40 Ft Ladder..... Lost my Nerve

[scott_vt]

Great idea to do 1 side a year and I'll start that procedure for next year.


I also have the dreaded walk out basement which adds the extreme height on one end requiring the 40" ladder

Afternoon Sarge,
See what I got started ! All us over 55 ers get to do one side per year !

 

[Dozernut]

Scotty

I know what your talking about. My experience was on a 28' aluminum ladder. It was almost fully extended and I was staining near the peak when that darned old ladder decided to rack. Luckily I was able to hold on and get down safely. Took that extension ladder apart and will not put it back together, got a new heavier fiberglass model but I am still gun shy. Seems like the "Golden Years" only applies to your doctor.

 

[dfkrug]

40-foot ladder.....that must be scary. Not for me. I don't even like
my 20-footer!

I have tried the self-propelled Genie lifts, and they sway a lot with
just one person in them.

The solution I found is scaffolding. I bought 4 sections used when I
was buliding my house, and I have used it again and again, long after
I "finished". These are rock-solid and 5-ft tall each. I made wheel
inserts for one section, which I have used indoors with my 14-ft ceilings.

 

[tommu56]

I look back at the days I would walk the purlins putting in phone and computer cables in and only hook in to step around the columns. That was 20 years ago I like to believe as I got older I got wiser (my wife will dispute that).

tom

 

[Rara Avis]

Good Evenin Guys,
Well everyone is probablly wondering why I havent done much on my plow rebuild project, but I have been sidelined on trying to keep up with all the house chores !

A little history for everyone, I built the Ct house in 1982. After I first built it I would stain the whole house every 4 yrs. Then I started to feel a bit old these past few years and started staining one side every year ! This has worked out quite well but this year on the west side getting all the way up on my 40 ft ladder I just didnt feel comfortable ! Im 56 and in good health, 5 ft 10" by 180 lbs and can still walk 10 miles in the woods, so not too overweight ! I have obviously lost my nerve, I did for the record get the peak done but not without holding on for dear life ! I have been doing this job forever but I think my days are numbered doing this job much longer ! Talking with my buddy who works part time at HD today, he informed me that HD no longer carries a 40 ft ladder Gee that made me feel good !

So just thought I would let everyone know that Im still with the ranks of the living, and perserved through this project to the end ! Anyone else out there have this acquired fobia ? Never seemed to bother me in the past but somethin just changed !

Here's exactly what you need...

What's changed is you have MORE common sense...The older you get the more your body seems to realize its fragile...

 

[curly]

Good Evenin Guys,
Well everyone is probablly wondering why I havent done much on my plow rebuild project, but I have been sidelined on trying to keep up with all the house chores !

A little history for everyone, I built the Ct house in 1982. After I first built it I would stain the whole house every 4 yrs. Then I started to feel a bit old these past few years and started staining one side every year ! This has worked out quite well but this year on the west side getting all the way up on my 40 ft ladder I just didnt feel comfortable ! Im 56 and in good health, 5 ft 10" by 180 lbs and can still walk 10 miles in the woods, so not too overweight ! I have obviously lost my nerve, I did for the record get the peak done but not without holding on for dear life ! I have been doing this job forever but I think my days are numbered doing this job much longer ! Talking with my buddy who works part time at HD today, he informed me that HD no longer carries a 40 ft ladder Gee that made me feel good !

So just thought I would let everyone know that Im still with the ranks of the living, and perserved through this project to the end ! Anyone else out there have this acquired fobia ? Never seemed to bother me in the past but somethin just changed !

Sheesh, that's a long ways up, and no matter your age weight or health...if ya fall, ya gonna prolly be kilt.

I've got a 24 ft ladder that I had to get up to the very top of my house. I had the ladder almost straight up (guess I need a 26 ft ladder) to put it in the right place. I had my wife standing under me/in front of/against the house... holding the nylon rope that pulls the ladder up....so I wouldn't just fall backwards. She kept getting distracted and talking to our daughter who was playing and I kept yelling for her not to forget what she was doing.

Even the 24 feet seemed a bit high, so yes you may want to get a 16 year old to do it. I may try to find one of those sizzor lifts somewhere.

 

[jeffinsgf]

I have just one thing to add this thread...


Bricks.

 

[scott_vt]

I have just one thing to add this thread...


Bricks.

Mornin Jeff,
Gosh Im old and even slower ! It took me a good 30 seconds to understand what you meant by bricks ! I think I may of had too much German Pain Killer !

 

[scott_vt]

Sheesh, that's a long ways up, and no matter your age weight or health...if ya fall, ya gonna prolly be kilt.

