Next, we'll sheath the entire ramp in plywood! We start with the upper decks and we use 3/4" plywood for this. It's possible with lower quality drill bits but can take a very long time. The hole in the back is wide enough for a screw to pass through it and the hole in the front is a bit wider to make room for the head of the drill.ĭrilling through steel is difficult! We recommend using cobalt drill bits for this, as well as using a lubricant like a 3-in-1 oil to keep the drill bits lubricated as they're cutting. On the front of the pipe, we drill a hole that is 3/8" diameter, and in the same place in the back we drill a smaller hole that is 3/16". The pipe sits squarely in the notch, but to attach it securely to the ramp, we'll need to drill holes every 2' along its length and then screw it to the ramp. The exact pipe we used was 2" OD Schedule 40 Black Steel Pipe. We had to go to a metal supply store to find this since our local hardware stores didn't carry anything this large.
It has to be steel because it takes a beating from the skateboard, plastic or any softer metal like aluminum will dent or get broken.įor each side, we need a piece of 2" black steel pipe that is 12' long. This is used for the skateboard to slide across when you get to the top of the ramp. When screwing the 2x4s to the plywood, we use 2.5" exterior screws and we use two screws for each side.Īlong the top edge of the slope and sitting in the notch is going to be the steel coping. We also put them along the top spaced at 8" apart and then lastly we cut some shorter pieces that go under the 2x4s at the top for added support for the deck. To frame the quarter pipes, we screw in one upright 2x4 on each corner of the transition, one laid on its side at the top of the slope, and then one every 8" (upright) until we reach the bottom. There are (34) 2x4s needed for the two wide ramps and another (17) needed for both the shorter ramps. Once we have these lengths, we then cut all the 2x4s down to length for all four quarter pipes. That gives us a 2x4 length of 94.5" for the wider ramps and 46.5" for the shorter ones. The next step is to cut all of the 2x4s that will be used to frame each quarter pipe, so to get the right length we have to subtract the width of each of the 3/4" plywood transitions, which means subtracting 1.5".
We'll then bolt one of each together to give us a 12' wide ramp. We're building four quarter pipes: two that are 8' wide and two that are 4' wide. Once everything is laid out, we then cut the shape out with a jigsaw and use it as a template to mark the other seven pieces and cut them all out, being careful to get them all as close to the same as we can. There is a small notch for the coping where that top-line meets the slope that is 1.25" tall and 1.75" deep. Next, we measure the back side to 2' 11.25" up from the bottom and then square that line across until it meets the curve we just drew. (This part is easier to see and understand if you watch the video from Step One.) We'll then measure a 6' length of string and tie a pencil to the end and use it to draw the radius on the wood. Once we have it marked, we'll put in a screw and then tie a string to it. Since 2x4s are 3.5" wide, this will give us a 6' radius slope. To lay them out, we start by putting two sheets side by side on the ground and marking the pivot point which is 6' 3.5" from the bottom and 2" in from the side. These are cut from 3/4" plywood and we can get two transitions from one 4' x'8' sheet. For this ramp, we're building four different quarter pipes and each one has a transition on each side. The first bit of construction is to layout and cut the sloped transitions that make up the sides of the ramp. To help keep it level for a long time we put a 3-4" thick layer of gravel underneath each of the footings.įor the rest of the ramp, we'll put 2" thick concrete pavers every 4 feet along the length of the ramp. We use a line level to ensure all 4 corners are level with each other, as well as square and evenly spaced.īecause the ramp is heavy, the foundation will settle a bit over time. Because our yard slopes downhill, the ones at the top get buried quite a bit and the ones at the other end are above ground. We start by laying out exactly where it will go in the yard and then use Concrete Footings (12" x 12" x 8") and put one at each corner.
In our case, our yard is neither flat nor level so we had to fix that. It's important that the ramp sits on level ground, so in a perfect world, it would sit either on a flat concrete pad or at the least on a wide level space. Whatever the exact size of your ramp, you're going to need a flat piece of ground to put it. The ramp we're building is 3 feet high, 12 feet wide and 24 feet long.
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