Am I being narrow minded.

[brian john]

I see electrical contractors driving down the road with aluminum ladders on their trucks all the time. This just seems wrong to me no matter what. With fiberglass the weight of that old wooden extension ladders is a thing of the past.

There is an argument that these guys might only do new residential construction where they may never be exposed to energized wires thus aluminum is not an issue.

I say never say never because you never know.

The other argument is they should never be working on anything energized.

I say you never know what might happen and I would not use aluminum ladder.


Besides I think it just looks cheesy for an EC to be on an aluminum ladder.

 

[Buck Parrish]

No your not narrow minded.
All electricians with much sense use fiber glass ladders.
Even with new construction you have to go back to tweak the outside flood light.

 

[zbang]

I don't think you're being narrow minded, either. I'd much rather lug around a fiberglass ladder than aluminium, anyway. OTOH, some people just don't care about their tools (witness the number of jacked-up screw slots and rounded bolt heads out there).

 

[iwire]

I think we should not worry about things we can not change, do not effect us and are really none of our business. Life is to short to spend it worrying about what others do.







That said ... I think aluminum ladders always look cheesy.

 

[ultramegabob]

just because your not supposed to be working on anything that is energized, doesnt mean that you couldnt miss a circuit or some other unexpected whatever happen, an aluminum ladder is just an unnecessary risk for an electrical contractor. Personally, I prefer fiberglass ladders for if no other reason, they are more sturdy and stable than an aluminum or wooden ladder.

 

[480sparky]

Maybe they just were able to buy them on the cheap from a painting contractor who went belly-up.....?

 

[G0049]

Or some other EC who just upgraded?

 

[electricalperson]

im not a fan of aluminum ladders. every time i climb one it starts to twist and i feel like it might fold in half. maybe thats a sign i need to drop a few pounds :grin: only ladders i buy are type 1AA. homeowners seem to love the type 3 or whatever it is rated for 200 pounds

 

[cowboyjwc]

Just God's way of cleaning the gene pool.:grin:

 

[peter]

Aluminum ladders are both cheaper and lighter. Perhaps the solution is to paint the ladder yellow or red-orange. This should satisfy Brian John and keep him from being upset.

As long as the ladder is strictly used for gaining access to the roof, this should be safe. Extension ladders are not so good for working off of.

~Peter:roll:

If a buttered piece of bread always lands butter side down and a cat always lands on his feet, what happens if you strap a buttered piece of bread to the top of a cat and drop him?

 

[iwire]

For what it is worth.

CPSC data show that between 1990 and 1998, more than 300 people in the U.S. were electrocuted when an antenna or pole they were holding touched a high-voltage power line. During this same timeframe, CPSC is aware of nearly 150 electrocution deaths due to ladders coming into contact with an electrical line.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml02/02151.html

 

[brian john]

Nice post Bob BOOM BOOM Iwire.

 

[steelersman]

I see electrical contractors driving down the road with aluminum ladders on their trucks all the time. This just seems wrong to me no matter what. With fiberglass the weight of that old wooden extension ladders is a thing of the past.

There is an argument that these guys might only do new residential construction where they may never be exposed to energized wires thus aluminum is not an issue.

I say never say never because you never know.

The other argument is they should never be working on anything energized.

I say you never know what might happen and I would not use aluminum ladder.


Besides I think it just looks cheesy for an EC to be on an aluminum ladder.

I disagree about the fiberglass ladders being light (at least not the extension ladders). They're pretty heavy. But I get your drift.

 

[mdshunk]

I disagree about the fiberglass ladders being light (at least not the extension ladders). They're pretty heavy. But I get your drift.

Yeah, but compare that to the wooden extension ladders used by my father's generation, they're light. I have two 40' wooden extension ladders, and it takes a man, a boy, and 4 mule team to set it up. Plus, the round rungs are hard on the feet when you're on it for a while.

 

[brian john]

Yeah, but compare that to the wooden extension ladders used by my father's generation, they're light. I have two 40' wooden extension ladders, and it takes a man, a boy, and 4 mule team to set it up. Plus, the round rungs are hard on the feet when you're on it for a while.

Marc:

I used a 20' and 40' wooden for years BY MYSELF, and it was a chore but with practice one could finesse them. Fully extended I could move the 40-footer extended fully around the house.

YOUR FATHER's GENERATION..I hope he is a young father.

 

[mdshunk]

YOUR FATHER's GENERATION..I hope he is a young father.

I dunno. I'm 36 and he's 64.

 

[ultramegabob]

Yeah, but compare that to the wooden extension ladders used by my father's generation, they're light. I have two 40' wooden extension ladders, and it takes a man, a boy, and 4 mule team to set it up. Plus, the round rungs are hard on the feet when you're on it for a while.

I remember watching my dad work off of a wooden ladder when I was a kid, a rung gave way and he rode it down half a dozen rungs or so, snapping one after the other on the way down and landed safely on his feet, It looked like something out of a cartoon. I suspect the ladder spent alot of time outside in the elements.

 

[mdshunk]

I suspect the ladder spent alot of time outside in the elements.

I bet it must have. I consider a wooden ladder to be a "cadillac" ladder. Most of my every day stepladders are wooden, and I paid dear for them. I really favor a good sturdy wooden stepladder over fiberglass, any day. They have the added benefit of being able to tighten some nuts to sturdy them up later on.

 

[brian john]

I dunno. I'm 36 and he's 64.

My dads just turned 86, 2 days ago, I'll be 56 in 32 days, not that I am counting.

 

[mdshunk]

My dads just turned 86, 2 days ago, I'll be 56 in 32 days, not that I am counting.

Okay. Mind if I call you Dad? :grin: