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Mind’s Eye Fabrication |
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Estimates are FREE! Why not e-mail us to see that customized doesn’t always mean expensive? |
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ATV and Tractor Bridges - Designed, Fabricated, Installed Do you have a creek or ditch keeping you from accessing your land with your ATV or Tractor? We can help. We can design a custom bridge, a private bridge with custom features you want. You could add handrails so you can pause along a leisurely stroll and rest. Add access gates which you can lock when you don’t want anyone crossing the bridge. It’s up to you.
Every bridge is a custom bridge. We design your bridge from scratch for you. Furthermore, we offer you the freedom to build your own custom bridge. From design to installation or anywhere in between. If you would like to fabricate and install your own bridge we can provide you with the Computer Aided Designs listing the specified materials and installation instructions. We will provide you with 3D CAD drawings so you can build your own bridge with confidence. You can even have us design and fabricate your custom bridge but perform the installation yourself. We want to give you options to use to save money or enjoy the satisfaction of building your own bridge. |
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Many property owners and lessees have land that is inaccessible by vehicle because a creek or ditch bisects the property. You may own, or have rights to, the land on the other side of a creek or ditch. But, if you can’t access it, it’s not useable. When a creek bisects a property, planting food plots or clearing debris can be a daunting, if not impossible, task. Mind’s Eye Fabrication can help by designing, fabricating and installing bridges to give you access to that land. If you want a bridge to support your 5 ton tractor or a simple walking bridge, we can help.
We’ll only need a few measurements for span, width, and weight capacity to provide you with a free estimate. Give us a call and we’ll get you to the other side in no time. |
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Bridge Designing and Fabrication Strength Considerations Designing an affordable bridge for a tractor or ATV (four wheeler) to safely carry yourself and your equipment is a balancing act between acceptable strength and cost. Calculating the strength necessary to carry your intended load (tractor with implements and ATV with gear plus rider) is a key consideration for all bridges. Safety factors should ALWAYS be added to all variables from the strength of materials to the design itself. Determining the appropriate safety factor can be tricky. What is the chance the design load will be exceeded and by how much? What is the stated tensile strength of the material? How consistent is it? Steel has several ingredients (iron, carbon, manganese, silicon etc.). Variations in the proportions of these “ingredients” affect the strength of the final product. Though variations may be small, safety factors must be included. Other safety factors to consider are those of the environment in which the steel will be used. Is it a harsh environment with severe temperature changes throughout the year? What are the stress cycles affecting fatigue life?
Safety factors may be easy for a simple walking bridge over a short span with minimal stress cycles because it’s not expensive to go overboard on larger materials and/or reinforcements. After all, doubling a $100 bridge only costs an extra $100. In effect it’s applying a 100% safety factor to every element (materials, design, loading, environment etc) of the bridge. But because ATV and Tractor Bridges obviously require stronger materials, simply doubling the “no safety factor” cost may make many projects cost prohibitive. By using appropriate safety factors, however, we can design your bridge in the most cost effective manner. |
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Strength of Materials and Strength of Design Designing tractor bridges and ATV bridges require selecting an adequate material and an adequate design. The design process is often an iterative one: especially when affordability is a primary concern. The materials for the bridge affects the design and the design affects the materials. Following, is a simple example of bridge design affecting material strength. Disregard safety factors just for the sake of simplicity in the following bridge design example.
Bridge Design Example: An S5 x 14.75 I-beam spanning ten feet that is only supported at the ends will carry a center load of about 6,700 lbs (without safety factor). The identical I-beam will carry over 13,000 lbs when the ends are securely anchored into the ground with concrete. Those load assumptions are for a single load at the center of the unsupported span length and go up for vehicles and equipment whose load is split between a front and rear axle.
The design element of adding concrete footers doubles the strength of a single beam. Which in turn means you can use a cheaper I-beam (they come in numerous standard sizes). Other factors in which the design can affect strength are the inclusion of railings. In the pictures above the railings on either side serve two functions. First they prevent wheels from slipping of the edge of the bridge. Second, they enhance design strength preventing bowing in the main beams. |
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If you want a private bridge and an affordable bridge contact us. We’ll let you do as much or as little of the job as you like. You can purchase the plans only and handle all of the building and fabricating yourself.
When you ask us to help with your bridge needs, we’ll ask you a lot of questions to determine the best design at the most affordable cost. All our designs are made from scratch so your bridge will be custom made by you and for you with any features you’d like such as handrails, or access gates. |
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As you can see our bridges are primarily steel with more focus on function than decoration. Check out this site for some beautiful redwood bridges
Producing garden bridges, garden trellises, picnic tables, garden benches, shadow art, carved bears and other wooden handcrafts |
