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Need help with ramp ideas


schafer
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  • Baller

Keeping my fingers crossed. But getting my ducks in a row to ski at a new site. Muddy bottom. Anyone have good ideas for making a launch so we can back the boat in and out? Steel? Concrete? $$$ and time are my deciding factors(of course they are)

Thanks in advance

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  • Baller

We bolted steel plates together and pulled them into the water. I've been on my lake for about 8 years and it has worked beautifully. I thought I would need to do concrete but it is not a priority now. I would choose your area carefully. Get in the water and try to find an area that is sloped correctly and level left and right. We tried other things like guard rails and concrete air conditioner pads without success. The metal plate does not have to be that thick, it stays in place. It is slick though, try to end it at the water's edge so your tow vehicle rear wheels don't get on it. I marked the boundaries with pvc pipe.

Good luck a new lake is an adventure and a lot of work.....but worth it.

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We've moved our club to different lakes over the years and have had to establish ramps at each. We used cinder blocks. We dug trenches for our desired tire paths and buried the blocks flush with their openings facing up/down. At a certain point you can't get the blocks too far in the water, so we had some gravel/rock brought in. We put a fairly thick layer in and that eventually established a nice base on top of the mud (or, in one case, sand). It depends on how much the lake owner will allow.

The worst slalom equipment I own is between my ears.

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The last boat ramp I built we brought in a dump truck load (7-8 yards) of gravel and I bought 2 aluminum loading ramps from Uhaul for 2 cases of beer. Poured and spread the gravel as far in as we could get and then used the ramps to handle the rest. We installed PVC pipe to mark the edge of the ramps and it worked great.
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I did see a railroad ties used on a river. Basically laid like this-> ||||||||||||||| ..about 3" apart with 2x8s on edge running down each side with lag bolt running through them and into each RR tie. The RR ties sink like rocks and are so heavy they stay put. Plus they end up sinking into the soft bottom a bit, locking them in even more. Lot of them needed though. But I'd guess they could be found used.
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A friend swears by parking lot turtles butted together.

We poured concrete above water and had large rectangular chunks of concrete like 2'x4'x5" that we used an excavator to jockey into position.

I have poured concrete in water, and it is very hard to get uniform, and it ended up breaking apart and being replaced by the concrete slabs.

I always thought used steel conveyors might work under water.

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We have a precast company in town .I called them up and they had a bunch of 8 " plank that they ruined in the manufacturing process

And gave them to me for nothing , you just need a trailer and sky track to get them in place . They will last forever I got 6 or 8 pcs plus they will span over imperfections in the ground

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