Safely Work Underneath a Large Heavy Mower

The wheels of my mower are too close together to straddle the auto repair grease pit built into the floor of my garage, so I bridged the gap. Standing down in the pit I can easily access the underside of a mower that is otherwise too low to crawl under and too heavy to lift. To see my related Instructables, click on "unclesam" just below the title above or in the INFO box to the right, then on the new page that appears repeatedly click "NEXT" to see all of them.

Step 1 Tools and Materials

automotive repair grease pit
pair metal curved ramps
stout timber, size and length to suit width and weight of mower, at least a two by four

Comments

[kelseymh]

This is a great write up, and a great project. A couple of comments:

Users can get to your page directly by simply clicking on your user name in the INFO box in the right column. They don't need to search for you.

Does it make sense to add a block at each end of the bridge timber, to ensure that it is always placed overhanging the side rails? They would also help to prevent the bridge from walking during use.

[unclesam]

kelseymh, you might be interested to see the text and photo that have been added to step 3.
U.S.

[kelseymh]

Cool! Thanks very much for the heads-up. That's exactly the sort of thing I had pictured.

[unclesam]

kelseymh, thanks for the tip for helping viewers find my other Instructables. Adding a block at each end of the timber is a great safety tip and I will surely do that. The blocks will also make it easy to set the correct distance between the ramps at that end. Adding a couple other blocks underneath the timber, that will touch the inside of the pit's side rails, will also center everything at that end, shortening the setup time.
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[kyle brinkerhoff]

WAIT! your garage has a grease pit! oh man im sooooo jealous :}

[unclesam]

falafle, you might want to see photo and text that has been added to step 3.
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[2 stroke]

mee too il proabably do this when iget older and move out the down side is u aacidenally walk into it

[unclesam]

1450, you might be interested in the text and photo that have been added to step 3. It shows the doors that cover the pit whenever it is not in use. A fullsize vehicle covers the pit except for a couple feet at one end, so there is little risk of falling in under that circumstance. There is a ladder of three steps attached to the end of the pit that would be left uncovered, the top step is a two-by-four, each of the other steps sticks out farther from the end wall than the one above it. When the Great Yellow Beast or my lawn tractor is being worked on, the doors can be slid away just enough to do the work, leaving the remainder of the pit covered. There is another danger to having a pit, heavy dangerous gases can collect in any pit. I always run an electric fan aimed down into the pit for a few minutes before I climb down into it.
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[2 stroke]

our build ing code does not permit it but im going to do it anyway when im older lol

[renex500]

no wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1