Frequently Asked Questions:
1. What is the difference between a yard ramp’s positioning sleeve and towbar?
The positioning sleeve comes standard on our steel mobile ramps. It is used to get the ramp into the position of the trailer. The towbar is used for towing the ramp around your facility short distances (3-5mph max speed). However, the ramp is not designed for road travel.
2. What kind of tires are on the mobile yard ramp?
The standard tires are 18″ solid/pneumatic tires. The tires do not require air to fill, are maintenance-free, and have lubricated-for-life bearings.
3. What are the height ranges of the ramps?
The standard height range of the mobile yard ramp is 38″-65″. The standard height range for the dock to ground ramp is 38″-60″. We can customize any ramp to unique height requirements.
4. How are the ramps secured?
All of our ramps ship with safety chains to secure them. Mobile yards ramps are chained to the trailers. Dock to ground ramps are bolted to the face of the dock with brackets and chains provided.
5. Are rental yard ramps available?
Yes, Copperloy has a variety of factory-certified ramps for rent and available for short-term loading dock solutions. Factory certified ramps ensure that all components are in working order and are safe for operation, ensuring your yard ramp improves efficiency and productivity.
Benefits of Copperloy yard ramp rentals:
- Factory certified and guaranteed
- Rentals available anywhere in the United States
- Performance of the industry-leading ramp
- Enhancing efficiency and versatility
- Ensures employee safety
- Notable productivity increase
- Easily withstanding industrial and warehouse settings
- Users can test out ramp before fully investing
Feel free to contact a Copperloy representative for a cost analysis of new, used, or dock ramp rentals.
6. Can I use yard ramps on a slope?
We strongly recommend avoiding slopes when using yard ramps. A forklift can travel load trucks with gradients ranging from 5%-12.5% or 2.86°-7.13°. However, heavier loads should not be handled at anything more than a 3%-5% gradient, and it is best to stick to a 10% maximum even for lighter loads. Just because you technically can operate forklifts on a 12.5% gradient does not mean it is always safe.
If you are using a yard ramp to load trucks, try to find ground that is as level as possible. The gradients above are simply guidelines for direct dock-to-truck loading. Adding additional slope to a ramp will quickly exceed these guidelines, preventing safe travel for forklifts on and off the truck.
Any situation where a slope looks too steep could be unsafe for forklift operators. A steep incline increases the risk for loads toppling and potentially causing serious injury. Always use your best judgment whenever you set up operations to protect employees.
7. Stationary vs Portable
Get the best yard ramp pricing and 3-day quick ship. Typical yard ramp applications are to load from the ground to a truck bed or dock level to the ground. It’s the easiest, fastest way to load/unload a truck using a forklift. Often called warehouse dock ramps, this stationary ramp allows for extra capacity and the ability to load more trucks than you have dock bays.
The dock-to-ground ramps may be used as car ramps to get vehicles your dock height or forklift ramps. For ground to truck applications, our standard yard ramps provide enhanced mobility with a tow motor. Our ramps also use one-cylinder hydraulics to quickly raise or lower to the truck height. These mobile ramps are the ideal solution for high-volume loading tasks where a row of trucks needs loading simultaneously.