So our neighbor's cat has been visiting us for a while, so I decided to build this ramp so that she could more easily get into and out of our yard. I'm not much of a woodworker, but was happy with how this turned out.
It's made almost entirely from cedar fence posts. Nearly 18 feet long (3 fence posts end to end with the dog ear tip cut off). Ripped cedar planks into 3 for a frame/support to prevent flexing. Posts are pine 2x4, and go 18 inches into the ground, which was the majority of the effort, since our ground is like cement...
It's very sweet of you to do something for the cat, a nice boost to my day seeing it. Sorry about the train wreck comments that your wholesome post seem to have attracted.
Do you have any close ups of the way you joined the posts?
No. But I can try to describe it.
I cut small lengths of 2x4 (about 6 inches) and screwed these from the top of the catwalk, so that this board is parallel to the walking surface. The posts have a 18 degree cut at the top end, and then I used pocket holes to connect the post to the 2x4 on the underside of the catwalk with 2.5 inch pocket hole screws. If I were do again, I might try dowels. It was basically impossible to clamp properly to screw in the pocket hole screws, and it kept separating a bit. But in the end, everything ended up being very secure.