Telescopic ladders. What s to know?
Discussion
Have got an annoying job that needs a long ladder of about 5m.
It’s only for very occasional use and space to store it is an issue so was thinking of a telescopic one.
Don’t want a super expensive one as it’ll only be used now and then but would 5m be pushing it (without going too professional) and what’s a decent brand? Seeing stuff on Amazon for under £100 but you never know what quality you’re getting with Amazon these days what with all the Chinese stuff on there.
It’s only for very occasional use and space to store it is an issue so was thinking of a telescopic one.
Don’t want a super expensive one as it’ll only be used now and then but would 5m be pushing it (without going too professional) and what’s a decent brand? Seeing stuff on Amazon for under £100 but you never know what quality you’re getting with Amazon these days what with all the Chinese stuff on there.
Which did some research on ladders earlier in the year (which was reported on Radio 4) and every cheap (I.e non mainstream branded) ladder they tested from Amazon and other similar online retailers failed to reach basic safety standards, whereas all those bought from Screwfix, B&Q etc did…
Personally, price wouldn’t not be my priority when buying a ladder…
I use a telescopic ladder on a regular basis for work, but I’m not sure I’d want to work on one 5m up (I didn’t even know they went that high…) as even the decent ones have some flex in them, which would be rather disconcerting at much above standard ceiling height.
It’s always a compromise with ladders and it depends on what you’re doing, but for any longer duration work, I’d always feel safer on a combination type ladder as they are far more stable but of course they are much heavier and take up more room. It really depends on what you’re doing and where (I.e. is the ground solid and flat etc).
If you don’t want to store it, could you not borrow one from somebody?
Personally, price wouldn’t not be my priority when buying a ladder…
I use a telescopic ladder on a regular basis for work, but I’m not sure I’d want to work on one 5m up (I didn’t even know they went that high…) as even the decent ones have some flex in them, which would be rather disconcerting at much above standard ceiling height.
It’s always a compromise with ladders and it depends on what you’re doing, but for any longer duration work, I’d always feel safer on a combination type ladder as they are far more stable but of course they are much heavier and take up more room. It really depends on what you’re doing and where (I.e. is the ground solid and flat etc).
If you don’t want to store it, could you not borrow one from somebody?
Can't really help except to say that I bought a 10m telescopic ladder a few years ago (a 2 section design) so that I could climb up to the eaves of the house and do some painting and old bird nest removal etc.
It was £500, weighs a ton and frankly after several uses I decided that being up a 10m ladder doing anything other than hold on for dear life is not sensible.
I also stupidly decided to save money and not get the version where you pull a rope to extend it and retract it.
One time, when I had used it at full extension, I eased it it back from the house so that I could slowly walk it back and lay it down on the lawn to close it up (due to the lack of said rope mechanism again). Nope. The wind caught it and there was nothing I could do apart from let go and hope it did not land on anything important.
All in all I made some poor decisions ladder wise. I hope you fare better than I did.
As an aside, if you want what was a very expensive 10m ladder that has only be used 5 times, give me a call. It will be competitively priced.
It was £500, weighs a ton and frankly after several uses I decided that being up a 10m ladder doing anything other than hold on for dear life is not sensible.
I also stupidly decided to save money and not get the version where you pull a rope to extend it and retract it.
One time, when I had used it at full extension, I eased it it back from the house so that I could slowly walk it back and lay it down on the lawn to close it up (due to the lack of said rope mechanism again). Nope. The wind caught it and there was nothing I could do apart from let go and hope it did not land on anything important.
All in all I made some poor decisions ladder wise. I hope you fare better than I did.
As an aside, if you want what was a very expensive 10m ladder that has only be used 5 times, give me a call. It will be competitively priced.
Edited by TorqueDirty on Sunday 30th August 20:10
valiant said:
Have got an annoying job that needs a long ladder of about 5m.
It s only for very occasional use and space to store it is an issue so was thinking of a telescopic one.
Don t want a super expensive one as it ll only be used now and then but would 5m be pushing it (without going too professional) and what s a decent brand? Seeing stuff on Amazon for under £100 but you never know what quality you re getting with Amazon these days what with all the Chinese stuff on there.
Assuming you definitely want "telescopic" (collapse down to fit in car boot) and not "extension" (2-3 section) ladders, if you look at ladders.co.uk you'll see that neither of the professional brands go past 3.8m. They'll set you back more than £200 + VAT.It s only for very occasional use and space to store it is an issue so was thinking of a telescopic one.
Don t want a super expensive one as it ll only be used now and then but would 5m be pushing it (without going too professional) and what s a decent brand? Seeing stuff on Amazon for under £100 but you never know what quality you re getting with Amazon these days what with all the Chinese stuff on there.
Even if I could find a set, I'm not sure I'd trust telescopic ladders that were cheaper and longer... them giving out would not be fun.
Cow Corner 2.0 said:
Which did some research on ladders earlier in the year (which was reported on Radio 4) and every cheap (I.e non mainstream branded) ladder they tested from Amazon and other similar online retailers failed to reach basic safety standards, whereas all those bought from Screwfix, B&Q etc did
Here's a video from the BBC, with some videos of Amazon-unbranded type ladders bending and buckling under load:https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=602853759365750
I can still see the "Multibao" brand mentioned there on Amazon, and that the person's solicitor was unable to get any response from the company. It seems to be a UK-based company selling all sorts of Chinese-made tat. The sole director was a Chinese national but is now listed as a British national.
Unreal said:
They are crap and dangerous.
THIS
I was on scaffolding about 5m high repairing a chimney a colleague brought an extended ladder , it failed he fell with a load of bricks about 3m onto the scaffold
....the ladder was the next thing to be thrown off the scaffold ...never again
Thanks all. Looks like it's a non-starter for this particular job.
