40 Foot Ladder Mover FEL Attachment?

[PBinWA]

I have a 40 foot ladder that I need to use for projects around my house. Anyone that has used a 40 ft ladder knows how hard they are to move. I typically have to ask a neighbor to help me move it and set it up.

I've been thinking of making an attachment for my skid steer compatible FEL that would lift and stabilize the ladder for me.

I'm thinking of making a frame with a "pocket" for the ladder to lift and lower it. I would plan on lowering the ladder to 20ft when moving it around. I'm also thinking that the attachment would be a good way to stabilize the base when I'm up the ladder.

Anyone ever thought of this? I'm thinking a 6 Foot pocket for the ladder made out of some C Channel steel would be strong enough and high enough to hold things but I'm not entirely sure (I'm not an engineer).

Suggestions?

 

[ragkar]

I don't quite have your problem but near to it. A 16 foot stepladder and a a 28 foot extension ladder.

I first though of laying them crosswise in the bucket on the teeth. But there's not all that many areas on my property that I can maneuver a tractor with 8 feet of ladder sticking out either side.

Second thought was to put the foot of the ladder in the bucket and then use a chain from the bucket top to the far end. By tilting the bucket I should be able to lean it against the house.

Third was using the bucket and the rollover bar as a rest.

Well, they're ideas anyhow.

 

[Bird]

I'm thinking a 6 Foot pocket for the ladder made out of some C Channel steel would be strong enough and high enough to hold things but I'm not entirely sure (I'm not an engineer).

I'm not an engineer either, but that sounds good to me.

 

[J_J]

You should be able to transport your ladder on the top of the ROPS. Here is a possible solution, install some removable ladder pockets supports in the bucket, something the ladder could sit in when erected. When you want to set the ladder up, raise and tilt the bucket so the ladder can slide in the ladder support pockets. Then gently tilt the bucket and place ladder wherever you want. this would give you side to side stability plus you could raise the ladder up even more. Of course you pull the rope to extend the ladder.

I had thought of this before but never got around to it.

 

[PBinWA]

Here's my quickie mock-up in Google SketchUp (of which I'm no expert). Anyways, I think the concept is to have enough support to tilt the ladder upright for raising and lowering and then to be able to gently tilt it towards the house.

I might need to add some adjustable feet to the outside of the "box" to provide a level base.

J_J - I like the idea of leaning it against the Rops when moving to around.

 

[bobodu]

I moved a 20 windmill with the fan so you outta have it easy!!

 

[ragkar]

You might consider carrying the ladder on the other end of the tractor. I've seen some advertisements for platforms that are on the 3ph. Suppose you mod one of those and carry the ladder using a platform and resting it on the rops. Then you back up to the house etc., lower the platform to the ground and tilt the ladder back onto the house.
You know, I think that might work! You'd need a fabricated bracket to secure the ladder feet. And some sort of barrier to keep the ladder from falling off the rops. A chain or rope from the top rung to the tractor (maybe to a hook on the bucket) would allow you to move the extended ladder to a new location, like when painting.

Here's an example of a 3ph platform
http://www.redlandhill.com/weldup_carryall.html

 

[DavidVT]

I just moved a pile of about 6K pounds of pallet racking (24' kind of like a wide ladder). One piece at a time.
I hooked the bucket to one end with a piece of unistrut, ran the rack down the side of the tractor to a temporary hook built on the outside of the scraper blade.
I safely moved all the steel in less that 2 hours down a busy road!

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I like JJ's idea of something on top of the ROPS. Maybe see if you can pick up a cheap luggage rack at the wrecking yard to carry the ladder around that way. Then slide the ladder into the bucket while it is raised. Lower the bucket and let the ladder follow it down. I like using the bucket to stand the ladder in. You could fashion up a couple of cheap closet rods or metal conduit as side supports on the ladder and attach to the bucket. That would help keep it from wobbling side to side while it was stood up against something. I do have to agree those 40' ladders are too much to manage with one person and even sometimes with 2 people.
The idea of a pocket isn't bad either. Just as long as you don't put any pressure on the ladder legs and bend them.

 

[PBinWA]

I think the 3pt hitch won't be high enough on the ladder to control it very well. Once that ladder is fully extended it is pretty hard to control.

I think the key is to have the FEL as high as possible on the ladder to reduce the instability.

I'm also thinking of making the pocket hollow so it can slide up the ladder then I can leave the levellers on the legs to level the ladder and perhaps add some form of adjustable bars that connect the tractor frame to the base of the ladder to stabilize the base.

I'll try to make some more ideas with SketchUp.