I know a thing or two, because I've done a thing or two.
Is that from the Johnny Cash movie?
Is that from the Johnny Cash movie?
Anyone using a Hasegawa 16 foot ladder
- Thread starter gsrsol84mm
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Well, based on results, you've never used a tripod ladder...
There's a Johnny cash movie?
My sig was originally a modified version of an insurance commercial, mainly to piss off a small group of people that believed I had no experience or knowledge of tree work
Yeah. The one Joaquin Phoenix started in. Highly recommended.
Little Giant has a newer Leveler Ladder. 2 of the legs have independent extension legs to level it on uneven ground.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Little-Gia...-Telescoping-Multi-Position-Ladder/1000750346
3 vs 4....
3 is more adjustable which is the only reason they are more stable on uneven ground. Why would almost every ladder, chair, couch, table, car have 4 instead of 3 if 3 was always more stable?
3 is more adjustable which is the only reason they are more stable on uneven ground. Why would almost every ladder, chair, couch, table, car have 4 instead of 3 if 3 was always more stable?
There is another entirely different reason that cranes always have 4 or more outriggers, too. Four legs equally loaded on a rigid structure is far more stable to tipping than a tripod.
4 points of attachment to the ground, assuming that the width and height of a device are the same, are theoretically sturdier than 3. For a few fundamental reasons, however, ladders fail that standard because the 4 points are seldom all stabilized with equal down pressure, and the ladders are not generally designed to have structural strength against twisting. The biggest gain with a 3 legged ladder is that it can be built stronger in some necessary places while remaining light, due to the fact that a tripod has "triangulation" built into the design, and twisting doesn't occur.
Besides, I've never seen a "four-legged" ladder ever used at any height. Somebody always unfolds it, then it has become a two legged ladder, and usually with a much narrower base than the 3-legged ladders.
Myself, I've never been on an orchard ladder, but I used to have an A-frame ("four-legged") ladder that was 12 feet tall. It was scary how wobbly it was, and I was far more likely to lean it on the house or whatever I was working against than to set it up using all four legs. If you were outside working on uneven ground, you couldn't even count on it not falling over before you climbed it. Using it to attempt pruning a tall bush from it was an ill-advised, although I did do it a couple of times. It was always ready to just topple over sideways, as the base simply wasn't as wide as a decent orchard ladder would have been.
Those things are best used for swapping light bulbs on a high ceiling in a store. Even then, they aren't too great. An assistant manager fell off the 16' a-frame ladder in the store I was working in when I was 16 years old. He grabbed the light fixture when the ladder let him down, and he pulled it off the ceiling. Along with about 250 feet of 8-foot-long fluorescent lights.
It was quite exciting. Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, Crash, ... it went on for several minutes, for the whole length of the building. Then all the lights started flashing on and off all over the building while the managers tried to figure out how to throw the right breaker to avoid electrocuting someone. We were still finding little bits of glass on the floor six months later, when we swept the floor each night.
All that chaos was the result of leaning off the side of a 16' ladder, and he was only installing a fluorescent tube. I think using a pole pruner would be a whole lot more risk, so my advice is to not try it without setting a rope and using backup safeties.
Just out of curiosity, what do you have against using more standard arborist equipment? I can reach a LOT of pruning cuts with my 21' long pruning saw, and way faster than you can move around with a ladder. Pole saws and loppers can be mounted on multiple pruning poles to reach even higher than that for a special cut that isn't worth climbing.
Here's 25' of pruning awesomeness for a lot less work and expense than climbing scary ladders: https://www.wesspur.com/notch-nobasu-pole-saw
Yes, I added 5 feet for "working reach" in addition to the length of the saw.
Consider adding these to your big ladders. I've been using them for about 20 years on various extension ladders.
Definitely worth the money.I bought a 24' extension ladder with adjustable length of legs for my house. It is very stable on any amount of side slope. I even use it on the stairs inside the house, on account of the impossible area to reach above the stairs.
This one: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Werner-D17...2-225-lbs-Capacity-Extension-Ladder/999921802
I'll never buy another ladder without adjustable legs. It is worth every penny, and considerably sturdier than the bolt-on legs pictured above.
