Ladders secure?

[Dave B]

We had a polish guy round here charging everyone a fiver no matter how big a job

lots of people lost customers then he stopped after a few months

Funny seeing people looking for a windie again

 

[abs]

Once a customer leaves me I'd never take them back on again

 

[Joshua D]

I forgot to tie my ladder on once!! The one time I forget I have to do an emergency stop, the ladder lifted up from the back hit my bonnet and then flew round to the side. Bloody scary and there where people around I never forget now. The ladder goes straight on and tied straight down

 

[cheapncheerful]

yep we all done it....joshua....i was really bricking it the other day bringing back an 8x4 sheet of exterior ply from b and q on my roof....im getting too old for this now.....

 

[Joshua D]

lol done that plenty of times too always something on my roof ive had to buy proper straps, makes it less scary then

 

[Dave B]

I got lazy once and only clamped the front of my ladders as only going about a mile

noticed them sticking out the side just before I overtook a cyclist..could have been messy

 

[Joshua D]

I got lazy once and only clamped the front of my ladders as only going about a milenoticed them sticking out the side just before I overtook a cyclist..could have been messy

/emoticons/unsure.png close call, think once its happened once thats it i always do safety check now. All ladders strapped down and secure with no movement, all doors closed and nothing hanging off the van to cause any accidents. Another one is making sure nothing is going to smack me in the head while driving.

My old car the boot used to come open all the time and i would have to go back and pick all my equipment up ahaha wasnt funny at the time

 

[Dave B]

I always keep one clamp on passenger seat and one on rear seat as I open door and stand on cill to clamp ladders on..

Won't drive off if I see a clamp on the seat

Becomes a routine after a while

 

[boarcity]

for some time iv been thinking of making up a metal fork quick release type gizmo, fixed on each roof bar. my idea is that itll snap shut like a mousetrap onto a rung when you slide the ladders on / and open by moving a little lever

i must get my ass into gear i dont think itd take too long to make a set up

 

[Dave B]

I'll buy one if you make it work

 

[Joshua D]

for some time iv been thinking of making up a metal fork quick release type gizmo, fixed on each roof bar. my idea is that itll snap shut like a mousetrap onto a rung when you slide the ladders on / and open by moving a little lever
i must get my ass into gear i dont think itd take too long to make a set up

Money making idea!!!

 

[mrtaytay]

Its a serious business though......just imagine breaking and the unsecured ladder shoots forward.....straight through someones rear window or windscreen.....worst case scenario could be a jail sentence

 

[Dave B]

And for that reason I'm oot

(Best duncan bannatyne accent)

 

[boarcity]

View attachment 2780 at the mo i use these to hold on my ladders, but altho quicker to put on and off than clamps ,they still arent quick enough and its easy to forget to fasten them . thats why iv gotten the idea in my head to make a metal latch that is fixed onto each roof bar -automatically latches shut as the ladder slides over it

 

[Dave B]

What about rhino quick clamps

Chatting to a windie 2 days ago in london using them

Reckons never let him down and work like a mastic gun

Very quick

Funny how we talk to windies we never met before like old mates..lol

 

[Mart1001]

I did it a couple of weeks ago, Cleaned a house, she wasn't in so crossed the road to do another. Once I'd finished and was heading back to car I thought I'd better drop the other woman a ticket to say I'd been. So I threw my ladders on the roof rack, thought about clamping them but thought 'ah, I'll do it when I come back, I won't forget'. So I posted the woman a ticket and on way back to car thought about another woman further up the road who hadn't been in and so I couldn't do as I need rear access. So I got in car and drove up the road...ah she's in now so I told her I can do um now if she wants. So I went to get ladders from roof rack and as I looked at them I thought 'well I haven't gotta unclamp um have I...err...', then it suddenly dawned on me, I'd driven up the road without even putting the clamps on at all, they were just balancing on the rack.

Now this wasn't so bad for the couple of hundred yards I'd driven up the road but, had the woman not been in, I would have left the road to drive a couple of mile to the next customer and there's no way those ladders would have seen that trip.

That's it, from now on, ladders on, clamps on and pinched up at the very least. It was a close call and I felt like a prat !

Mart.

 

[RiceRocket]

As repeatedly mentioned we all just need to acquire the habit of putting the ladder securing apparatus onto the driver's seat/footwell when removing the ladders for use.

 

[kahoona]

As I pulled up at a job the other day I watched my ladders gracefully slide down the windscreen down the bonnet of my van come to rest against the curb outside the custy's house. I decided best course of action was to act cool, so I just got out the van hooked the ladders up with one arm and strode up the front path as if it was all intentional. Put the ladders against the house and returned to my van for the rest on my kit. I have no idea if anyone saw, but if they did I'm sure they would not have believed for one second it was meant to happen like that. All jokes aside the clamp goes on the driver seat every time now! and thank god there was no damage done.

 

[kahoona]

ps speaking of ladders has anyone used bits of carpet on the top stiles instead of mitts, I saw the idea from local windy and have been experimenting this weekend. protects the sills well and the rubber backing helps limit sliding on the sills and has the advantage of being able to split the ladder sections without having to take off / put back on mitts.

 

[boarcity]

sounds great, is it like a thin mitt? how does it hold on etc

 

[kahoona]

I screwed the carpet to the top rubber using a big penny washer & a self tapper. heres a pic to hopefully make more sense, when splitting the sections the carpet just flaps out of the way allowing the top section to slide down past the bracket/runner.

View attachment 2787