Step Ladder Capacity - Watch out!

[Bob_Skurka]

My wife suggested that I drop the hammer so I could hold on with both hands.

Who ever said women don't give good practical advice?

So was she standing under the ladder when she suggested he drop the hammer?

 

[Marlowe]

The supervisor's position is always close by, but just out of the line of fire. I missed her with the hammer.

Tom, the supervised.

 

[Dusty]

That's an interesting discussion and looks like it's much like debating which tractor brand is best.

Unfortunately, all 5 pages are saying the same thing. Buy the ladder at HD for half the price. I haven't seen the HD Ladder and know nothing about it, but I do know that the Little Giant seems to be a standard of electrician, plumbers, and maintenance people that I run across. I have seen the Little Giant demonstrated at many fairs and they always sell them at discounted prices and shipping is always included. I purchased mine while I was working a home show one winter, along with the scaffold. The scaffold arrived damaged and when I called, they sent a replacement that day. A few days later came a pick up tag for the old unit. I didn't have to pay anything and my only effort was to put the old one in the box and leave outside for UPS. Dusty

 

[InlineDieselFan]

Spend money on a good ladder, way too easy to get hurt on a cheap one that falls or collaspes.

I am spoiled at work (firefighter) we have awsome ladders, but huge $$$$, thank you tax payers. We have had over 800 pounds on the third section of our 35' ladders.

At home I bought the best ladders I could find (all rated at 300 pounds or better) and I spent the money, whenever people have come over and have used them, they compliment me on my nice solid ladders.

Get a good ladder and take care of it it should last you a good 20 years or more no problem.

steve

 

[patrick_g]

InLineDieselFan, Spend money on good ladeders???? What is wrong with you? I'll bet there are half a dozen folks here with wooden ladders with dry rot in one leg and termites in another and various treds held on with duct tape and bubble gum who have NEVER EVER had a problem and think you are way overboard on safety and not a manly man!

Two or three probably use there ladders (described above) in the bucket of their FEL while parked on a slope just short of a roll over (with the ROPS not folded but REMOVED) while chugging a sixer!

Ahhh, real men... May they rest in pieces.

I checked the specs on my F/G ladders and they are rated for 300 lbs (not the 325 I thought I remembered). I think that is the lowest rating I (at least 250 with clothes on and a tool in my hand) will ever consider buying. I have a couple alluminum units about 2 ft high that feel really secure but are probably not rated for 300 lbs.

InLineDieselFan, Do you know the brand of your ladders rated over 300 lbs? (Yours not the taxpayers)

Pat

 

[InlineDieselFan]

Patrick,

the tags have come off over the years, although none of them are over ten years old. They are fiberglass with aluminium rungs, and they get a light pressure wash and cleaning each spring, prior to the busy season of use.

I like the way you descibed things, it brings me job security, at the extreem expsense of people getting hurt. It is sad how many people do get hurt on ladders that should have been taken to the dump or burned 20 years ago, but some people just keep using them.

steve

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Its not just the weight limit but the proper work angle of extension ladders.

My BIL was on a ladder last week going on to the roof of his house. The ladder slid out from under him and he landed on the heel of his foot on a concrete patio. My sister just called me and he came out of surgery an hour ago with pins and a steel plate for a heel. He will be out of work for 9 months minimum!

 

[Dusty]

It isn't the fall that hurts, but the sudden stop. Hope that he does well going forward. Injuries happen in seconds and take months or years to recover from. Dusty

 

[keeney]

Unfortunately, all 5 pages are saying the same thing. Buy the ladder at HD for half the price. ...

The Little Giant is slightly better quality than the Gorilla (I have one of each).

Both are very sturdy and nice to use when you are standing on them.

Both are nice and heavy when you have to tote them up and down stairs or any significant distance.

The "Extension" ladder mode on my longer Little Giant is a little bouncy for my taste. If I am planning any extensive work at that height, I get out my 40' fiberglass 350' rated. Way stiffer whn not extended (but probably heavier).

As a step ladder, I really find myself using the feature of being able to climb both sides. Saves moving tha ladder quite a bit. Also, it lets you shift from one side to the other over the top or straddle the top when you need to face sideways. Also handy for a helper to climb up the other side and hand a tool up or hold somehting (the ladder is rated 300 lbs each side when in step ladder mode).

The one complaint about my shorty Gorilla is that the legs bind up on the angle braces at the bottom. The Little Ginat has more clearance down there. Not a big deal, but just annoying until you figure out how to avoid it.

- Rick

 

[Dusty]

I have to agree that the Little Giant, when fully extended as a extension ladder is kind of springy, but it has never caused me any worry. For the most part, I try to stay close to the ground and never climb any higher than I feel comfortable. Thirty feet is about my top end. When I was half my age, the hight didn't bother me and I used to walk across steel beams on a construction site 8 or 10 stories high. Now, I don't even like looking out the windows when I am that high.