I almost had a nasty fall today because I didn't have a tall enough ladder when I went up on my roof. Make sure you ladder is tall enough if you climb up on your roof.
The cover on my bus had come loose in high winds and I needed to get on the roof. I have a new eight foot step ladder and decided that should work even though my roof is 11 1/2 feet tall. I could barely get on the roof from the top of the ladder. As soon as I got on the roof I realized I would have major issues getting back down. I don't know any of the neighbors yet and I even considered calling 911 for help. I decided to risk getting down and my foot barely reached the top of the ladder. The ladder nearly tipped over when I put my weight on it. Luckily it did not tip causing a fall.
I will use a longer ladder in the future, or just go through the roof hatch from inside like I normally do. The door was blocked so I couldn't do the hatch thing this time.
Glad you did'nt fall! I fell on the roof once when I was scrubbing it, lucky I did'nt go off the side.
Yeah that's a dangerous scenario. Bought me a telescoping ladder that folds up and stores underneath in bay. Was expensive but worth it. Think it's a 16 footer.
Had nearly the same experience a while back trying to put my cover on before the snow came. Not easy being on the roof and holding onto a 40' bag in a 20 mph wind. Used 4 - 27' x 2" Cargo straps under each bay and over the roof to the other side bay to help hold it down and relieve some of the wind pressure trying to rip it off. I'll be picking up a telescoping 16.5' ladder soon as muldoonman said. Some double in half for a normal 8' ladder also and fit nicely in the bay. Let us be safe. Gerry H
Gerry mine telescopes into about a 2 foot package and scopes vertically out a long as you need it. Has rubber feet and built heavy. Takes up less space than a lawn chair. Don't remember the maker.
Got the 14 foot 6 inch telescoping one off Amazon only 102.00 and it was rated A1 safety rating. ;D
Dave5cs
I tie a rope to my wheel on the opposite side and throw it over the top. It really makes it nice to get on and off the ladder holding a secure rope. I also have the under $100 amazon telescoping ladder. I love it.
That's why I kept the roof hatches. They're hidden and I have to remove some screws, lower a panel, remove some insulation, and open the old hatch. Not needed very often, but I'm not going up a ladder
TIKVAH
(Dave Rush)
MCI 102A3 6V92
Full Time On The Road - I couldn't fix my brakes, so I made my horn louder
Last year a friend fell changing a light bulb in his shop off a ladder. A shop that was to be his playground in retirement. He had just retired and is about my age. In wheelchair now with severed spine; and allot of pain.! Sure put me into a reality check!! Even if I don't intend to I can get hurt so please minimize your exposure. YES do share your brain lapses because it just might make someone like me think! PS he was in the electrical field and worked off ladders often.. Bob
One of my problems is finding a ladder rated at 320lbs. I have one that is an extension ladder that goes to 22ft. Easily get up and down off my 13'6" roof of my truck, if I don't want to go through the roof hatch. A good commercially rated ladder is expensive. But-the alternative can be an expensive funeral for your family. Good Luck, TomC
Quote from: Scott Crosby on December 14, 2014, 01:17:55 AM
I tie a rope to my wheel on the opposite side and throw it over the top. It really makes it nice to get on and off the ladder holding a secure rope. I also have the under $100 amazon telescoping ladder. I love it.
Thanks Scott,
That's one of the best ideas I've seen on the board.
I for one would want more than one, (1) roof hatch that DOES OPEN. Preferably at least two. (2) Nothing more than a safety device should the Bus Conversion end up on its side. But ... having said this, how does one get from the floor up to the aforementioned roof escape hatch ... while inside the Bus Conversion ... when it is NOT on its side? I have not figure that out yet. HB of CJ (old coot) :) Yikes!
I simply bring a 6' step ladder into the coach... not a big deal.
OK, so when I knocked down the ladder on my way up the roof(when I was the only one home) is not such a rare occasion after all ;D ;D
Since I have a buffalo, I climbed down to the "lower" roof, and then carefully slid down the drivers windshield backwards(facing the windshield) until my feet got on the front bumper!! After I got down, I saw my neighbor standing in his driveway laughing!!!
