Buy a Werner - they are the best

 

Wal-Mart sells extension ladders. Look for Louisville Ladders!

 

A good but cheap ladder? Forget the cheap part and buy the best one you can. Make sure the duty rating is higher than your weight. Do this and you'll have it a lifetime. I won't buy anything but Louisville ar Werner ladders.

That being said, avoid old wooden extension ladders. It seems like about every 2nd or 3rd persion I know has rented or bought a house with an old wooden extension ladder that somehow came with it. Sometimes they've been stored along side the garage for countless years, other times hanging inside the garage, or in the rafters. You've seen em, they could have been made during the civil war for all you know. Well, stupid me had one of these things, as well as good ladders. I was using one section of the old wooden beast about five years ago to store some plywood in the rafters of my garage. I'd used the thing for years. It was splattered with house paint of all colors, but was solid and just the right length for the job. I was about five feet up...carrying the plywood when without warning a rung snapped. I came straight down on the concrete floor, with all my mature weight, landing on my left foot. The wood came down next, knocking me on my back and pushing me into the front of my Model T. I missed getting pierced by the crank by inches. It shattered my heel. I had to have two 6" long stainless screws drilled into my heel, and was in a wheel chair for weeks. The sub-taylor joint still isn't right. All this because of a cheap ladder.

So PLEASE, buy the best ladder you can. I had a neighbor that bought a cheep-o aluminum ladder. I saw it bend in half when he was almost all the way up. He landed in soft dirt, though. Next garbage day, the ladder was on the curb.

MR

 

PSS-Mag, how big a boy are you?
Light weight boys can get by with a cheap ladder.

Us that is fully growed gots to pay the piper to reach the promised land.

 

I saw this at work today and couldn't comment then so here goes; do not invest in a CHEAP ladder. In fact it's false economy to invest in anything 'cheap' IMO, especially tools. Get a good 6' step ladder and or a little giant. Those LG ladder5s are the HEAT and well worth the price tag.

 

I'll add that to my list.....

DO NOT BUY CHEAP...

house paint
razor blades
ladder

thanks,

 

The words cheap and ladder are mutually exclusive in my book.

After you buy a cheap ladder, save the extra money, maybe to spend that when you can find someone to fix your broken arm or leg - cheap.

I have had a "Little Giant" for MANY YEARS. Not cheap, and not light, but the best ladder I have EVER used or owned, and worth every penny I paid for it. Years ago I had a small issue with a part, called and asked them JUST for the replacemant part and they shipped me another whole brand new ladder.

There ARE as strong and well built as they appear on the infomercials.

Also be careful to buy a REAL "Little Giant" brand as there are several similiar cheap likenesses out there at HD or Lowe's and other places.

You either get what you pay for, or you pay for what you get...

 

Lots of horror stories with ladders. I will add my own.

My dad was working at my brothers house and fell off the ladder and suffered a skull fracture and ended up passing away a month ladder as he lay in a coma.

Consider a good ladder and good sense while using it as an investment in your future and that of your family.

 

Actually if this was my situation I wouldn't spend a lot of money on a ladder.
I'd buy about 10-12 2x4's and build myself a couple of sturdy sawhorses.
And I'd also buy one 8' 2x12.
Instant scaffolding.

Thirty bucks total, including the nails.
It's what I used to work over a pool table I couldnt move.

 

Hogfan ~

Sincerely sorry for your loss. Even the best made ladders can be bad news if anything at all goes wrong, even something little.

My father was afraid of heights. He always said that the best place for a ladder is to store it safely away if you cannot just leave it AT the store.

He would rather pay someone else to do ladder work than to ever get on one himself.

He had a saying "There is nothing better than having your feet on good old terra firma, and the more firma, the less terra".

Think he did too many parachute jumps in WWII.

Just read what Raoul last posted - I'm not gonna walk on any one single 8' 2 x 12. Too much stress and chance for it to break or split. That's more dangerous than any cheap ladder would be.

 

We discovered, with our 3 story house, that we needed an extension ladder too. Those darn things are pricy!! We got a Werner 26' fiberglass extension ladder from Craigslist for $100.

 

I will add my endorsement (for what it's worth) to the Little Giant. I really had to think about spending that much for a ladder, but after several close calls with "cheap ladders" I decided that I didn't want to roll the dice anymore. My only beef with it is that it is heavy, not something that you would want to lug around all day everyday, but with that weight comes incredible strength and stability. I ordered mine online, but they do sell them (or they used to) at Sears. I have since forgotten how much I spent on it, and still have a fantastic stable ladder.

 

5' 11" and 158 lbs dressed. I'm still growing, Think I finally quit growing up though. gained an inch about a year and a half ago but seems to be stabilizing.... now I'm growing out, shoulders and waist. Shoulders I'm happy about, waist not so much. I am definatly a late bloomer. I thought I was done growing 10 years ago.....

Disadvantage us smaller guys have over you full grown boys... we reach terminal velocity faster and in a shorter distance.....

Think I'm going to go for the Little Giant. I think in this house that will be perfect. When wwe build will probably be 2 storise in the front and 3 in hte back including the open basement, so will have to get something else then, but will have a deck over the rear patio, so can still be only 2 stories.

 

you'll love the little giant. i have it, and its a lifesaver!