Do not do this. i. On some surfaces those legs will slide. On soft surfaces, one of them can sink into the ground, tilting the whole structure... even a little tilt will put you over if you are near the top. ii. The thin wall structure of those legs and the loose connections will cause them to quiver as you work or climb. You can actually see them starting to shake as you climb. I notice that you did not climb to the top...probably because you had a good idea of what would happen if you did. iii. #ii can also lead to transverse failure of the conduit. Conduit is meant mostly for protection not structural strength. This is such a dumb, dumb idea...
I did something similar to this to reach a recessed light fixture on a 19 foot tall ceiling. Instead of the rebar, I used a 1/2 inch threaded rod with wingnuts and fender washers on each side. Instead of conduit, I used two 2 x 4 cut to length. I connected the 2 x 4 legs together mid-span with a 1 x 4 to keep them from doing the 'splits', then used two more 1 x 4 to connect the 2 x 4 legs to the ladder in each side just like an A-frame ladder would have. ( I used another threaded rod w/wingnuts and fender washers for that too.) It worked well and was surprisingly sturdy/stable.
THANKS to both you and Gordon Ray above! Thinking outside the box with much better safety than a plain step ladder or extension ladder in certain situations. Better to take the time to overbuild as you suggest. I plan on making a SUPER STABLE and robust version so injury is made very unlikely. I'd love to have a proper orchard ladder, but way too pricey for occasional use.
Beautiful ideas are the ones that become really obvious once someone else tells you. Why didn't I think of this piece of genius, you think outside of the box. Thank you Gordan.
You have to consider the column buckling mode of the pipes, to ensure it doesn’t buckle. A single 3/4” sch 40 pipe, pinned at both ends with a 2 in eccentric load, 16ft long has a critical buckling force of 98 lbs. If you use a factor of safety of 2.5 (to account for full weight on one pole plus a little), this setup would only support 78 lbs at full height. I would be more comfortable with a factor of safety of 5, in which case it’s 34 lbs. Needless to say, it’s obviously why you didn’t record yourself standing on the top of this contraption.
Notice he never climbed up the thing… there’s zero cross bracing and once you cross the center the possibility of it twisting becomes almost “a when, not if” situation
THANK YOU! - Just what I have been looking for, as tripod or "Orchard" ladders are really very expensive (they appear to be great, but useless if unobtainable). All I really need is to use a 12 foot half of an old extention ladder to make something stable enough to reach out a few feet with a pole saw for some small limbs that would be hard to get to safely with a narrow step ladder. Of course, I will be careful and take my time with your design or similar with stronger parts and feet from comment below. Good job!
Personally I wouldn't go any higher than 3 feet with that setup. 1/2" conduit would collapse and there's no chains or rope to keep the legs from moving apart. Maybe a few more mods and upgrades for safety. Be careful.
This is when creative thoughts become deadly! Conduit is not engineered or intended to be a structural element, it's only designed to protect wiring. Don't try this rigging, you are likely to become seriously injured or dead.
Gordon, don't be discouraged by all the negative comments. A great idea! But using some beefier materials and additional reinforcements like MikeInExile described would make it sturdier and safer. Going to try making one myself (with the beefier materials & reinforcements).
Naw... take the two halves of the extension ladder and make an A-frame with that. Make a hinge point on top, some outriggers for the base and use some chain or nylon strap for the "spreaders".
This is insane... The premise is valid but the execution is horrible. I might have taken it more seriously if he had climbed up it to show it's strong enough.
Is there another version of this desing with a sinngle let support instead of 2? Would the base of the extention ladder have to be widened or altered to make it safe? I love the idea of saving money, retrofitting a ln extension into a garden ladder. As a Profesional painter it helps to have the support in many exterior painting applications, especially when the customer has dense bushes extending 5-10ft off the wall.
This is way to dangerous and under engineered, You really need the supports to be thicker and stronger like box tubing that attaches to a base frame connected to the bottom of the ladder that way you could use it on any surface type because nothing needs to be stuck into the ground.
You Sir are a genius But I wouldn’t recommend those materials if you are more than 175 lbs heavy But the general Idea is great I think we all know why manufacturers don’t do this Greed !
Huh? NaaawBuddy! Hell naaaw you took 3 steps up that 24 ft ladder? Why you build a death dealer of a ladder, make a video of it, but not climb all the way up to show us how wavy that conduit becomes, and crumbs. This would make the perfect Nike commercial, don't get scured, I seen you was scured man, go on gitup thur man! Hurry up ✔JUST DO IT!
*** EXTREMELY UNSAFE *** HAZARDOUS TO LIFE AND LIMB *** DO NOT DO THIS *** The load bearing strength of 1" conduit (EMT I presume), is not anywhere near enough to hold up under a load in motion. In this case, a human body of 100 lbs or more ascending an extension ladder. Additionally, when (as is suggested by Gordon) the conduit has been structurally compromised by drilling holes in it at one-foot intervals, you are inviting disaster. As anyone that has worked in and around construction and renovation sites for any length of time can tell you, when you invite disaster, Disaster shows up.
looks very unstable , insufficient bracing and anchoring. just a death trap, btw i noticed you didnt demonstrate that it would support you even halfway up.
Ooooh and you drilled holes in the emt? Jesus there old dude.. i bend that stuff for a living and i weigh 150 lbs.. when you put 150lbs on a stick of that stuff it will bend.. ive even had em break on me when i take em off the roof of my truck in the cold.. at least use 1" black steel pipe.. will be heavy but wont buckle.. put a chain to tie the two together, weld a 4x4 steel plate on the bottoms or bolt ladder feet to em, dont drill any holes in them, just use removable sections, weld and reinforce the top hole where you tie to the ladder and then it would be safe enough to use...
Love to ask this guy a question but fairly sure he's dead from this thing. Concerns I have: 1. Feet under new legs 2. Conduit isn't strong enough 3. Nails vs pins 4. Cross members missing to main ladder
