Darned New Trailer Has Trouble With Lawnmower Decks Scraping

[flyerdan]

...Getting that slight angle is gonna be the tricky part

I would do a full scale layup on an old piece of cardboard and get the angle that way. Then incorporate it into the cuts on the side pieces so that the end that mates with the existing ramp has the angle in it. If you are just bolting it up, I would still go with the angle iron bridges on the side joints, but cut a notch with a skinny wheel and match the angle. That would work for the hinged application as well.
Another mod that might be attractive to the parasite drag people would be to re-engineer the main hinge points so that the whole ramp could lay flat on the trailer when running empty, or hauling something that doesn't need the ramp.

 

[civilian]

Got a pair of car ramps? Place them at the edge of the ramp and drive tractor up them onto trailer ramp. I did that for a couple of trailers when the attached ramps were too short and too steep. My snowblower on my BX2230 would drag without the ramps, and the mower deck would also drag. Might be a cheap trick. Jon

 

[herm0016]

just put a stand on the end, and an extension that flips down from the top side. this way there is support in the middle and you can easily fold it up before you lift the gate. the support take torqe off the hinge also. the support only needs to be maybe 4 to 6 inches to get you where you want.

 

[Dftodd]

Good point, flip the hitch over so that the front of the trailer is 4-6" higher than the rear and see how it goes on.

Aaron Z

I had a similar issue with getting my zero turn to clear my ramp on my 16ft dove tail. I had a 2" drop hitch to keep the trailer level. I also had a straight shaft tri-ball hitch. For giggles I tried the tri-ball the next time I hauled my zero turn. It's surprising how much difference that 2" of lift on the tongue made.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Maybe try a board under the back truck tires to raise the back end, and a 3" block under the gate to reduce the angle.

 

[drizler]

Here it is in its glory . I Want to try to make this thing so it folds just like that but has removable pinned hinges or some sort of hinge you to wait. Any brilliant ideas or pictures on a homemade hinge that doesn稚 weigh a ton and fold all the way over when the weight is on it. I could just get some locally and weld them on but then I can稚 remove it. :confused3: Ideas , pictures most appreciated

 

[flyerdan]

What I would probably do on that would be get a chunk of 3/8" rod and some tubing that it would fit nicely inside, cut the tubing into sections and make my own hinge. Lay it out and weld each tube section alternately to their respective section, drill one of the ends for a cotter pin so the rod can be pulled.

 

[BoylermanCT]

I would raise the ball on the hitch by a few inches. It may be as easy as flipping the hitch and re-mounting the ball. That will raise the front of the trailer and lower the back of the trailer which will reduce the angle of the ramp.

 

[drizler]

Well I finally got it fixed and working. It looked pretty simplistic when youre staring at it but in fact it was hard to find a spring system that didnt interfere with that gate latch or have clearance issues or location issue somewhere else. In the end it was quite a head scratcher but a simple solution worked the best.

All is scissors to 140 pound garage door springs pulling on two pairs of three eights eyebolts. In the end it works real good folds right up in the lawn mowers come and go nicely. Score another one for being able to weld. The gate weighed 60 pounds my extension weighed 40 .It didn稚 affect the balance of the trailer over early other than making it a tad late and the nose which is fine.

 

[aczlan]

Looks nice. I would put a cable through the middle of those springs so that if/when they snap, they are contained and don't cause injury.

Aaron Z