Twenty years ago when I built my house- shop combo I didn’t give it much thought to how much of a pain in the baduba it was to perform maintenance on a 38 foot tall cedar sided building. The big time burner was washing down the house and recoating the walls every few years. Setting up scaffolding is slow and renting a lift was not an option. One summer manhandling a 32 ft extension ladder convinced me there had to be a better way. After a few half-baked prototypes I came up with an attachment for the front-end loader of my Kubota tractor.
The original purpose was ease of movement and stability. Once I started using it I discovered the ability to raise the foot of the ladder off the ground and tilt the top into a tight space or over shrubs and other obstructions. Photo 1 shows the tip of the ladder resting on the copper cone roof enabling me to safely work into an otherwise inaccessible corner under the roof eave. Notice how the loader was able to tilt and suspend the base of ladder into the corner. The tractor weighs about 3000 lbs and provided a solid support I felt very comfortable working at the tip. No risk of the bottom kicking out or the top skating out of position. In some cases I was able to suspend the ladder a foot away from the wall enabling a better position to work the eves.
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Using this contraption is no different than using a bucket truck. Common sense needs to be applied, in other words don’t move the unit with the ladder extended. Watch where you swing, and above all you need a heavy enough tractor to make it stable. A word of caution most valve bank controls are too fast acting to handle a boom extended out to any great distance. The inch movement at the machine can translate to 5 feet at the business end in the blink of an eye. My hydraulic joystick has restrictor valves on it so I can slow the flow of the fluid way down giving me pinpoint control as to where I want to place the top of the ladder. Also the weight of the operator must be taken into account. I weigh 150 lbs. including a half pizza and two beers, I’m not sure I would trust this thing if I weighed in at linebacker numbers.
Another application suspending the ladder over a cantilevered roof section
Ladder is held in place by two ¾ inch steel rods passing through the rung opening and secured with hairpin spring clips.
Another good application was being able to stain the cupola by laying the ladder down on the metal barn roof.All in all I have been very happy with the results, besides the above mentioned tasks I used it to clean windows and gutters, trim tree branches 30 ft off the ground and pick that ever elusive apple from the top of the tree. As for hindsight, the quick disconnect to the loader needs some work, a project for another day.
Stuffing it up over a window
I don't think OSHA would approve of the pitch on that thing. But I like it.
I wondered the same thing when I saw it . Actually I studied it thinking somthing had to be wrong with it but found nothing as long as hes not on it till it gets rested. Someone will probably come along and flame me for saying it . As long as the hydralics stay put its a safe set up on level ground . I cant say it would be on a hill side . My guess would be that it would be hazard waiting to happen there . Over all its a money saving idea especially for a house painter that moves all the time . I wish I had one . Be very handy for tree trimming with in reason.
Tim
I like it too. Gotta have a look at the scrap pile & think about this.
The hydraulic restrictor a add on for Kubota, or a universal type thingee that might work on an old Case?
Joe H
Why walk up a pitch like that? Use the ladder as it was designed to do, hell, you don't even have the ladder extended in half the pic's. I wouldn't climb that rig for all the tea in china. Get a bucket truck.
Why walk up a pitch like that? Use the ladder as it was designed to do, hell, you don't even have the ladder extended in half the pic's.In the first picture the ladder needs to be at that pitch or you can't get into the corner. First year I rented a bucket truck, $600 for the week. It still didn't get me into the corner like the ladder did and also did not allow me to coat the sides of the small dormer or the barn cupola. As for not having the ladder fully extended, it's intentional. The doubled up ladder is really stiff, no side sway, almost no flex. As for an accident waiting to happen, less chance of that than using a ladder as it was intended since the bottom won't kick out and the top won't skate off the wall. Also less chance of damaging the wall during raising and lowering since that can be done with the ladder pulled slightly away from the wall. And yes you are right it's not going to work on a hillside.
I wouldn't put an employee on it or bring it to a jobsite under insurance. But for my own house, like you're doing, I like it. I like it a lot. 'Course I can't see how it 'feels' from here.... but if it's as stable as you say... yep I really like it.
I hate extension ladders. I hate moving them, setting them up, climbing them, working off them.... any time I can avoid them, I do. Of all the things we do when framing a building, working off an extension ladder is always the most unsafe feeling for me. That contraption looks to take a lot of the wiggle and jiggle out of the ladder.
I can't say I agree with climbing that thing when the top isn't against a wall or something, but for the stuff in your pictures it looks pretty dang sweet.
It was not intended as a jobsite tool, the potential for mishap would be far to great considering the wide spectrum of common sense. I borrowed the concept from watching a fire company ladder truck during a rescue. Granted not the same but still a junkyard war version of it. The top does need to be leaned up against something to take up the flex. All I can say is it feels solid. I have used it to trim limbs with the top floating but in that application it's 75 degrees or greater and not fully extended.
Youre speaking my language .
The hardest part about painting a two story house is working from a 40 ft ladder . Climbing the ladder is not hard to do since mine has 3.5 inch steps and doubled its 8 inch or better steps. But that mother is for ever more heavy. Lots stronger than it needs to be already so thats no issue . Its picking it up and constantly moving and resetting it .
Hes right about a bucket truck. They are great for straight up walls but under dormers no. That rig would lay a ladder on the roof and hold it there under the overhang of a dormer or a rake. Even a forkclift wont lay a painter down to go up and down to work. I guess it could hold a ladder there like this rig.
With a longer jib and a 40 foot commercial ladder at 75 degrees it would stay in the air to cut limbs and such. Of course that ladder would be doubled too.
Let me put this out there not to be tried at home or on the job but I saw it. I witnessed it and it should be logic in this case .
