Accessibility
Choosing a Ramp for Your Single Family Home, Part 3
In three of our previous segments, we’ve introduced the question of what portable ramp is right for me, and introduced a seven part series to better help you understand ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements. So far we’ve covered what the ramps use or purpose is, and more importantly what the rise you’re trying to overcome.
How Much Weight Can My Portable Ramp Handle?
In this section, we’ll discuss what types of equipment can be used on a portable
ramp, because my guess is it’s more than you think. If someone were to call me and say my rise is 12” and it needs to handle upwards of 500 lbs, the first question that needs to be answered is “How are you using the ramp?” More than likely they’ll use it for a front door to transport a wheelchair into and out of the house, but there are other uses for a portable ramp.
Multiple Uses for a Portable Ramp
Say a uniform manufacturer just exchanged dirty clothes for clean ones and arrived back at the plant. The clothes are loaded into the clothes bin and are headed to the washing area, but there’s an obstacle – three stairs totaling 12” in height separates the clean clothes from the dirty. Our portable ramp is wide enough for the bin to travel over the stairs, and light enough to be moved out of the way.
Or maybe a school just hosted a Homecoming dance, and to save money they are washing the table linens before storing them for next year. Problem is the school is old (no elevator) and janitors must maneuver the bins down a flight of stairs. Once again the portable ramp can be utilized, and stored away until its next use.
You see, portable ramps are great for transporting a wheelchair, but they are wide enough to accommodate anything less than 30” wide, and are light enough to move from one location to another by using the ‘suitcase handle’.
Still Have Questions about Portable Ramps? Contact Us!
If at any point a question pops in your head about something we’ve covered, please do not hesitate to contact us. The biggest reason an unsatisfied customer returns a ramp is because it was the wrong length. We don’t want that to happen to you. This is why we created this tutorial because we believe that the best customer is an educated customer.
For more information on the weight capacities and uses of portable wheelchair ramps call Handi-Ramp at 800-876-RAMPS(7267).
It is good to know how much weight the ramp can handle. That way, we can be sure that the ramp would support the weight of the person and the wheelchair. Personally, I wouldn’t have a use for one but I do have a family member that would.
My brother was having a hard time moving around and needs to in a wheelchair, so, we need a ramp at home. It was explained here that a portable ramp can be used in numerous ways. Furthermore, it’s recommended to go to a trusted custom mobile yard ramp system manufacturer.