Replacing horsebox ramp surface

[barkingmad]

I am in the process of replacing our horsebox ramp and was wondering what people preferred rubber or carpet. Currently has carpet but don't really want rubber because of the change in weight and upsetting the balance of the springs. Have used Cowcomfort mayo mats in the stables and find them very good, light enough for one person to move and none slippy when wet, i love them. Just spoken to them and apparently they do a ramp mat, non slippy and weighs under 5Kg!! Has any body used or know anything about these mats? Thanks

[gillwales]

I used cheap corded carpet as it is a lot lighter, easier to keep clean and inexpensive.

[sjw87]

I personally prefer rubber as it doesn't hold water. I always worry about carpet holding the water and rotting the ramp.

Sent from my SM-A300FU using proboards

[barkingmad]

What's the corded capet like when it gets wet does it get slippy gillwales?

[gillwales]

if you get a hard , chunky corded carpet then on the whole no, mind you my lorry was parked under cover and if it did rain hard we would close the ramp to stop rain getting inside the box, I do not recall having problems with sliding, but we only had ponies mostly without shoes. I remember having my old lorry , which had thick coconut matting on and that did get slippy, the one good thing with the carpet is even though it is thin , it is softer than rubber. Put the ribs horizontal not vertical. It is a lot lighter than anything else.

[5874julie]

have you seen this one? www.kitt.eu.com/product/ramp-mat-for-horseboxes-and-trailers
you would have to ask about the weight but i think it is quite thin so shouldnt be too bad

[ceri1970]

That what we got on our ramp 5874julie
But was a lot lot cheaper than that was off a bloke on eBay an delivers his self to

[Guestless]

We got rubber and replaced the carpet on ours as the ponies were slipping when it got wet and it was affecting their confidence

[justjay]

We had carpet on our previous lorry and had no trouble loading or unloading It was hard to keep clean though - much harder to brush The ramp did need some work last year and the firm that did it were marvelous They inspected the whole ramp not just what we thought - and as part of the job adjusted the springs so in the end I could put it up on my own
We ended up buying our present lorry from them and the ramp has rubber on it - when we tested it it was very heavy and they adjusted it for about an hour till we were happy They had used fairy heavy duty rubber on it (had been made by them) It is so easy to clean!!

[blackvelvet]

I would check out Horsematsplus as they offer a good range of rubber stable mats at affordable prices - See www.horsematsplus.co.uk

[flee]

Have used both carpet and rubber and can't say that we found much difference between them as regards grip - although as gillwales said always make sure the ribbing runs horizontally .
The thing that made the biggest difference for us was adding an extra aluminium strip across the ramp ( as used for holding the rubber/carpet in place ) , and re-spacing the existing ones evenly , so that there was less distance between them and consequently less distance for a hoof to slide before coming up against something solid . It really helped one of our ponies who was incredibly tentative about ramps and would dither anxiously at the top before stepping daintily down and sliding her feet an inch at a time as though picking her way across an icy pond . Even the confident ponies seemed to appreciate it too and as a consequence we have always fitted our ramps strips around 2ft apart .
The aluminium strips weigh next to nothing and are pretty inexpensive - maybe worth a try before investing in a whole new surface ?

[gillwales]

I should have said that there were batons across the ramp to hold the carpet down and to stop sliding

[flee]

Mar 23, 2018 21:30:17 GMT gillwales said:

I should have said that there were batons across the ramp to hold the carpet down and to stop sliding

I was assuming that there would already be batons in place ! I meant that whereas most ramps are fitted with a couple of batons at most , we always add an extra one or two and re-position them so that they are about 2'6" apart - bearing in mind that that applies to our ponies and might be too close together for a horse ? We never seemed to have any problems with the horses - they used to come down the ramp in a couple of bounds !

[gillwales]

we had several about 18" apart.