12' ladder in 6' pickup bed

[EddieWalker]

I've never tested this, but I think the law says you can have something extend 4 feet out the back of a truck or trailer and still be legal. I'm not sure if this is measured from the end of the bed, the back bumper, or the tailgate when it's down.

I'd just lay it in the bed, tie it down and put a red flag on the end. It's only ten miles and if you make an effort and it's not an obvious danger, most cops won't give you any problems.

Eddie

 

[RobertN]

I need to get a 24' extension ladder which I assume will be 12' per section. Problem is that my Toyota pickup only has a 6' bed.

Interesting thread, as I just got a used canoe. Although I have a fullsize longbed Dodge, a 16-1/2' canoe does not fit in an 8 foot bed either So far, I have put it on my utility trailer. Although the trailer bed is only 8', I set the canoe way up over the tongue so only about 3' hangs off the back of the trailer. I need a rack to carry it in the truck...

For your ladder, you might try placing the foot in the bed with the tailgate up. Place a piece of foam on the roof, and let the ladder rest on the roof. The scrap 2x4 rack sounded good too. Otherwise, get a buddy to haul it with a bigger truck, although 12' is big for an 8' bed too.

 

[goaliedad]

good ideas have been presented here- one thought tho- is a 24 foot extension ladder only 12 feet long? 2 halves at 12 feet would only give about a extended height?

 

[avorancher]

good ideas have been presented here- one thought tho- is a 24 foot extension ladder only 12 feet long?

Yeah... I probably had a bad assumption and it will be a little longer. But most of the suggestions should still work. I have a smoke alarm in the house that is 20' up on a wall and wants to chirp around 3AM, so I'm going to have to try one of these techniques soon or go crazy from lack of sleep.

I'll have to measure and see how high it would be if I put one end over the cab... don't want to bring any traffic lights home with me. Otherwise, I'll take the "over 4 ft" option and plead ignorant if stopped.

 

[MrJimi]

Almost all extension ladders have a three foot overlap, 24 foot is a 21 foot etc.

 

[HomeBrew2]

... I have a smoke alarm in the house that is 20' up on a wall and wants to chirp around 3AM, so I'm going to have to try one of these techniques soon or go crazy from lack of sleep....

A good thrust with a length of pvc pipe should knock that 'bird' off the wall. If hard wired, throw the breaker, and use a tree pruner to cut the wires. (I take sleep very seriously

 

[avorancher]

Almost all extension ladders have a three foot overlap, 24 foot is a 21 foot etc.

Really, you mean a 24' ladder is only 21 at full extension? Now I'm wondering if it will be long enough by the time I lean it against the wall. I have a 17' articulated ladder and it was "way too short" to use. By the time I climbed near the top, my chest was against the wall and I had nothing to hold on to. I found out that I wasn't a "ladder" risk taker and came back down.

I just need to replace the battery. It is hardwired but has a battery too. I've replaced batteries before on the ones that are lower and that fixes the chirp.

Of course, the ladder will come in handy for other things too.

 

[MrJimi]

I'm sorry to tell you that but its true and the 8 foot step ladders say do not stand above this point, if you think about it, its there for our safety and the extension ladders will overlap by 3 feet/steps and on the side it says usable length is.
Jim

 

[Robert_in_NY]

All ladders should have an actual working height listed on them.

In New York, you can haul ladders and lumber that stick out the back of the truck without problem. The law here is that anything that sticks out more then 4' must have a red flag on the end. We have hauled 40' extension ladders this way before and with the tailgate down 10' stuck out past the edge of the tailgate. It all depends which truck we are using as to how we haul our ladders. But I have never put a ladder over the cab of our trucks for various reasons but mainly that most ladders are long and will catch a low hanging phone line around driveways if you let the ladder stick up in the air. Ladder racks are great if you are going to haul long items all the time. There are quite a few places now that sell the one sided ladder racks that allow you to haul one ladder. They appear to hook into the pockets on the truck bed but I have never took the time to look as they are too small for our needs. But they do seem like a good investment if you haul long lumber or ladders from time to time. I know Home Depot had them for sale not too long ago.

 

[ToadHill]

I've hung one under the truck for short moves. Just tie it to the bumper on each end and flag the end if it sticks out.