Replies

1. 
   calvin | Nov 18, 2003 05:33am | #1

   A guy here uses an A-frame ladder type staging for work to maybe platform height of say 8 ft.  Set these made "ladders" (well made, let in on edge rungs) and plank across.  I'd tell you who, but in case she don't pass, I'll hold the name.  Don't know about osha, but the system tears down, folds up and moves quickly.  You could probably guardrail it somehow (sort of).  Cripes, how many different "homemade" set-ups have you had the pleasure of concocting.  Almost fun dreaming up safe ways to get you up in the air.

   Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

   Quittin' Time

2. 
   Piffin | Nov 18, 2003 05:41am | #2

   The rules say basically, Do it this way, or any other way that works safely when designed by a responsible party.

   So yes it is possible as long as no one gets hurt and you hold Mr Murphy hostage

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

3. 
   xMikeSmith | Nov 18, 2003 06:06am | #3

   we use trestles , along with all kinds of other staging.. we have a pair of 8' trestles ( see pic )  and 10' trestles..

    they work great with 24' pics.. we also use pipe staging, baker staging, and alum-a-pole..and  lots of saw horses

    i don't think i would double stack any of our saw horses, though

   Mike Smith   Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

1. 
   BradR | Nov 18, 2003 02:34pm | #4

   I went to the beautiful Biltmore House in North Carolina a couple of years ago with my wife. Amoung a display of construction photos of the house, a few showed this very thing-heavy horses and planking for scaffold. What was suprising is the volume of this staging- literally hundreds of these horses, some sections were probably eight or ten levels deep. I guess that the largest residence in North America needed that , but to see the old pictures was interesting and gave someone in construction in the twenty-first century a glimpse of old techniques.

2. 
   AndyEngel | Nov 19, 2003 05:48pm | #6

   Must be a Rhode Island thing -- The very next issue you'll get has an article by Mike Guertin on trestles just like yours.Andy Engel, The Former Accidental Moderator

3. 
   ken1putt | Nov 23, 2003 04:56am | #11

   Mike -- I looks like Guertinmade a little cash with that idea....

   His article on A-frame scaffolding is on p. 86 of the latest FHB.

   I wish I'd seen that before I finished residing my house.

   K-

   -

   "Bad golf is played with the shoulders and the body; good golf with the hands." -- Gene Sarazen

1. 
   xMikeSmith | Nov 23, 2003 05:06am | #12

   i saw dat... mine are from 1975... first thing i built when i went on my own..Mike Smith   Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

1. 
   SHazlett | Nov 23, 2003 07:45pm | #13

   Hey Mike,

   I was gonna mention that Guertin article to you.

   Is that A frame trestle a commonly used New England  thing?

   I remembered seeing one of your pictures here a while back that showed something similar.

   NEVER seen them used here----but I see how they could be REAL handy along the lower edge of a low steep roof like a Cape. I actually use a couple of  8 ft. fiberglass step ladders with a pic in between-----but the pic won't fit in the upper rung sections of a step ladder----and the step ladders get tipsy----those wider trestles look a lot more stable.

   Looks like I could probably booger together 2 or 3 of those trestles for what one good step ladder runs.

1. 
   xMikeSmith | Nov 23, 2003 08:48pm | #14

   Stephen.... my 8' trestles (  a pair ) were built in  '75... i've replace a coupl cross pieces over the years.. one man can pick them up .. 2x4 pt legs, 1x8 ledger board cross pcs...

   some guys build them  so one leg is plum and the other splays, so you can set them closer to the house.. we used to make the tops with enough room between the uprights for (2) 2x10 planks...(now we'd make sure our widest pic would fit)  and the bottom slightly less than 4' wide so they will fit in a pickup truck.. usually 16" between the cross pieces..

   my pair of 12' trestles take two men to pick them up... same width dimensions as the 8'....

   you can always tack a brace to the ground to give them extra stability

   nothing is faster for staging than a pair of trestles and a 24' pic...and of course , 3 trestles will give you 48' of staging

   here's how they usually get stored.. this is the 12' ( steel studs with pt inserts )

   and  a pic of the 12's in use on a siding /roofing job

   and a pic of the 8's in use working the roof frame

   Mike Smith   Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

   Edited 11/23/2003 12:55:47 PM ET by Mike Smith

   
4. 
   hammer1 | Nov 19, 2003 04:44am | #5

   Not with masonry. Too heavy and any sideways movement will spell disaster. OSHA regs do not specifically specify what and where in every circumstance especially in leading edge work. They do specify that you must have a written fall protection plan and you need it on the job when they ask.

5. 
   csnow | Nov 19, 2003 07:43pm | #7

   I got a pair of these.  Very cool adaptation of the 'trestle' design.  3 legs are actually more stable than 4 on uneven surfaces.  Roughly 6 feet max height.  600 lbs per pair, though I believe this rating is very conservative.

   http://www.broncosystem.com/bronco.index.html

   View Image

1. 
   kostello | Nov 19, 2003 08:45pm | #8

   i imagine it takes a while before you get over the whole 'those tresles are never goingt o stay on that roof like that!?' thing.

1. 
   raybrowne | Nov 20, 2003 04:35am | #9

   It would take me a long time to get over my first conclusion that if I stepped foot on those I'd go tumbling off the roof.

   -Ray

2. 
   csnow | Nov 21, 2003 10:05pm | #10

   BTW, not my photo.  That is from the manufacturer's site.

   Frankly, I do not think I would get on the setup pictured without bracing, though I see folks on much less stable props all the time...

   "Gravity gets us all in the end"