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Suitable size of ladder

i might buy a standoff, the tubular sort that pushes into each end of the ladder rungs .

before climbing my ladder to do gutterwork i make sure its dug in well,if on grass, my full weight is jumped on the bottom rung . doing gutter clean out i tend to set my ladder more vertical than normal ,so the gutter itself has very little weight pushing on it. and as i said i have it set near to a gutter clip and never halfway along an unsupported section. what is really dangerous is setting a ladder below the gutter ,on the wall [ie no standoff] and then reaching round to get to the gutter .

talking of ladder angle many people set their ladders at too shallow an angle , its a very common and dangerous mistake. [by that i mean the foot of the ladder is too far away from the wall] i always warn my workers about this and once sacked a lad for refusing my advice [plus other matters,tho persistent incorrect ladder angle was the primary sacking reason ]

the correct safe angle is 4:1 , i.e. if ladder is 1 metre away from wall at base it should be touching 4metres up the wall. i always have one of my workers footing the ladder when doing gutters , another is standing by passing up tools, the third is sweeping up debris

 
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Good point about the lack of space to deploy boar, thought I was going funny in the head with this one and everyone finds miracle placements.

I like the mini spurs that deploy if the ankalad can't come out to play on smurfy didn't notice them before,

I bought the two ladderm8 spike boards to use in this instance of no ankalad, but the mini Spurs look good, and as you saw I used the ladderm8s as ground levellers for the brace legs.

It's nice to cover all bases and have a safety devices for all the scenarios.

Boar do you have a worker footing for you?

 
Good point about the lack of space to deploy boar,
Boar do you have a worker footing for you?
when doing gutters yes , and window cleaning on decking or smooth surface. my crew are divided up into pairs, one person spends all morning on ladders[with his partner doin downs below him,ready to foot ladder if need arises. on the afternoons the role is reversedi recently took on a lad as my "partner" ,this is a breath of fresh air as prior to this i had a girl as my partner who did downs only all day long ,i had 3 solid yrs of "ladders only" which i didnt mind at the time but now have a breather from

 
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Good point about the lack of space to deploy
i like that phrase "deploy" ,i must remember to say it tomoro at work, "hey Alex , youre going to be deployed on ladders today "
 
Everyone is different but form me I prefer to work as safe as I can when working especialy when doing roofline work by ladders on my own. Not to mention frank is always not too far away to **** things up for me.

 
Perhaps this difference in methods has something to do with the coworker aspect. Boar has a footer I guess they can adapt if there is a slight shift of movement in the ladder?

I could resist, but why did you ditch your girl who 'did downs' for three years boar ;-)

 
Perhaps this difference in methods has something to do with the coworker aspect. Boar has a footer I guess they can adapt if there is a slight shift of movement in the ladder?
I could resist, but why did you ditch your girl who 'did downs' for three years boar ;-)
the person footing is there to stop backslip + keep pedestrians and mobility scooters away using a fist if necessary!

the girl who worked for me was an excellent worker for 2 1/2 yrs but then in her last 6 months started playing me up,sleeping in,final straw was her pregnancy , i was okay about it,the time off for appointments etc but then found out she wasnt pregnant at all-and had been using me . i sacked her on the spot . thinking back on it she was probably troubled about something in her personal life,what that was i will never know. she later contacted a fellow worker wanted her possesions and personal clothing that had been left in the van,this was duly arranged but she never went to his house to get them ,far as i know are still there

 
I don't need to rely on anyone else to try to stop my ladders slipping back.

This is an example gutter clearing job I did today where I set my ladders on a slippery Victorian tiled path.

View attachment 3947

I also pointed out that next door (left of pic) needed doing too View attachment 3946

Then was informed by my customer next door paid to have their gutters cleared out only last week. Hmmmm...I don't think whoever was employed to clear it done a very good job do you?

My customer already had another quote to do the whole house front & back for £50 but I still charged £65 just to clear the front.

How come I got the job I wonder?:whistle:

 
Did you get much use with the vac on that one smurf?

So, ladder method was:

Judge distance from house

Support and extend to full length

Lower slowly standing facing the house till stand off touches down

Deploy ankalad

I find it hard too controlling and even setting up the vac pole without taking out pedestrians, cars, windows etc. lots of spacial awareness required...

 
I could have just used my guttervac on that one to be honest as is quite an awkward one to do just by ladders. However I like to show customers that I'm all tooled up and will do a proper job so to speak as you do.

That's the difference and even the chap said " With all that kit I knew you were doing to do the job properly rather than someone turning up with a bucket & a ladder"

The chap was more than happy to pay me £65 for less than 30 mins work including setting up having a chat and drinking tea then packing away.

If you can't make good money out of gutter clearing using the right kit to do it properly and more importantly safely at a good whack then you are defo doing something wrong.

 
That ankalad and microlite suggestion of yours smurf has won me lots of work as it has had quite a few comments about how good it is and i always mention it when i go to quote so they can see how professional i am lol

And has the added bonus of me not being on a suicide mission anymore

 
Before this forum i never knew about any of these products

For years i just bought my tools when needed from local supplier who has now closed and had a set of ladders

Only coming on the forum has opened my eyes

Before that i would only learn of new tools by seeing other local windies who i know with them

Only reason i am so good with a 0° swiveloc is because i saw someone with one once and then saw them at local suppliers and thought I'll try that

 
That's the great thing about wcf forum as for me I'm never too old to stop learning from others and happy to try and help others if I can.

 
That's why i am starting to do vids etc and advice on what i use

Wish i had a place like this for advice years ago

Then it was a case of teach yourself or don't try

 
A lot of respect for the guys like herman..wagga..polz and mark h etc

They spend their own time to do what they do sometimes getting grief in the process

 
If you can't make good money out of gutter clearing using the right kit to do it properly and more importantly safely at a good whack then you are defo doing something wrong.
At last someone interested in charging for their time, investment and skills and not just trying to undercut the other fella so he can make £5 per hour.

Grandpa Smurf has some wisdom left yet!

Looked up that Microlite but damn expensive next to other standoffs that go under the roof line, Guess the massive advantage is that you are never stuck for a position to place it in.

Will probably get one but would deffo prefer to try before buy for £140 accessory.

 
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