8:43 AM
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Veteran
Posts: 112
Location: Columbus, Ohio | I found my ramp was much improved after having more springs installed, they made it much easier to lift. I sold that trailer and went to step up though as I was sick of repairing it and having horses fall to their knees backing out! Good luck. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 383
Location: Texas | Also check to make sure no springs are broken.
Good advice about not leaving the ramps down. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 671
Location: THE GREAT NORTHWET, OREGON(THE REAL GODS COUNTRY) | What about a hand winch?
Edited by SLICKRNSNOT 2007-01-04 7:42 PM
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New User
Posts: 2
| Originally written by chadsalt on 2007-01-03 7:16 PM
yeah, cut it off and teach the horses to step up. JK Next to the flooring, I think a ramp is one of the most important safety features you can have. Cutting the ramp off and teaching a horse to "step up" is not good advice. I had a horse who trailered like a dream and never balked at "stepping up". One time when we were unloading, the horse slipped and slid his back legs under the trailer. He got one leg caught under the trailer, and the only reason he was relatively unharmed was because he was well trained enough to let us get under there and free him. |
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Expert
Posts: 1416
Location: sc | Originally written by Popylinga on 2007-01-05 1:20 PM Originally written by chadsalt on 2007-01-03 7:16 PM
yeah, cut it off and teach the horses to step up. JK Next to the flooring, I think a ramp is one of the most important safety features you can have. Cutting the ramp off and teaching a horse to "step up" is not good advice. I had a horse who trailered like a dream and never balked at "stepping up". One time when we were unloading, the horse slipped and slid his back legs under the trailer. He got one leg caught under the trailer, and the only reason he was relatively unharmed was because he was well trained enough to let us get under there and free him. first of all JK = just kidding. second, the ramp/no ramp argument is as old as the chevy/ford/dodge.....there is no right answer. for your one no ramp "accident" there is going to be a ramp "accident". my use/opinon follows: ive never have/never will own a trailer with a ramp. im partial to slants where i can turn the horse and let them look where they are stepping. they do know how to back out, and will load a ramp trailer. i use mine for trail riding and if they werent smart enough to step up/down while backing i sure dont want to be in the woods with them. |
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Regular
Posts: 97
| Popylinga, I agree with Chadsalt. It's an old argument. As a child we had a trailer with a ramp. It was an awful storm that night when we were trying to load the horses. My mothers horse was spooked and slipped. He had gotten his head caught under the ramp and panicked. Unfortunately he broke his neck. There may not be a right or wrong answer. It's a matter of preference. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 333
| I agree with the ramp/no ramp debate.. personal preference. But if your horses are slipping on the ramp, you might consider getting some of the newer type mats that stop that. My 84 Trailet had the hard rubber that was a skating rink if there was just moisture in the air. I changed it for newer material that was non slip. I hated the slick stuff and once I found there was better material, I switched the old stuff out for the new. Jbsny |
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Veteran
Posts: 182
| I had a ww steel 2 horse with a ramp and I always left it down for when it was up it seemed to rust the door and the water would get inbetween the door and ramp and it started to rott out the wood in the ramp. With it down it didn't rust the door and it seemed to dry out better. I don't recall having a spring on it. It had a couple of bolt type hinges between the ramp and the trailer floor. It also used to a bit of a pain trying to clean the crap ect off of the ramp before closing it. |
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ramp
