Excellent!!I live on Cazenovia Lake and just built a new 10' X 4' ramp to attach to my year-round dock. It is constructed from pressure treated 2 X 4s and 3/4" pressure treated plywood, gavanized pipe and flange legs, fitted and well carpeted bunks fore and aft and a non-mar tailer roller to make it easy to launch and retreive. Both bunks have rope tiedowns and the boat has a mast-up cover. I can uncover, rig and be underway in about 5 - 10 minutes. It is a little heavy, probably 300 lbs + but I wil only have to install and remove in twice a year to avoid ice damage here in almost Canada, Upstate NY. Cost was about $275 owing to high lumber cost in our (mostly) post-COVID economy.. Construction time was about 15 hours. This ramp replaces a similar 8' X 4' ramp I built in the mid-1980 so I am hoping the new one will last as long. Photos are attached.
Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
I made a very steep ramp with 6x8s as support for 2x8 planks, spaced about 2-inches apart. Not pressure treated, it lasted nearly 30 years.
It's since been replaced by 8-foot planks, lag bolts, and supported by two mighty galvanized-steel sign posts. (Available at metal recyclers--cheap!) Against winter ice damage, it is lifted by a dedicated "cable-winch"--better known as a "Come-Along"
Made by Craftsman 50 years ago (in Taiwan), it's ten times better than those sold at Harbor Freight. (When I went to return a balky HF "Come-Along", I was told it wasn't covered by their warranty, as it wasn't a "hand tool", which would carry a lifetime warranty!)
A steep ramp was my justification for a transom drain; however, like everywhere else on Sunfish, the transom is very thin, and internal foam debris (from the factory) routinely plugged the hole!
A ramp like Alan's would have my one Sunfish swept away by "Wake-Setter" boats, who seek quiet waters to tow "surfers".
You're very lucky if you haven't had an encounter with Wake-Setter" boats!
No photo yet, but I'll be at that location this month. I should add that it's very heavy, and hinged at the shoreline to raise (with chain) above winter's 30-inch-thick ice!Do you have a photo of this by any chance? I'm looking to build something for my dock and trying to get inspiration.
Do you have a photo of this by any chance? I'm looking to build something for my dock and trying to get inspiration.
Photos attached: Heavy, galvanized and strong sign posts--boards lagged from underneath. Still raised above the reach of winter's ice.Do you have a photo of this by any chance? I'm looking to build something for my dock and trying to get inspiration.
I live on Cazenovia Lake and just built a new 10' X 4' ramp to attach to my year-round dock. It is constructed from pressure treated 2 X 4s and 3/4" pressure treated plywood, gavanized pipe and flange legs, fitted and well carpeted bunks fore and aft and a non-mar tailer roller to make it easy to launch and retreive. Both bunks have rope tiedowns and the boat has a mast-up cover. I can uncover, rig and be underway in about 5 - 10 minutes. It is a little heavy, probably 300 lbs + but I wil only have to install and remove in twice a year to avoid ice damage here in almost Canada, Upstate NY. Cost was about $275 owing to high lumber cost in our (mostly) post-COVID economy.. Construction time was about 15 hours. This ramp replaces a similar 8' X 4' ramp I built in the mid-1980 so I am hoping the new one will last as long. Photos are attached.
Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
Thanks Alan any help is appreciated, I am on Canandaigua Lake. I will get some pictures of the ramp in the daylight tomorrow. The lake level only fluctuates minimally during the sailing season as the DEC/Town try to keep the water level pretty steady. We do have an issue with waves and I was temporarily storing my sunfish on the ramp one beautiful day and there were a lot of boats out and it was getting tossed around pretty good so we had to move it. We were thinking that we would have to bolt something into the ramp and get the boat up out of the water.Tammy,
Happy to help. What lake are you on and can you e-mall me a photo on the existing cement ramp you described: aglos@colgate.edu
Last, how much does the lake level fluctuate over the course of the sailing season? I think what you need is as portable ramp with roller that
you move easily to and from the water's edge as the lake level goes up and down, see photo below of one I built for as friend two years ago.
Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY