I'm preparing to try to load a bike into the back of a minivan.
For the ramp, the most economical should be to build one out of wood, southern yellow pine to be exact. I'm estimating it'll cost about $30 in lumber.
I've attached a drawing of how I'm thinking of doing it. It's kind of crude, but more or less to scale.
I'd start with a 2x10x12 board (shown in blue).
To brace it, I'd use a 2x6x10 board (shown in pink) on its side underneath with plenty of screws.
Because 9.5 inches is a pretty narrow ramp and I'm paranoid, I'll cut a second 2x6x10 in half to make two 1x6x10's, and screw them into the side of the ramp to make guard rails (shown in green). Hopefully that will prevent it from rolling off.
The incline at 12 feet looks like it should be quite manageable, even on flat ground.
I'm still not sure how I'm going to keep it from sliding. There's a lip on the bottom of the rear opening of the van that I could hook over somehow. Or maybe put a hole in the ramp that I can push a tow strap or two through.
This isn't a terrible idea, is it?