Why I love using ladders for tree work

[Steve Bullman]

But according to facebook experts I just read ladders make you look like a cowboy, I should have made a cons list 

[Mark Bolam]

I'll use them for all the things Steve mentioned.

They are definitely a useful tool for me.

Not to be confused with the Darwinist scenarios that Matty mentions, some of which are both horrifying and predictable.

[Vespasian]

I've done a couple of jobs over the years were the branch shot back into the ladders nearly sending me flying..  still, they do come in handy for getting up an down a tree..

 

the only dodge with a ladder is getting it up and tyin it in in the first place..  they can be a right knee knocker if you're lean't on a thin or bendy branch to get up in the first instance...   but, a calculated risk is how I see it.. I wouldn't ever bother with those three layered ones though.. fk that..

 

My favorite ladders are the Japanese tripod ladders I have for edge work..   wouldn't be without them these days...

 

speaking of step ladders for edge work, sometimes you happen to forget to take your ladders and end up asking a client if you can borrow theirs.. last time I did that, the step ladders were a bit rickety..

at one point I lost my balance and knew I was goin flyin..  quick as a flash I flung the hedgeclippers one way, the centrifugal force of the action sending me the other way....

 

Thank fk for that I thought as I fell to the ground in the opposite direction...  wait, what the fk?.. the damned things bounced off the floor and pirouetted towards me at full rev's...  luckily they came to a halt as they got to me, landing right on top of my legs..  lesson, use tripod ladders if you have them..  and don't imagine that the hedgecutters can't find their way back to you if you fling em as far as you can..  they can...   

[Stefan Palokangas]

I totally agree with the post. Good post

[Mark Bolam]

Don't take this the wrong way Vesp, but you've just mentioned several scenarios that get ladder use such a bad reputation.

[dan494]

2 hours ago, Mark Bolam said:

Don't take this the wrong way Vesp, but you've just mentioned several scenarios that get ladder use such a bad reputation.

Yup, have to disagree with pretty much everything said. I love my triple extensions as they are very sturdy and lightweight and will get me to a decent anchor point to work from, and not working from the ladder so it can be knocked away when I drop a branch, it's removed first!! So no messing about tying it in either

Edited October 31, 2017 by dan494

[Mick Dempsey]

5 hours ago, Steve Bullman said:

But according to facebook experts I just read ladders make you look like a cowboy, I should have made a cons list 

Sometimes I’ll see something on a FB arborist site so mind bendingly  stupid I feel I have to say something, then common sense prevails and I just move on.

 

I feel a thread coming on......

[Mark Bolam]

Wise Mick.

I don't really belong there anyway as I can't take down any tree (up to 200') in a morning.

I have ventured my opinion occasionally, but fielding death threats from gypsies and Americans was distracting me from enjoying my wine.

[dan494]

The Americans are hilarious on there. None of them can climb a tree and they're allergic to all forms of ppe. One guy on there a while back was bragging the was such a great arborist and often spends 14 hours at a time working on one tree without coming down!

[Vespasian]

4 hours ago, Mark Bolam said:

Don't take this the wrong way Vesp, but you've just mentioned several scenarios that get ladder use such a bad reputation.

 

Well, ladder work on a tree can be dangerous,  just as chainsaw work on a tree can be dangerous, whats important is not if ladder work is dangerous but was my story funny?...