Electric Ramps.....Yay or Nay?

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beatrice

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I am currently wagon shopping and i have found 2 lovely lorries in the same place, on the same type of chassis, same age and very similar milage.

However one of them has an electric ramp. In principle it's a fab idea, but i am worried that my horses will be stuck in or stuck out of the wagon if the electric system fails.
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So i was wondering if anyone has experience of electric ramps, and if they break very often etc etc.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!
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I had a lorry with an electric ramp. It was heavan after haveing a lorry with a very heavy ramp. We never had a problem at all - well once. I left the button out in the cab and it flattened the battery. The ramp still worked but the lorry needed jump starting. The electric ramp helped sell the box.
I would go for one with an electric ramp over a back breaking one.
 
Make sure it has a manual override so if the electric fails or the battery is flat it will still open - a person I know had one come open whislt travelling (not sure on details) and lost the horse but that was years ago when they first came out.
 
The other lorry we are looking at has a very light ramp which is very easy to put up.

You are making the decision harder now as i was expecting people to say don't touch which would have helped make my mind up!!
 
Oh god! Thats awful!! This one shuts up completly, ie has the arms that come round and lock it shut.

We asked the guy selling them and he said that if it broke we would need some sort of winch system to get it to close, which to me sounds a pain the the bum!!!
 
I think they are really handy but not great when they brake. I knew of a lady who's electric ramp failed about 10 years ago and they couldn't get it to shut when coming home from a show so took it off the springs, it took three big guys to shut it because of the weight. When she got home she forgot and out of habit undid the ramp, it fell on top of her and broke her pelvis really badly. Not a great story but worth remembering if it ever happens to anyone.
 
We had one that got stuck coming down at an event. It stopped rounghly level with the lorry and luckily they were event horses as they jumped off the end. Can't remember how we got it fixed, but we definately got home. This was a long time ago though so probably better now
 
We have a truck with and electric ramp.. it got stuck down one time we were taking the horse to the large animal hospital.. We had to get there so put the horse in and my god the ramp was so heavy.. it took 3 of us to force the ramp up.. When we got to our destination it was scary getting the ramp down.. If you force the ramp up.. I.E without using the actual button which works the hydraulics it wont have the oil or something in the ram apparently which means when you un pin the ramp nothing in the world is going to stop it from crashing down.. It almost broke my arm.. The horse however wasnt bothered,, still eating hay and just looking at us! Moral is never to force the ramp up if there is a problem.. If it sticks up you will always be able to get it down as there is a release valve under the truck at the ram you turn and the ramp will come down no prob.. Good luck with your new truck...
 
I do know someone whose lorry cought on fire on the motorway and the electric ramp wouldn't open. Luckily some burly builders in a van managed to force it open and they could get the horses out.
 
I've got one on the lorry thats currently for sale and never had a problem with it! And it has a manual release valve should you need to open in event of emergency!
 
Im like you, Id worry that it wouldnt open so if it was me I'd go for the manual one. After all it only takes a minute to put up or down.
 
Thanks everyone for your experiences/thoughts. They are much appreciated.
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If it turns out the lorry with the electric ramp is better mechanically than the other then we will probs look at getting the hydraulics taken off and the ramp sprung.
 
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