Steve Toomey
No excuses. Everybody here needs to pony up $20 to get ladder hooks that lock into the drip rail. If you're cheap, like me, they can easily be made out of some 3/16" x 1" flat stock. We have the technology! Your ladder will never leave you stranded on the roof of a bus again!
Drip rail on my bus is made of rubber and not something you can clamp to sadly.. ::)
In any case, whilst having a ladder which won't wobble or fall over is important, I think having one extends above the roof is the most essential aspect - climbing up onto the roof from a too-short ladder is easy, it's getting down again when the top rung is some way below you which is tricky.
On a couple of occasions when I've been working on the roof of my bus I've gone to the trouble of lashing two ladders together to create an A-frame (like a very big step ladder), with two long lengths of aluminium further lashed down at an angle to the ground on one side to create an utterly stable platform which you can monkey about on with impunity - almost as good as the scaffold frame which I was on the verge of buying before I had the idea.
Jeremy
The purpose of ladder hooks is to stop the ladder from falling over from a small accidental bump when stepping off of the ladder and to keep it from getting blown over by the wind. During normal use there shouldn't be much if any load on the hooks. Depending on how robust your rubber drip rail is, normal ladder hooks may or may not do their job.
I am thinking about getting one of these to replace the ladder hooks I made out of flat stock:
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FjBTtrPT.jpg&hash=5ee25e6090dca111a0c0524ddec83b58e6a673c7)
This type does support the weight of the ladder. It transfers the load to the flat of the roof instead of the wall. It seems like a good way to stop rubber ladder bumpers from marking up the paint. If you want ladder hooks, it might be a viable alternative for you.
Amazon Ladder Standoffs (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st_review-rank?fst=as%3Aoff&keywords=ladder+standoff&qid=1418617254&rh=n%3A228013%2Cn%3A551240%2Cn%3A553470%2Cn%3A553472%2Ck%3Aladder+standoff&sort=review-rank)
I have one of those collapsing ladders also. I only use it at the back of the bus since climbing up the slopped sides seems a bit precarious to me.
The curved top on our 5s is tricky like Lin says. I have a telescoping ladder and any more i also on go up on top from the back....the PO put a cap on the back so it makes a flatter surface there. A couple of years ago a guy here in Yuma was up on his 5th wheel and put his foot thru a fan cover. Lost his balance and fell off the roof and died.
Hooking the ladder to the bus will keep it from tipping over, but it doesn't solve the problem of the ladder being too short in the first place. I was barely able to reach the top of the ladder with my foot. I could have easily slipped off the roof while I was stretching to reach the top of the ladder with my foot.
Belfert- I completely agree. The ladder should extend 3' beyond roof and angled out 1' for every 4' of height. Any less is tempting fate.
I only use a set of scaffolding or "Guido" (our forklift) as I'm too big for a ladder and my bad knees don't approve of me climbing one anyway!
;D BK ;D
I've had to learn about weight ratings, not just on ladders.
A few weeks ago, my wife (all 105 pounds of her) commented that the fold down attic stairs really seemed to be creaking a lot. Gee, I wonder how that happened. Maybe I could blame our HVAC guy, it couldn't be me (ahem.) So, I picked up some 4/4 ash, surfaced it and ran it through the table and radial arm saws. Now every step is its own T-beam. I sure feel a lot more comfortable now.
Arthur
Mine is pretty easy. As you know The Saudi bus has the double roof. between the edges of the roofs there is an Aluminum piece all the way down the side that has 1 inch holes in it for ventilation. When I put the ladder up I use a bungee around the ladder rails and hook it to the piece between the holes. ;D
Dave
I always use an extension ladder, 3 feet taller than the roof so I have something to hold on to and balance when stepping off of and on to it.
But one time, while washing the roof of my '04, I lost the ladder. No problem, I thought, I'll just loop the hose around an A/C unit and rappel down. There's not much friction between soapy wet hands and soapy wet hose!
Wheeeee! Splat.
Fortunately, and '04 isn't that tall and I didn't break.
Ted.
I'm lucky. If my ladder fell when I was on top of my bus, I could slide down onto the hood and climb down the tire using the mirror bracket as a handhold.