Auxiliary Ladder options - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Stevefury · RV-Dreams Community Member

Auxiliary Ladder options

RonC · RV-Dreams Family Member

Following. This is a good topic for me too.

Russ Ranger · RV-Dreams Family Member

One of the reasons I retired early was that I had fallen from ladders twice. My home and yard were killing me.

I know that it would require climbing on ladders to own an RV. So here is what I have done:

1 I bought the sturdiest ladder I could find. A Little Giant extension ladder.

2. I don't climb the ladder when I'm tired.

3. When I'm on the ladder, safety is more important than the job I have to do. I don't blindly take chances anymore.

4. The whole time I am up the ladder or on the roof of the RV I remember my past stupidity.

5. Wear the correct shoes for climbing.

It is too easy to get distracted from "safety first".

arcaguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Fortunately I have only fallen from a ladder once, and that was only from the second rung and nothing was hurt but my pride and the ladder, it broke. One of the things I have since that incident is to nearly always put the ladder on some 2x6s or 2x8s to keep it stable. Something you might be able to use to protect the coach from the extension ladder is some water pipe or air conditioner line insulation, the foam type with a slit on one side. The denser the better. Much of this stuff has an adhesive on it but you can either foul that with some fine dust, maybe talcum powder or some other fine dust, not flour or corn starch because they get sticky when they are wet. I also like the little giant ladder. I'm not a big fan of ladders but I do make sure they're well supported any more. If you have a pickup you can strap them down it the back with ratchet straps and use it for a base. It probably won't work in every case but probably some. It also gets you a little more height. Just my two cents.

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

FWIW, I don’t even have an “RV” ladder on my trailer. When we built the rig I asked them to forget the rear “RV” ladder and buy me one of these in exchange. For the cost of the RV ladder and the labor to install it they agreed it was a wash. Good call for us.

https://www.amazon.com/Xtend-Climb-785P-Telescoping-Professional/dp/B000JIL4Z8/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530395409&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=collapsable+extension+ladders

I just thought this ladder, while it is a bit more trouble to put up and take down, was far safer and could be moved around the rig as required. Such as to service the awnings. Today I needed it beside a slide where some birds had set up housekeeping under the slide topper awnings. Very handy. It reaches well above the roof so dismounting and mounting at the roof line is easy.

I cut a large piece of foam padding, put a bungie through it, and attach it to the ladder to rest against the side of the rig for protection. ‘Has worked fine for years.

Naturally, YMMW

Bill

PS Terry will either fix the link or you can cut and past it. Something is weird on the site today. The ladder is on Amazon Prime under Extension Ladders.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

The link worked fine for me, but if others have trouble with it, let me know and I'll fix it.

I've been considering one similar to one like this one. It is extendable and also will work as an A-frame ladder, but only weighs about 40 pounds

Oshion 16.5 Foot Aluminum Telescoping Ladder

Terry

arcaguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Yep both of those look like a much better option that the folding ones. Since ladders are subject to pretty stringent safety standards they are probably pretty sturdy. I think maybe I'll have to sell my folding ladder and look at one of those for the RV when I get it.

LarryW21 · RV-Dreams Family Member

I use a collapsible ladder so I don’t need to get on the roof (once in the last year) but my TT is only 7.5 feet wide. I am fearfulon the roof or ladder and very careful!

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

When we lived in a stix n brix, we had an extension ladder that was a hand-me-down. Once I extended it, to be safe, I would tie rungs of the tow sections together to insure that it never came apart. When we sold the last house, I left that ladder with the house, figuring that I would never need another one. Then experience taught me otherwise, so I went to Lowe's and bought one of those multi-ladders. Since then, I've told folks that all one needs to do to get a good ladder is sell one's house.

Terry

CraigAs · RV-Dreams Community Member

I have one of the ladders shown on the link and I really like it. There are several versions of this and mine extends to just over 12 feet. One thing to be cautious of is that it will pinch your fingers if not very careful when collapsing it. I am a contractor and even though I have several full extension ladders, I actually use this one more often than those.