cleanme

So one of my best friends & his brother decide to have a Christmas party on the 22nd and I am required to come. No problem I say, we can use my ramps to get in his front door. But, no one will be on the main floor because their basement is the hangout/entertaining area with the big tv, guitar hero, bar, foosball, live band etc.

So I'm thinking, ahhhh crap, how am I supposed to get down his really steep, narrow stairs. I can't let him down either because he's done so much for me.

So ideas start to come and go and I call up his boss (his Mom), and basically she doesn't want her house torn up or anything permanent. Makes sense, but now I can't bolt anything into the walls, floor etc. Frustrating, so I come up with this idea and contraption. It is 100% modular, comes apart and stored in his garage in 2minutes and the whole thing is at no point bolted/nailed,screwed etc to his house. It is all friction fit and braced by the door frame.

Without further ado, some pictures and a video because it's too hard to describe it in typing.

The steep stairs:




This is the platform that I drove on to at the top of the stairs and that would carry me down. What you can't see are the six caster wheels. Cutoff in the picture you see a wood 'table' that table is what the platform docks to when it reaches the bottom of the stairs so I have room to turn.




Putting the tracks down the stairs:




Pushing the platform to the top of the stairs:




A view with the tracks and winch line:




My friend Jamie in his 12yr old sweater walking from the sliding platform to the docking 'table'.





Ignore the girls but in the background you can see the platform docked to the 'table' and then the aluminum ramps down.






ANNNNNNNND, best of all, a video of it in operation! Notice me shaking my head at my own contraption, ohhhhhhh man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyNOtR5wUhY

All this built and designed by me and the brothers pictured in under two days! Tell me what you think?

cleanme

Oh to make it even more home made , the winch was taken from one friend's truck and hooked up to a car battery we took out of another! I'm pretty proud

Now wait until you see my next project...

EDIT: Part of the problem is that the chair weighs 300lbs and I weigh 185lbs =485lbs!

PG993

Brad

This is simply amazing.

old man neri

That's awesome!

Mark Lue

Great job!

Christien

Brad, I'd say you've got some pretty awesome friends! Great idea, and great seeing it actually work in practice! I've had lots of ideas for stuff like that, but none that I'd trust to hold my own weight plus 300 lbs.

Seeing stuff like this is pretty inspirational. Makes my transmission rebuild look like a walk in the park!

Turbodan

very well done!

Dale Gribble

haha that's wickid man! definitly creative.

cleanme

Haha thanks guys I really appreciate it. I've got to add one major feature...a guardrail!

In the meantime, it's project Bradplayingvideogames

So Omar, now I can test out your home theatre system

Dale Gribble

hmm..that's a good point....BUT...we have to turbocharge it

Rob993

Nice job Brad. You should look at getting patents for this type of stuff. Portable stair ramps is a cool idea.

Rob

Bob D..

Very neat - congrats to all involved. One of the better ad-hoc engineering feats I've seen recently.
So, have you installed a second battery in series - 24V will probably make the winch smokin' fast.
Hell, go for three, never mind that turbo stuff.

Hope you had a great celebration, and have a Happy new Year.

TurboS

2nd. If Bob thinks it's neat, it's really Neat!

Happy and Healthy New Year to all on Rennlist.

theiceman

Well looking at the pic revealed why you were so invetive and motivated to get to that party .. oh the ramp looked good too...

great Job Brad !

Basal Skull

excellent, good for you!