How to Make a Ramp for a Shipping Container + 2 DIY Ideas
We are going to show you two DIY shipping container ramp ideas for how to make your own custom ramps - to make loading and unloading your container quicker, easier and safer.
The Domino Shipping Container Ramp is designed for rolling wheeled items like flight cases, motorbikes, pallet trucks & sack barrows in and out of a shipping container and the Dominos will prevent the ramp from sliding away particularly when wheeling heavy objects out of the container.
The ramp itself can be lifted off its support bracket when not needed and stored away and has convenient handholds cut into the sides to make this easier. The bracket and Dominos can also be taken off too if required, but the doors of your container will close even with these still attached, although we do recommend that you give it a coat varnish or outdoor paint to make it last longer.
Our 2 DIY shipping container ramp ideas for you
Single width - DIY container ramp
The single width ramp is 900mm wide and should be adequate for most applications such as moving pallets in and out with a pallet truck.
You can find the shipping container ramp kit for single width here.
Double width - DIY container ramp
The double width ramp is 1800mm wide and covers a wider area for more easy manoeuvring and wider pallet loads.
You can find the shipping container ramp kit for double width here.
Why attach a ramp to a shipping container?
Since the interior floor of a shipping container is approximately 15cm-20cm from the ground, this can make lifting large or heavy objects into a shipping container extremely difficult, potentially impossible for a single person and sometimes dangerous even for two. By attaching a ramp you can use a pallet truck or sack barrow to move large objects into the container and easily roll in other wheeled objects like flight cases or motorbikes.
What you'll need for the DIY shipping container ramps
Our Domino Shipping Container Ramp kit DOES NOT actually currently include the wooden ramp itself.
Since the whole thing is so expensive to transport - we’ll send you a CAD file of the plywood parts, which you’ll be able to have cut locally to you. Just search google for CNC machining services near you, email them the file and ask them to cut the ramp from 18mm Plywood.
Otherwise, the kit will contain all the other bolts, screws and Domino Clamps necessary to fix either of the ramps to the front of your container:
- Two Domino Clamps
- The CAD drawing (If you would like us to send this to you for FREE please email us hello@dominoclamps.com)
- The instructions
- (8x) M12 by 40mm set screws and washers
- And some 4x40 timber wood screws
Download the Ramp DIY Instructions here
How to put the ramp together
Technical Notes for Cutting the CAD file.
- Depending on which Ramp you want, let the company cutting your Plywood know whether to use the single width ramp drawing, which is cut from two 8x4 sheets, or the double width ramp which is cut from three 8x4 sheets.
- There is an optional cut at the bottom of the ramp surface sheet. This will prevent there being an initial 15mm “step” up to the ramp where it joins the floor. On soft ground or gravel, this won't be necessary, but if you are building your ramp on flat ground, and if you plan on moving heavy objects with smaller wheels (less than 100mm Diameter, cutting a bevel on this mark will make it much easier to wheel on your objects). Cutting this line will expose the layers of your plywood though so it’s very important to seal this cut with some sealant, outdoor protective paint, or even some builders band or metallic strip to prevent it from splitting over time.
- Your CAD cutting company may have other 18mm sheet materials for you to cut from such as birch ply, marine ply, shuttering ply or even plastic composite sheet materials. Any of these will work fine, though we do not recommend using MDF or OSB as it will not be strong enough or very hard wearing.
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