Ladder suggestion

Donald

Donald

Joined
Mar 21, 2004
Messages
29,649
Location
Near the beach in Delaware
I need a ladder to climb up telephone poles to run CAT6 cable and attach cameras and access points. Only go as high as the phone and cable company cable. Many feet below the power wires.

Have a nice 28' fiberglass ladder with a bracket with 1/2 circle so that half circle leans against the pole. Not a ladder rung.

Have a plain older 28' aluminum ladder.

Fiberglass ladders are nice but weigh more than aluminum.

Heavy duty aluminum ladders are nice and have less bounce than lighter duty aluminum ladders but weigh more

I think I might be better with a heavier duty aluminum 20' ladder (maybe 24') extended all the way out than a 28' lighter duty aluminum ladder extended partially out.

The ladder climber is 7 decades old.

In reality I need two ladders. Run a CAT6 cable between two telephone poles, attach a Fluke remote to one end, go back to the other end with my Fluke cable verifyer and verify the cable. Remove both Fluke items. Connect the CAT6 cable as needed.
 
spiderlift.jpg
 
Donald said:
I need a ladder to climb up telephone poles to run CAT6 cable and attach cameras and access points. Only go as high as the phone and cable company cable. Many feet below the power wires.

Have a nice 28' fiberglass ladder with a bracket with 1/2 circle so that half circle leans against the pole. Not a ladder rung.

Have a plain older 28' aluminum ladder.

The ladder climber is 7 decades old.

In reality I need two ladders. Run a CAT6 cable between two telephone poles, attach a Fluke remote to one end, go back to the other end with my Fluke cable verifyer and verify the cable. Remove both Fluke items. Connect the CAT6 cable as needed.
Click to expand...

The part in bold - stay on the ground. There's zero justification for any 70+ year old to be climbing a ladder. Of any kind, for any reason (other than immediate life-saving measures) and NO type, manufacturer or material of ladder is going to make it safe, safer, or better.


If you're going to ignore the above- Tele/Comm cables are generally the lowest, which means about 14' or so above road crossings. This can mean 16' above the ground at the pole or 25' above the ground at the pole, depending on where the pole is in relation to a road/drive crossing. You're going to need a 28' minimum ladder to climb and work at 16'.

Get / rent a man lift or bucket truck, etc. Please.
 
Hillbilly Deluxe said:
The part in bold - stay on the ground. There's zero justification for any 70+ year old to be climbing a ladder. Of any kind, for any reason (other than immediate life-saving measures) and NO type, manufacturer or material of ladder is going to make it safe, safer, or better.


If you're going to ignore the above- Tele/Comm cables are generally the lowest, which means about 14' or so above road crossings. This can mean 16' above the ground at the pole or 25' above the ground at the pole, depending on where the pole is in relation to a road/drive crossing. You're going to need a 28' minimum ladder to climb and work at 16'.

Get / rent a man lift or bucket truck, etc. Please.
Click to expand...

As an equivalent-age person recovering from a 6 foot ladder fall my advice is “don’t”. This is potential life-changing event - I was lucky, but worst pain of my life and still recovering after a month. And it could have been lots worse.

I’ve been up and down ladders hundreds of time with no incident, but never again. Call “The Guy” to get it done and limit your risk to writing a check.
 
Donald, I appreciate your work ethic and growing up on a dairy farm I totally understand you aren't ready for pasture quite yet :unsure:. I'm 51 October 26th and I've gotten myself back into shape (beach is a boost kinda shape!). I'm sure you can likely handle some time on a ladder, but is it truly worth it? Ladders are bad news for anyone over 50 IMO. 1 Fall is all it takes.

I suggest looking up the data of falls of those over 60 who break a hip and the alarming rate of deaths within a year, post-fall. I wish I had the data to link for you but I remember the number was truly numbing when I read it.

Best luck with whatever direction you take.
 
I would assume that the utility which owns the poles doesn't allow Donald to attach anything to them.

Do you have this permission?
 
Donald said:
I think I might be better with a heavier duty aluminum 20' ladder (maybe 24') extended all the way out than a 28' lighter duty aluminum ladder extended partially out.
Click to expand...
Are you saying you plan to go up to 20 or 25 feet high? I'm not afraid of heights, but get nervous climbing up 8 feet to the roof. How do you feel about heights? Being on an open ladder is not the same as watching the scenery from a second story balcony. Here is a post I made here on a similar topic not long ago if it helps.

Anybody know something about man lifts?

One of my buildings has 16 foot ceilings and I need to replace the 8' tube light bulbs. That's too high for a ladder. Been thinking of buying a man lift. This looks great as it can be transported on a trailer hitch...
bobistheoilguy.com
 
drtyler said:
I would assume that the utility which owns the poles doesn't allow Donald to attach anything to them.

Do you have this permission?
Click to expand...
So they are all on private property and the WIFI access points and network cable have been there for several years. Maybe 12 or 15 telephone poles total.

The poles were owned by Eversource but given to Frontier Phone Company who is in bankruptcy. They all have a Frontier plate now. Oddly there is no one using any service from Frontier on the property. Some of the phone cables have been cut where they have fallen down. The phone cable copper wire pairs will never be used again.
 
The plan was to get the ladder bracket with a half circle that allows it to rest on the pole, a strap that goes around the pole to prevent the ladder from falling off the pole and a harness for me.
 
Donald, please listen to the sage advice offered by many of your BITOG family on this board. If the cable and cameras must be installed, just pay a contractor or handyman to install them. Your life and well being is not worth the risk of climbing an extension ladder above 20 feet. You really can't trust anything other than a Type 1A rated fiberglass ladder to be stable at that height, especially when working anywhere near live wires on a utility pole. A 32 foot ladder fiberglass ladder would be extremely difficult to manipulate by a strong individual. Any mishap will be life altering in a very tragic way.

If you still insist on going it alone, please just rent a Genie lift or bucket truck instead of using a ladder.
 
If you rent a man lift don't get one made for 1 person get one for two. There isn't enough room to have material and tools. It does take a little while to get use to the bounce they have but ur safe if the ground is fairly flat.
 
Do not climb up a pole with a ladder. The base could be rotted and a side load could make it fall. I do know a guy who broke his face doing this. Rent a pull behind areal platform.

*Without seeing what you have going on. I would be weirded out by running a lift along high voltage lines though and I work with electricity for a living.
 
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