I had my wife standing under me/in front of/against the house... holding the nylon rope that pulls the ladder up....so I wouldn't just fall backwards. She kept getting distracted and talking to our daughter who was playing and I kept yelling for her not to forget what she was doing.

Sheesh Curly,
Man you aint supposed to have anyone holding that rope !!! That rope is supposed to be tied back off to the ladder in case the rung pawls decide to let go, like an added safety feature ! If you want to do what you did with your wife you need to have her foot the ladder with her putting pressure against the lower rungs ! The next thing your gonna tell me is that you put your ladder in your FEL !

 

[SnowRidge]

When I was a teen, I briefly worked on a farm. Their only hand, who was in his late 70's, was putting a new roof on a shed when he fell to his death. The medics said if it hadn't been for the heart attack he had up there, he probably would have been lived through it.

 

[RobertN]

This is red, would match your Farmall's, you have expierience on them, and it would reach anywhere on your house

eBay Motors: 1964 Oren 65 foot Ladder Truck Fire Apparatus (item 290166559934 end time Oct-10-07 09:13:56 PDT)

Sheesh Curly,
Man you aint supposed to have anyone holding that rope !!! That rope is supposed to be tied back off to the ladder in case the rung pawls decide to let go, like an added safety feature ! If you want to do what you did with your wife you need to have her foot the ladder with her putting pressure against the lower rungs ! The next thing your gonna tell me is that you put your ladder in your FEL !

 

[TwinWillows]

Heights used to not bother me much at all either.. Now 25' to the top of the barn ridgecap is more than high enough for me. 40' up on a ladder = no way.

 

[scott_vt]

This is red, would match your Farmall's, you have expierience on them, and it would reach anywhere on your house

eBay Motors: 1964 Oren 65 foot Ladder Truck Fire Apparatus (item 290166559934 end time Oct-10-07 09:13:56 PDT)

Mornin Robert,
Ohhhh yeah just what I need !!! If you can convince Kathleen Ill enter a bid !

 

[4sarge]

This is red, would match your Farmall's, you have expierience on them, and it would reach anywhere on your house

eBay Motors: 1964 Oren 65 foot Ladder Truck Fire Apparatus (item 290166559934 end time Oct-10-07 09:13:56 PDT)

We could all pitch in and buy this baby, pass it around when needed and save ladder time

 

[ore540]

This is red, would match your Farmall's, you have expierience on them, and it would reach anywhere on your house

eBay Motors: 1964 Oren 65 foot Ladder Truck Fire Apparatus (item 290166559934 end time Oct-10-07 09:13:56 PDT)

I dunno, these things aren't a cure-all. There's always something a bit too tall.

A story - my dad was a small-town fire chief. When they bought their first aerial ladder truck, it's first demonstration was on the old 6-story hotel in town. Found the ladder to be about 3 feet short of reaching the roof. Dad, since he was the boss, got to be the first up. Said that going up wasn't bad but coming down he had to hang over the parapet and feel for the top rung with his feet. Said he didn't like that so much.

I don't like the top step of a 6' ladder. Maybe it was burned into the family's genetic code after that experience.

 

[Bird]

What's all this talk about 40' ladders? The longest I ever owned was 20', but a time and two I had to use my Dad's 28' aluminum ladder. And anything that's too tall for a 28' ladder is just simply going to remain out of reach.

 

[RobertN]

Or, too soft... A neighboring fire district has a 100' ladder truck. Over the last few years, it has been pulled off the pavement a couple of times, only to have the front end sink to the frame on moist springtime ground. Once they're off the pavement, all bets are off.

would still be fun to have though

I dunno, these things aren't a cure-all. There's always something a bit too tall.

 

[curly]

The next thing your gonna tell me is that you put your ladder in your FEL !

Wow, I don't need a 26ft ladder. Thanks for the tip.

 

[N80]

I hate ladders. I don't like heights but can handle it. Used to climb telephone poles and hook up the occasional tree. Didn't love it, but I could do it. I can do climbing walls, repelling, recreational ropes courses etc and have no fear as long as I'm tied to something. I've cleaned my gutters, about 24" on the back side of the house, but I hate it and I'm scared the whole time. I've given that up.I don't feel secure on a steep roof.

But ladders, for me, are the worst. I never feel secure on a ladder. Even when I was climbing poles and working in the boom truck bucket I hated being on a ladder.

So scotty, I completely understand. It has made me feel a little un-manly at times and a little embarrassed at other times, but I just don't go much higher than 15 feet on a ladder anymore.

It doesn't help that I have two friends who have been injured on ladders. One with a broken elbow who completely recovered, one a much younger fellow with me who fractured his heel and foot in mulitple places and he will have a permanent limp.

 

[LBrown59]

Then I started staining one side every year !

Next year I'd start with vinal siding.