40 Ft Ladder..... Lost my Nerve

[LBrown59]

I start gettin uneasy at 4 feet then it gets worse per foot.

 

[hitekcountry]

My sister told me of a guy who worked in her office, was cleaning the gutters on his house standing on the top step of a 6 ladder. The ladder flipped out from under him and he landed on his head and broke his neck. The guy is now a quadriplegic.

Another gutter cleaning accident on a ladder; a guy I know was cleaning the gutters on a two story section of his house above a deck. The deck is one of those simulated wood products. He was on the ladder at the two story level when the ladder slipped out from under him and he fell and broke both hips. It's been two years and he's still not back to what he was.

If a little fear of ladders causes you to be a bit more cautious, that's good, it just might save you a lot of pain.

 

[AndyM]

I start gettin uneasy at 4 feet then it gets worse per foot.

Lucky for you that your house isn't very tall. I'm shaking and holding on for dear life when cleaning the gutters on my two story house.

 

[PBinWA]

I just got a price on a 40 Ft Werner Fiberglass ladder - $750!!!

Any old-timers in the NW want to unload one? I hate the things but after 4 years I think I need to clean my gutters!

 

[N80]

I just got a price on a 40 Ft Werner Fiberglass ladder - $750!!!!

I pay someone between $50-$100 to clean my gutters, so for $750 I could get them done for seven or eight years without ever getting on a bouncing, wobbly ladder.

 

[PBinWA]

I pay someone between $50-$100 to clean my gutters, so for $750 I could get them done for seven or eight years without ever getting on a bouncing, wobbly ladder.

You are probably right and probably much wiser than I. However, I just think it's one of those things I should have in order to take care of the house. I have some sort of deep psychological issue with getting other people to do work on my place - I wish I could get over it 'cause I really hate climbing ladders.

I've now found a place with 40 ft. (300lb rated) aluminum ladders for around $400. That's a little more reasonable.

 

[rockinmywaypa]

cleaning gutters brought back a couple memories,.... once I was painting gutters standing on the very top step of a 6 footer with my elbow hooked into the gutter holding the paint can. ladder kicked to the side, down I went but not without unhooking my arm, dumped a can of tremclad grey all over myself before hitting the ground, regarding the 40 footers, used to have one, now I have a 20 footer a 12 footer and an 8 footer. the 3 of them are a lot more handier than the two ever were. on getting older, I have a loose sheet of tin on the barn, 20 yrs ago I would have shot a kite string over the barn with my bow and pulled heavier rope over and had the job done before I had my morning coffee, now I,ve been staring and trying to get my nerve up for a yr and a half. and my nerve isn't getting up very fast.

 

[ore540]

I pay someone between $50-$100 to clean my gutters, so for $750 I could get them done for seven or eight years without ever getting on a bouncing, wobbly ladder.

I don't like ladders but, like a lot of TBNers, I do lust after gadgets. So, if I can get up on a ladder once for each run of gutter, I could get one of these:
iRobot Corporation: About Looj . The video on the right side of the page is fun to watch anyway.

 

[johnk]

I don't think its a matter of getting older and frail, I think the mind is getting stronger as you walk through life and telling you not to take chances anymore. I used to climb a steel 16 inch wide steel ladder with 1/2 inch round bar rungs 205 feet straight up even in winter with no steel cage or safety straps on me 35 years ago where I was employed. Where was OSHA then... Now I think of that and the bottoms of my feet tingle.. Nice view once on the top though.

 

[zzvyb6]

Ladders and heights sometimes bother me and sometimes don't. What sets me off my game is clouds in the sky: If they are there, and they move and you see them moving, you WILL get queasy. It's not "don't look down", its "don't look UP". I use tractor weights suspended from the middle of the ladder to maintain good contact with the house. It also lowers the bounce frequency so it doesn't seem so weakly suspended. Use plenty of angle, more so that usual. Nothing wrong with using a safety rope flung over the roof peak to a tree.

On my windmill its the same thing: no cloudy days. Always keep one hand on the iron. Wear good sticky shoes. NO Gloves unless deerskin. Use a safety harness if you will be there for more than a few minutes.

I admit I once put a shorter than needed ladder in my loader bucket fully extended to put a new rope in the flag pole. Now that was interesting because the aluminum flag pole flexed much more than I expected when I got near the top. I got the job done but next time I resorted to pulling the pole out of the ground, reseting the pulley and lanyard and hoisting it back up.