How to Build a Snowmobile Loading Ramp

Snowmobilers transport their machines to recreational areas in a variety of ways. Some use snowmobile-specific trailers, some use other types of trailers, and some just load them in the bed of their pickup.

While all of these work, only the use of snowmobile-specific trailers ensures that you have a loading ramp adequate for the demands of loading your snowmobile. For the other methods, you have to build a ramp. By building a collapsible-board ramp with traction devices, you ensure yourself of having a way to load and unload your snowmobile regardless of where you are.

Things You'll Need

  • 3/4-inch marine, exterior-grade plywood
  • Hinges
  • 1-inch-by-2-inch dimensional lumber
  • 4-foot-long piece of 1-inch angle iron
  • Spray-on bed liner equipment
  • Circular saw
  • Wood screws
  • Power screwdriver
  • Oxyacetylene cutting torch
  • Power drill with cobalt-tipped metal-cutting bit
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Instructions

    • 1

      Measure, mark and cut one sheet of 3/4-inch-thick marine, exterior-grade plywood in half lengthwise.

    • 2

      Cut two pieces of 1-inch-by-2-inch dimensional lumber to a length of 8 feet. Cut eight pieces of 1-by-2 dimensional lumber to a length of 24 inches.

    • 3

      Place one piece of the 8-foot-long 1-by-2 dimensional lumber along one of the long sides of your two ripped plywood halves. Attach the dimensional lumber to the plywood with a minimum of four 1 1/2-inch-long wood deck screws. These form the outside reinforcing straps for the ramp.

    • 4

      Connect the two halves of the plywood sheet together by attaching them with heavy duty steel door hinges and wood screws. Place the hinges on the same side of the plywood as the reinforcing straps of 1-by-2 lumber so that the boards swing "closed" in that direction.

    • 5

      Attach four pieces of 24-inch-long 1-by-2 dimensional lumber to the top side of each half of the plywood. Place the boards 18 inches apart. These provide traction for the snowmobile's tracks when it is ascending and descending the ramp.

    • 6

      Use an oxyacetylene torch to cut two pieces of 1-inch angle iron to a length of 24 inches. Attach these to the top end of the two halves of the plywood by drilling pilot holes with a cobalt-tipped metal cutting bit in a power drill. Connect the angle iron to the boards with 1-inch wood deck screws. This forms a lip to hold the ramp in place on trailers and tailgates of trucks when loading and unloading the snowmobile.

    • 7

      Spray the entire top surface of the snowmobile ramp with spray-on bed liner. This will protect the surface from environmental degradation as well as wear from the tracks of the snowmobile.