I saw two men working on one section of a 40 foot ladder layed down for a walk board with 1/2 inch plywood meatal screwed to the rungs . Yes it was #300 lb. The two men weighed 400 together. Thats one single section, 20 ft.
My point being is that theres no way a 300 lb ladder is gonna fold or break with one normal size man on it even in single section. if both ends are rested solid at any degree. JMO.
Tim
Correct me if I'm wrong Tim, but you're talking about one section of an extension ladder, no? The guys I was talking about extended what looked to be a 24'er and spanned it between their jacks. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sure didn't look Kosher to me. That was one setup I wouldn't get on for all the tea in China.
I could see one section of ladder with a plank on it being ok. But I just can't see an extended extension ladder getting the job done. Gotta be a better way than that.
I was talking about one 300lb section 20 foot long which is a sight better than a 24 extended.
I agree with ya . I would have wanted to just go ahead and call am ambulance watchin them. It would make me sick.
Tim
The farther you get from the optimum 75 degree angle, the lower the load that the ladder can safely carry. Other than keeping it closer to 75 degrees, I'd have no problem climbing that rig. The little wooden four step, if it's old and loose like mine, is probably the most dangerous item in the pictures.
-- J.S.
And yes you are right it's not going to work on a hillside.
I said that .
Good job. The only thing I would want to warn is what I already said . As along as the hill sides are out and the top of the ladder is resting by itself in positioning then against the building before you go up its a really cool deal. Really cool.
The few feet [4 or 3?] would hold the ladder somewhat from sliding sideways which you dont have sitting on the ground.
I guess you set it for hight with the forks on the ground or close to?
Tim
The few feet [4 or 3?] would hold the ladder somewhat from sliding sideways which you don't have sitting on the ground.I guess you set it for height with the forks on the ground or close to? Tim, thanks and Yes I try to keep the base of the ladder as close to the ground as possible although it doesn't seem to make any difference in the rigidity. The photos may not show it very well but the lower section of the ladder is captured by two 12 ft' sections of 2x3x 1/4 inch angle iron, welded to the tractor attachment supports, there is no slop at the connections, no side play. To test it I rigged up a 200 lb sack of sand tied it to the tip, boomed it out 20 ft and set it on the roof. I tried to get my brother in law to test it but all he did was udder some unkind words. I think the biggest risk would be having a hose break and lose pressure. I have no idea how fast the unit would lower but if it's supported against the house wall or roof it shouldn't do much more than inspire a fast trip to the outhouse.
This photo shows in more detail the ladder to tractor connections.
is this a picture of you. 2+3=7
LOL, no not quite I wouldn't attempt it without a hardhat.,
Oh... here you are.... :)
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Hey that's not fair, I learned a lot since then.
A bursting hose will lower that ladder about ten feet per second. Faster than you can pucker your butt or say OH ship. The bucket on my crawler came down even faster as it was loaded when a hose broke.
I like that idea but would want the ladder off the fire truck for me.
10 ft. per second, I guess that's a good argument for supporting the base with some sort of adjustable mechanical outrigger.
Yep ,that would be a good idea. Thats how fast my bucket came down ,might have taken two seconds , but I know it was on the ground before I could finnish Ohshi ............ The hose always seems to break where it can't be reached easily . So you can't see the bad spots . and a pia to replace also .
If you are only a foot or two off the ground with the loader it might not be bad . But if it is any higher and at an angle like some of the pics show , can you imagine, say flinging peas across the room with your knife?
Oh one other thing how did you get the snow so green?
Don,It's called summer snow, you cut it instead of shoveling it.What I guess is missing in the first photo is the added 12 ft. 2x3 angle iron extensions. During my first attempt I put the unit into place and climbed up, it felt ok but I was concerned about the ladder twisting. Once the angles were added it eliminated that issue plus took the remaining flex out as well. As it is used now, in photo one, the top 7 ft. sits on the copper cone the bottom 12 foot is locked in the channel frame leaving 9 feet left to span of which part of it is double ladder. What the photo also dosen't show clearly is the center of the ladder actually rests on the slope of the porch roof.I'll take your advice and rig up some sort of adjustable loader support just in case a hose does break.
I saw the angle ,and have no doubt that it is sturdy.
I like that idea but would want the ladder off the fire truck for me.
There ya go:
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jt8
"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."-- John R. Wooden
I'll second that but it might be a bit rough on the lawn.
Thats it . But I don't want the whole truck just the ladder.
I don't care how sturdy the ladder is, I'm not climbing up 108 feet. Be too tired to do anything when I got up there.
jt8
"With Congress, every time they make a joke it's a law, and every time they make a law it's a joke." -- Will Rogers
I see the steel now .
He(( ya Id do it all day long is what Im talkin about .
Tim
Riverman, that ladder position is not safe. I wouldn't walk up that.
I find it somewhat amusing that taunton has pulled some of my pics, and they are leaving this one up there.
blue
Are you saying it would be safer to stand the ladder up against the eve of the copper cone then reach up and balance on the top while trying to get into the corner of a 20/12 pitch overhang? Been there done that, tall ladders are famous for skating across roof eves. How about the cupola, try standing on a 9/12 metal roof while pressure washing with soapy water? Safe depends on lot of factors the biggest of which is the operator, some people can't walk up a 6 ft step ladder without falling off others can climb up the side of a mountain. The photo's were intended to show one persons solution, I'm sure someone else will have a better method utilizing other options available to them. For me I have a tractor, a ladder and a level lot and it saves me a lot of work.
What pictures did they pull ? I never saw any that you posted that were dangerous . other than some where you were working on a roof without a net.
Really that attachment for the front-end loader was really for farmers hay work? Pretty good thinking so just be careful!
Thanks Don and all. Last but not least I consider it just another way to get up in the world.