Home-Built Wheelchair Ramp

Home-Built Wheelchair Ramp AG WORLD 30-5-24 Getting a wheelchair out of a van can be difficult enough. Getting it up a set of steps can be even tougher. Ken Voigt solved both problems with the same solution. His wheelchair ramp can telescope from his van right up to a front porch. "My wife was disabled for many years before her death and confined to a wheelchair," says Voigt. "Most wheelchair ramps block the exit window of the van. I wanted her to be able to see out the window, so I built one that only comes up as high as the bottom of the window, but telescopes out when the door is opened." The ramp consists of three pieces of plywood. Retracted, they sit inside a 3-in. channel iron slide made from two sets of 1 1/2-in. angle iron welded together. The channels are hinged at one end to the floor of the van. The first ramp section (3/4-in. plywood) is bolted to this set of channels. Two of the ramp pieces sit inside a second set of channels 1 5/8 in. wide that slide inside the first set. The second ramp section (3/4-in. plywood) is bolted to this second set of channels, while the third ramp section, a 1-in plywood sheet sits loose inside them. The first section is 33 1/2 in. long. The second section pulls out to extend the ramp to 59 in. The third panel pulls out to extend the ramp to 86 in. Each panel overlaps 6 in. on the previous panel. Side rails built out of 3/4-in. pipe are attached to the first section of channel irons. "To lower and lift the ramp, I bolted an electric winch to the floor opposite the ramp," says Voigt. "Cables run through pulleys attached to the roof of the van. "When it's time to put the ramp away, I lift it to a 45 degree angle, and the ramp sections slide in on their own," says Voigt. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ken Voigt, 9208 Pasture Lane, Wausau, Wis. 54403 (ph 715 842-8471; KV57@aol.com).

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