Speed ramp help

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Hesperis

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We live at the end of a private lane. The neighbour who lives further down this lane has recently installed speed ramps before and after his property, reason being that some tradespeople drive too fast past his house. I absolutely understand his concerns. However, the ramps are very harsh, even for my 4x4, and I don't want to risk towing my trailer with my two horses on board over them, as both horses can be nervous travellers.

The type of speed bumps/cushions you get on public roads have never been a problem for me when towing, but these ramps are a nightmare. I've taken the trailer across them with a friend on board to see how bad it is. No matter how slowly I drive over them, the trailer will get a sharp jolt. Stopping before the ramp makes it even worse. Leading the horses across the speed ramps and loading further down the road is not an option.

I've had a look at possible alternatives to those ramps which could be installed instead, but there doesn't seem to be anything other than speed cushions, which would cost a fortune.

Any practical advice on how I could cushion the ramps would be much appreciated! Maybe build a wooden ramp that I can place across when I take the horses out? Only I have no idea how to get started.
 
Oh that's a tricky one and I feel for you. One route I do is a 4 mile detour to avoid about 200 yards of 6 harsh speed bumps. However, our local council have put in speed bumps on a route to which there is no detour. I have to drive 4x4 and trailer over them. My horse can be a ***gger to load but travels very well and I haven't felt any problem before or after these. I just slow right down, but never stop and just count to ten, deep breath and keep going. It has to be done, so it is done. Putting a human in the horse's place I think might make it feel worse than it is from the horse's point of view (a bit like not rugging when it's raining; we think the horse needs it, the horse doesn't). Probably not much help or what you want to hear, but I'd just do it and
go with the result. Only you know they are there, your horse doesn't. No difference to driving over something on the road when you are out. Good luck, I hope it works out as my 4 mile detour is a pain in the bottom !
 
^^^^this^^^^
If it's not his road or a shared ownership the installation of the speed bumps should have been agreed with those that have right of access over it. You could soften the bump by adding more Tarmac .
 
Thanks very much for the replies. The road is shared ownership and responsibility, and the neighbour didn't mention to any of the other parties that he was going to do this. We spoke to him last week, and he said he'd look at alternatives and that we should do so, too. However, there isn't really anything else he can put in place that actually works. I'll speak to him again, and ask him to replace the ramps with the 50mm version - he's installed the 75mm high ramps. Hopefully he'll agree, and hopefully it'll make a difference! I'd hate to fall out with this neighbour.
 
I wonder if the planning dept might have any comments. Another thought would be emergency vehicles, an ambulance would not want to be mountaineering over them. What if a neighbour had a low sports car ? they would not be able to get over them without damaging the vehicle.
 
If it's a shared road and responsibility he is totally out of his remit and his lack of regard for the other owners in not asking or discussion it with them, particularly when you have an obvious problem with high ramps with a horsebox - I'd be approaching him and saying please remove them as you could have come up with other solutions to help.
 
High speed bumps damage the suspension of most cars over time - never mind Trailers. The person who installed them without the permission of the others who co-own the road may find himself at the wrong end of claims for damage. This happened to someone on a co-owned road near us recently - although in fairness I think neighbourly relations had somewhat broken down!
 
Just thinking a bit laterally...could you ask him to make cut-outs in them at just the right width for your trailer wheels?

Other idea...just have someone walk behind the trailer a few times to check how yours react. They may not actually mind as much as you do. Or if they do, you can then ask him to see what trouble it's causing.
 
We live in suburbia and have 5000 speed bumps to contend with. OK that's an exaggeration, but what I do is go over the speedbump slowly in the car, so slowly you just roll up the bump and brake slowly to drop down the other side, so there really isn't a jolt. I know 2/3 of my lot don't care as they now almost never poo in the trailer there or back (usually a good 3/4 hour trip), only the oldie who gets excited when he goes out (not often enough!) so he sometimes poos.
 
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