Z.E.G.M (Zanes Eco Garage Mini)
[Thanks to Mark Phillips, Sydney, Australia]
My name is Mark and I felt compelled to email you after all the tips I got from your site whilst building a ramp for my 9 year old son Zane. (I don't mind riding it either!).
It's called the Z.E.G.M. (Zanes Eco Garage Mini) and is based on Miles' Garage Micro. The "Eco" stands for economical, total cost $68.30 AUS which would be about $36.00 US at the moment. The only material purchased for the ramp was the plywood for the skin and MDF for the deck. I had the nails, screws, glue in my toolbox and found all the other material on the street during our local "clean up". I'm not sure of the name of a clean up in the US, but it's when the local council comes and takes away all your rubbish once a year.
The transition walls, 2nd layer of skin (masonite), coping, all the joists and other supports were recycled from peoples rubbish.
I'm pretty stoked at the result and so is my son.
Design wise it's basically a quarter pipe with the top cut off. I have added a bigger deck at Zanes request so him and his mates can hang out there watching the action. I used the anchor bolt method on the coping which is a great idea. Oh one handy tip...I used a door jam as a joist at the start of the transition, this gives a really smooth entry onto the ramp coming off our concrete garage floor. The angle of the door jam matches the transition perfectly. I also added a removable strip of ply at the bottom of the ramp so I can easily replace it as it will wear much faster than anything else.
I have used 1 layer of 1/4" ply, 1 layer of masonite, and a final layer of 1/4" ply for the skin. This is a strictly indoor ramp and as yet has held up well. But for $36.00 US it wont break the bank to eventually replace it.
I have included a few pics for those interested, and would like to thank you for all the help I got from your site in building the ramp. [RPDO: you're very welcome. thanks for giving back. ]
You can build a ridable ramp on a budget if your willing to be a good scavenger!
Mark Phillips Sydney OZ