I didn't realise that you can actually get a proper ladder hired and delivered that *should* be a bit safer and will still be cheaper than Amazons 'offering'.
Literally a five minute job, just so bloody awkward to get at.
I didn't realise that you can actually get a proper ladder hired and delivered that *should* be a bit safer and will still be cheaper than Amazons 'offering'.
Literally a five minute job, just so bloody awkward to get at.
One these type gives a slightly wider ladder with a wide foot bar as well. Will function as a straight extension ladder. The 2.4m gives a working height of 5.76m. This is HSS Hire.
https://www.hss.com/hire/p/p86341/combination-ladd...
https://www.hss.com/hire/p/p86341/combination-ladd...
TorqueDirty said:
Can't really help except to say that I bought a 10m telescopic ladder a few years ago (a 2 section design) so that I could climb up to the eaves of the house and do some painting and old bird nest removal etc.
It was £500, weighs a ton and frankly after several uses I decided that being up a 10m ladder doing anything other than hold on for dear life is not sensible.
I also stupidly decided to save money and not get the version where you pull a rope to extend it and retract it.
One time, when I had used it at full extension, I eased it it back from the house so that I could slowly walk it back and lay it down on the lawn to close it up (due to the lack of said rope mechanism again). Nope. The wind caught it and there was nothing I could do apart from let go and hope it did not land on anything important.
All in all I made some poor decisions ladder wise. I hope you fare better than I did.
As an aside, if you want what was a very expensive 10m ladder that has only be used 5 times, give me a call. It will be competitively priced.
Yours sounds like an 'extension' ladder, not a telescopic one.It was £500, weighs a ton and frankly after several uses I decided that being up a 10m ladder doing anything other than hold on for dear life is not sensible.
I also stupidly decided to save money and not get the version where you pull a rope to extend it and retract it.
One time, when I had used it at full extension, I eased it it back from the house so that I could slowly walk it back and lay it down on the lawn to close it up (due to the lack of said rope mechanism again). Nope. The wind caught it and there was nothing I could do apart from let go and hope it did not land on anything important.
All in all I made some poor decisions ladder wise. I hope you fare better than I did.
As an aside, if you want what was a very expensive 10m ladder that has only be used 5 times, give me a call. It will be competitively priced.
Edited by TorqueDirty on Sunday 30th August 20:10
mgtony said:
I've got a decent one of about 4m. Another metre longer and I'd be happy to use it for light duties.
Those that are 2 section that open out to about a single long one are a different matter...
your a very brave manThose that are 2 section that open out to about a single long one are a different matter...
that's the issue , section highlighted isn't locked , no way would i trust that ,
I've had these fail in exactly the same way you dont want to be at gutter height for a section to collapse then your off balance and hitting terra firma
the tribester said:
TorqueDirty said:
Can't really help except to say that I bought a 10m telescopic ladder a few years ago (a 2 section design) so that I could climb up to the eaves of the house and do some painting and old bird nest removal etc.
It was £500, weighs a ton and frankly after several uses I decided that being up a 10m ladder doing anything other than hold on for dear life is not sensible.
I also stupidly decided to save money and not get the version where you pull a rope to extend it and retract it.
One time, when I had used it at full extension, I eased it it back from the house so that I could slowly walk it back and lay it down on the lawn to close it up (due to the lack of said rope mechanism again). Nope. The wind caught it and there was nothing I could do apart from let go and hope it did not land on anything important.
All in all I made some poor decisions ladder wise. I hope you fare better than I did.
As an aside, if you want what was a very expensive 10m ladder that has only be used 5 times, give me a call. It will be competitively priced.
Yours sounds like an 'extension' ladder, not a telescopic one.It was £500, weighs a ton and frankly after several uses I decided that being up a 10m ladder doing anything other than hold on for dear life is not sensible.
I also stupidly decided to save money and not get the version where you pull a rope to extend it and retract it.
One time, when I had used it at full extension, I eased it it back from the house so that I could slowly walk it back and lay it down on the lawn to close it up (due to the lack of said rope mechanism again). Nope. The wind caught it and there was nothing I could do apart from let go and hope it did not land on anything important.
All in all I made some poor decisions ladder wise. I hope you fare better than I did.
As an aside, if you want what was a very expensive 10m ladder that has only be used 5 times, give me a call. It will be competitively priced.
Edited by TorqueDirty on Sunday 30th August 20:10
Purosangue said:
your a very brave man
that's the issue , section highlighted isn't locked , no way would i trust that ,
I've had these fail in exactly the same way you dont want to be at gutter height for a section to collapse then your off balance and hitting terra firma
That's a picture of an opening 2 section one that i said was a 'different matter'! The picture was posted on here I think, but not about the ladder itself but something to do with the front of the guys house.that's the issue , section highlighted isn't locked , no way would i trust that ,
I've had these fail in exactly the same way you dont want to be at gutter height for a section to collapse then your off balance and hitting terra firma
Telescopic ladders are very dodgy, unless you go for the very expensive ones.
5m is a reasonably long ladder, but if you need compact, Werner and Little Giant do folding ones which are trustworthy. You'll pay considerably more, the longer they get. I have the Werner 3.39m model, only about £100, which I thought was a good size/length ratio. Any longer and I get proper extension ladders out, there's no pleasure in being at the top of a long rickety ladder.
5m is a reasonably long ladder, but if you need compact, Werner and Little Giant do folding ones which are trustworthy. You'll pay considerably more, the longer they get. I have the Werner 3.39m model, only about £100, which I thought was a good size/length ratio. Any longer and I get proper extension ladders out, there's no pleasure in being at the top of a long rickety ladder.
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