Most folding ramps sold today are van ramps: 1,000 kg, two sections, lifted by two people onto a light truck. The HRFJ is a different class of machine — a full 10-tonne mobile yard ramp whose three sections fold upright, so the unit can stand against a wall between shifts.
We built the first of these for Japanese 3PL operators loading box trucks in city yards with no spare floor. The brief has not changed: full dock-level capacity, no hydraulics, smallest footprint when idle.
What the HRFJ Is, in Numbers
This is not a scaled-up pallet ramp. It is our standard 10-tonne class on a 10,300 mm frame, cut into three sections at two hinge lines.
| Item | HRFJ specification |
|---|---|
| Rated capacity | 10 t (22,046 lb) dynamic |
| Overall length, working | 10,300 mm / 33’10” |
| Overall width | 2,200 mm / 7’3″ |
| Guard rail height | 200 mm / 7.9 in |
| Deck options | Steel grating (open, drains, outdoor) or diamond safety mesh (lighter, indoor) |
| Lifting | Manual mechanical lift, crank or lever — no hydraulic oil, no power pack |
| Sections | Three, folding vertically on heavy-duty hinges |
| Folded footprint | Roughly one third of working length; stands upright against a wall |
| Handling | Wheels or forklift pockets; repositioned with a forklift, not by hand |
| Indicative price | USD 6,200–7,900 EXW Foshan per unit (guidance only, not a quotation) |
| Lead time | 25–35 days ex-works, standard paint; add 7–10 days for hot-dip galvanising |
Read the length first: at 10,300 mm overall this is a genuine yard ramp, not a short pallet ramp. Folding does not shrink the working deck.
Why Folding Changes the Fleet Maths
Three things change, and only one of them is about storage.
Floor space. Folded, the unit takes roughly a third of its working length — budget about 3.5 m × 2.3 m of floor (11 ft 6 in × 7 ft 6 in) plus standing headroom, and confirm the figure on the general arrangement drawing. In a rented building charged at warehouse rates, that is the whole business case.
Freight. A fixed 10.3 m ramp is one unit per 40 ft high-cube, because nothing else fits alongside it. Folded units stack along the container: three per 40 ft HC is the normal pattern, which takes a five-site rollout from five containers to two.
Failure points. There is no pump, cylinder, hose, seal kit or 380 V supply to arrange at each site; the lift is a mechanical screw and crank. Across five postcodes, the value is not the purchase price — it is that a jammed lift is freed by a fitter with hand tools, not a hydraulic specialist with a van of parts.
The Slope Question: What 10.3 m Buys You
Ramp length is your only real control over grade. With 10,300 mm of run, the arithmetic looks like this:
| Trailer bed height | Grade over 10,300 mm | Angle | Practical read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,100 mm / 3’7″ | 10.7% | 6.1° | Comfortable for any counterbalance truck |
| 1,200 mm / 3’11” | 11.7% | 6.7° | Standard container chassis and box truck |
| 1,350 mm / 4’5″ | 13.1% | 7.5° | US dry van; fine with a loaded 2.5 t truck |
| 1,500 mm / 4’11” | 14.6% | 8.3° | Getting steep; check mast ground clearance |
| 1,700 mm / 5’7″ | 16.5% | 9.4° | High-cube on a raised dock; test with your own truck |
Grades are calculated over overall length; measured over the sloped section alone they run roughly 10% steeper. Two rules sit on top of the table. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178(n)(7)(i) requires a loaded forklift to travel with the load uphill on grades above 10%. And operators notice every percent: at 8° a 3 t truck with 1.2 t aboard feels light at the steering axle on the way down. If your sites run to 1,700 mm beds all day, a longer ramp is cheaper than a damaged mast.
Where the Folding Design Costs You
Three hinge lines are three wear points. That is the trade.
What fails first is the hinge pins and bushes, the deck joint at each hinge — where a step develops once the pin wears — and the folding latches. Put those on a quarterly inspection with the wheels and the lip, and a folding ramp lasts as long as a fixed one. Skip it for two years and the middle section sags.
Setup takes two people and 8 to 12 minutes depending on how level the ground is. Not one person, not 90 seconds.
Loading onto a trailer still needs a forklift or crane at both ends. Folding saves floor space; it does not make the unit hand-portable. If two people must wheel it onto a tail lift, you want a 1–2 t portable ramp — a different product.
And if every site already has a level apron and a fixed dock, buy nothing — a dock leveler costs less per unit. The folding ramp earns its price in yards that cannot spare the floor.
Specifying One for Five Sites Instead of One
When a fleet asks us to quote, we want five things before a number goes on paper: the full range of trailer bed heights across all sites (not the average), the forklift model and heaviest load, the ground surface, the storage space available when folded, and whether a forklift is on site to position the unit.
Deck choice follows the environment. Steel grating for anything outdoors, wet or washed down — it drains and it grips. Diamond mesh indoors, where weight matters more than drainage. Hot-dip galvanising adds roughly 25–35% to the frame cost and is the right call within about 5 km of salt water.
Ask for the hinge pin and bush part numbers with the quotation, and buy one spare set per five units. Cheap at the factory, slow to source locally. For fixed-length alternatives see the mobile yard ramps category; the folding loading ramps category lists the two-section and powered versions.
Questions We Get Asked About the HRFJ
Can one person set up the HRFJ?
No. Two people, 8 to 12 minutes. The lift is a mechanical crank, not a power pack, and a 10-tonne ramp needs a second pair of hands while the latches engage.
Is there a hydraulic or powered version?
Yes, a different model. The HRYN uses hydraulic two-part folding for one-person setup; the HRFJ stays mechanical because the sites that buy it usually have no power at the loading point. See the HRYN product page.
How many units fit in a container?
Three folded units per 40 ft high-cube is normal, against one fixed-length 10.3 m ramp. Folded height depends on deck and lip choice, so confirm the loading plan before booking freight.
Will it work on gravel or a sloped yard?
Compacted, level gravel is acceptable. Side slope is the real problem — beyond about 2% across the width the deck twists under load. Grade the spot or set the ramp on steel plates.
If you are weighing a folding unit against fixed-length ramps across several sites, send the trailer heights and forklift data and we will reply with a drawing and a per-site cost rather than a brochure. Start at the contact page, or check the HRFJ specification sheet.
