That is what I do.
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Pound it far enough in the ground at an angle. That type of anchor holds big heavy tents in place in all kinds of wind. Or tie off to the bumper of your truck or some other stationary object. Me? I set my ladder standoff to rest on the roof to give me access to the gutter, then drag the debris toward me with my pole and āDebris-Draggerā. Yeah, I made that word up, but I also made up the Debris-Dragger too. 
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last week it was pouring with rain so i canceled my days jobs, was at home when a guy from turbo vac the gutter cleaning specialist around here arrived across the road with his huge vac set up and what did he do. he got his blower and a stick out stood on the roof and blew the crap out and poked it outā¦
He had a massive vac system set up in his trailer but still used a blower and a stick on a roof I would have deemed non walkable.
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I bought the SkyVac 44ā 85 unit with Cam. Ouch, it is a huge investment and have only used a few times. Being careful as I donāt want to seem negative about the equipment. It has potential and customer service is unmatched. It was delivered several states away in person. Not having enough gutter time, I canāt honestly say how productive it is. As for now it is very slow going. Everything about the system is great except for what I would say is most important and that is the end suction attachment. Simply put it is very easy to clog. From my understanding, it reigns supreme in wet debris. For me dry leaves was a major pita. Something to consider, SkyVac now has a blower attachment to hook up to carbon poles. It is a landscapers wheel blower that blows gutters from ground. Ifff the blower is strong this would actually be extremely effective for dry material as grounds guy can blow what falls and blow hard surfaces offering a higher end service. I have a commerical backpack blower as a former owner of a landscape company. A competent employee should be very quick and leaving visible property cleaner than when arrived. SkyVac I feel is a company to support but needs improvement for itās level of investment. I could have invested in a low pressure rig and made waaaaay more money. That being said it has potential. Personally if considering the purchase make sure you have a demo on a realistic site with dry material to prove and time itās affectiveness. As for tie offs, there is a rope safety school for first man up on roof access. You shoot a shotline over roof and tie one end to stationary object, ie. a tree. Then use an ascender for climb. Once proficient set up is under ten minutes. Itās on YouTube. Personally I think it should be a standard. All the best
Bluebird Window Cleaning
Michael
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Thanks for the information!
I was thinking of just buying the biggest Ridgid shop vac at Home Depot. 16 gallons/ 6.5 HP. And building a pole system. Do you think that would be powerful enough to work?
Also, thanks for the idea of the shotline. Can you post where I can find it on Youtube?
Reality Rope Access Training
I have read some on the forum that I believe have success with a shop vac at an affordable price. I just took the plunge for whole package. Someone posted a video while back that made there own poles. The six inch section that is in gutter to me is critical. This is where a lot of issues occur as without technique and being fussy it is easy to clog. DIY poles Certainly just more weight. Same as WFP, carbon vac poles are extremely light even at 40ā. Havenāt used RHG gutter poles but they have a locking mechanism . My poles do not. Actually a pain as I have to be super fussy about removing dirt before sliding together. If I donāt extremely difficult to separate. Havenāt used a mirror for inspection but you can buy a used GoPro. Can send customers proof of work if so desired and added bonus of shooting footage. Much success
I do a ton of gutter cleaning, I currently use the rigid stainless shop vac with carbon fibre poles from WCS. 5 sections get me up to about 25 - 30 feet. It works quite well, they have 1 - 5/8 " diameter. The only problem is thick moss and dry maple leaves, they do plug it up. For the dry leaves I use a gas powered leave blower, and mossā¦patience and charge more. It helps to switch it and blow out the gutter to clean out it out. Using a gutter vac system is far better and safer than scooping out the junk into a bucket hanging off a ladder.
Are you using a gutter spoon?
I also use a 38 ā carpet cleaning_hose, a little heavy but NEVER kinksā¦ I will jam the hose under several of the gutter hangers so it doesnāt move and use a modified Garelick pole with a unger tip, to that I have attached a " Home Depot " husky black and white handle with a bent scraper blade and just feed the debris into the open end of my hose. I do this on single storyroofs with a mild pitch and can walk on them safely. It goes quick.
What is WCS? Can you post the link where you get the carbon fiber gutter poles?
Just google " Window Cleaning Source", there in Quebec, theyāre great to deal with, Iāve had only positive experiences when dealing with them. the website is good but the english is lacking some " polish ".
hire painters and roofers who have been on ladders there whole life and its not a big deal, use those shoes that stick to the roof like crazy and just excpept it a dangerous gig to begin with, its not for the ginger
I think Iām going to try cleaning gutters with a Ridgid 6.5 HP, 16 gallon shop-vac from Home Depot. Iām wondering if that is going to trigger my customerās electrical breaker? Anyone have any experience with this. I talked to a local guy who told me he bought a generator so he wouldnāt have to rely on his customerās electricity. Do you think thatās necessary? His generator cost almost $3,000.
This device could be very handy.
gutter cleaning is a risky job sometime no matter how you slice it
If my 32ā ladder doesnāt reach something I will not touch the job.
Hereās what I use todo gutter cleaning
-ALWAYS using a stand off on my ladder, it sits right above the gutters and on the roof line.
-extension pole, with gutter spoon/scoop. This way I can pull as much debris to my ladder set up as possible and move the ladder a lot less.
I use an 8ā and 12ā pole, depending on whatās needed
-5 gallon bucket with a clip to hold the bucket dangling
-leaf blower, this isnāt something I use regularly. Some accounts get done in the fall, are easily walkable/flat roofs and itās an agreed upon method between the customers and myself that I am scheduled before they do fall cleanups with their landscaping contractor.
A lot the time I have noticed itās easier to just set up the ladder multiple times and cruise the length of the roof, I also tend to shy away from any sort of over complicated or way too high jobs so moving a 24ā extension ladder fully extended isnāt too hard.
I failed to mention, I hardly every use my 32ā ladder and 98% of them I am able to do gutter cleaning with my 24ā extension ladder fully extended. Hopefully youāve got some ideas, Iāve also uploaded a picture of my gutter cleaning look for you to reference. The clips I use are also able to hold a screen while Iām doing ladder work and i have yet to drop a screen since Iāve used them to hold screens on any ladder work I do WC wise
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Thatās how itās done.
Thatās the exact machine I use, Iāve never tripped a breakerā¦everā¦ once you get the hang of it youāll love it. The only time you have to worry about tripping breakers is if you use a 3 motor ipc eagle machine or something similar to that ( then generators enter the picture ). The rigid donāt draw enough current to trip breakers. You then can do 95% from the ground, I will set a ladder to do a quick check to,see if you missed any spots, ( usually right under the gutter hangers ) and make sure the outlets are clear. Youāll be surprised how powerful the rigid shop vacs are.
Have you ever tried putting a mirror on the pole? Or mounting a camera to the pole which you can sync with your phone?
