I saw yet another window cleaner with levelers on his sectionals. The only drawback I see in mine is that I cannot use them on slopes as they are. I won’t lug around a pivot tool. (personal preference)
How many of you have levelers attached to your sectional?
Hey Dwight,
I have levelers just like the ones in the picture you posted on 2 of my sectionals. They work great. They are like $60. But they are just shy in range for setting up on some steps; ie, one foot on a step and the other 2 steps down. A 4"X8"X16" solid cinderblock will make it safe if you really need to set up, up and down a set of steps. Only other thing is they add some weight to the ladder. So by the time you bolt on those levelers and a standoff, a 32’ sectional is getting pretty bulky.
My .02
i should get some kind of leveller . on friday morning i turned up at a town centre house,to do an in-and-out , end of tenancy clean,only to find it was on a steep street . looking around to try to find something to wedge under my ladder ,what did i see … a copy of the yellow pages AHA , it did the job perfectly !!
I use the same ones in the picture as well. Perfect for that type of thing, but as mentioned they wont do stairs unless you happen to find some really shallow ones. They are made by Louisville Ladder and ive had no problems in 2 years of use out of this set. I could not see myself without a set of these or something similar on my ladder.
:eek: thats sketchy!
On a stair case I simply fip the sectional ladder upside down and through a pair of ladder mits on the two ladder rails. Very stable. I have been up 2 & 1/2 sections. Much easier than a little giant ladder. Give it a try and see for yourself.
First off, the angle on that ladder is not right, not safe at all.
Second, looks like there is gonna be some holes in that grass.
No, I dont use them because of a couple reasons. Lets take the job in the photo for instance. What this person is doing is taking a garden hose and cleaning the downspouts right? They would not have to do that if they had the proper tools for the job. There is a downspout gutter attachment for a pressure washing wand. They sell telescoping wands that can reach that without a problem.
Not to mention, if you dont have much experiance with roofing, that stabilizer can damage the shingle. You never know what that OSB or sheething looks like underneath the shingle, could be a hole in the wood, maybe rotton.
So, the reason I dont use them is primarily time spent in setting it up ( there is always another way to do things ) and saftey.
If the ground is uneven, if it is just dirt and no grass, I will dig a small hole with my putty knife and even out the legs.
I’ve had good luck with this approach also. The only difference being, instead of actual boots , I always keep lenth of pipe insulation handy and cut a couple of makeshift, temporary boots. The peel and stick properties of this stuff makes it really versatile.
THEGLASSMACHINE
“because glass looks it’s best when you can’t see it”
Thanks for your forensic commentary. I didn’t help much though as most of it doesn’t apply to the thread topic. The ladder in the picture was utilized properly and you saying the stabilizer could damage the shingles is absurd to be frank. Would you rather lay a ladder against an aluminum gutter and smash it?
Thanks for the response anyway.
Dwight,
We use the pivot tool. The draw back to the pivot is that we occasionally leave it behind and have make trip back to retrieve it.
By the way your set up looks fine to me.
Hey Dwight,
Those levelers have a big, rubber, grooved, flat pad attatched to a steel plate, with a steel ball and socket swivel… They are at least 3 1/2"-4" square. There is no way it will punch a hole in the ground. These levelers are very stout. I am a big guy, 260 lbs.+. I am not extra brave. I have constructed scaffolding over 100’ off the ground, and I have no problem with these levelers and a properly set up ladder.
All it takes is a little common sense. Matter of fact, had to do some skylights the other day, ccu, 12/12 steel roof. Tried to do it off a chicken ladder, that didn’t work, had my helper try to go across the peak, to the chicken ladder, didn’t work. I didn’t have the right combination of ladders to get nose to glass. I wasn’t about to risk injury to me or my helper. So I reset my big sectional and took the time to pole it from the ladder. Job done, no one hurt.
Good Luck,
My leg levelers are priceless, I use the Werner pk80-2 auto levelers, set the ladder down and they are done, no wasting time digging holes or trying to find blocks to stack underneath, plus they reuse the factory feet so you still have no slip and teeth.
The stabilizer is the only way to go, if I’m putting one on a roof, then that means I have to walk on that roof, and when I step off of that ladder I want it to be in the same place I left it:eek:
Yea I know about the rubber pads on those levelers as that is my ladder in the pic. I just didn’t feel the need to explain all to the guy that was being critical of the placement.
I’ve been doing this type of work for a long time. I know how to work safely. What I was looking for in this thread were guys that attach levelers to their sectionals. Evidently Mr. Marino works for the safety commision. 
I totally spaced it that you were talking sectionals, but I would like to commend you for hauling around a fiberglass ladder with stabilizers and levelers, that’s some massive weight!
I’m lucky enough that all of our electrical wires are buried, so I’ll stick to my light weight aluminum.
We don’t use that ladder for much window cleaning. That baby is 350 lbs rated as I’m also a big boy so we mainly just use it for gutter cleaning and rare situations with window cleaning. We don’t break out those 40 footers too often. Thanks for the props but frankly we don’t use it all that often.
Hey mdefiel,
I might be dense, but I’m not quite picturing your ladder placement. We are talking about setting up where one foot of the ladder is on one step and the other foot would be one or two steps up or down. Basically 14’-16’ difference in height from one foot to the other. I can’t figure how a pair of ladder mitts on an upside down sectional would work.
Like I said, maybe I’m dense.
Thanks,
Why is it absurd? If the wood underneath the shingle where the stabilizer is, is damaged, you dont think the stabilizer will poke a hole right thru it? The angle on that ladder will displace the weight more to the top of the ladder than the bottom, and since the stabilizer will be holding that weight, it probable wont kick out underneath you, but if the wood underneath that shingle is not good you may have trouble.
Is the gutter around the whole perimeter of the house? If not, then you probably could find another area to access the roof right.
You are right tho, the topic was uneven ground and ladder stabilizers. My fault, thought it was relevant.
Sorry Sean,
I wasn’t clear in my description. The top of a sectional, comes to a point and it rests upside down on one single step. The 2 feet go against the wall. One of the many reasons I love sectionals. Notice my new avatar.
Thanks mdefiel,
Thanks for clearing that up. Actually I thought you were talking about a regular straight extension ladder. I have no experience with the sectionals that come to a point. I have only seen them in catalogs.
OK, so, now you have a ladder leaning against a wall and it is resting on a single point. I guess I’m being dense again. I’m pretty sure I understand the concept, I just wonder whats to keep the ladder from sliding off the wall, to the left or right. I guess a standoff would make it a little more stable.
Ignore me if I’m being comepletely brainless.:o
Thanks again,
[I]The angle on that ladder will displace the weight more to the top of the ladder than the bottom, and since the stabilizer will be holding that weight…[/I]
In looking at the ladder setup I see the span of the stabilizer is about 2.5 times that of the ladder rails alone. It would seem the weight displacement is pretty favorable for working at the top.
I’ve used levelers for years and have never had problems with slipping or any significant damaging of grass.
