Ladder Leveler
A Ladder Leveler is one of the most important accessories that you can buy for your ladder. This is something that you want to be very sure about when you purchase a ladder. Don’t just go out and buy the cheapest ladder on the market, because you will find that the average ladder leveler won’t fit the leg widths or shape. The biggest shortfall of a ladder is its instability from side to side. When you put a ladder on soft soil, this problem is accentuated. All you have to do is lean slightly to one side when you are at the top of the ladder and you will find very quickly that you will be plummeting to the ground at a high speed.
Thousands fall off ladders every year, and depending how and what you land on you can do some serious damage to yourself. On the odd occasion you will escape with a very worried look on your face, but most of the time you are lucky to get away with a broken arm. Ladders are great tools, and they make working at heights much easier but they are not toys. They are very easy to hurt yourself on, especially if you are not using them properly. A ladder is considerably more stable in the direction that it is leaning as a pose to that sideways motion. When you are up so high you only have to move a tiny bit and you will have the ladder sliding sideways. If you are using a telescopic ladder, like a Telestep Ladder you need to check that everything is connected together like it should be.
A Ladder Leveler is basically a piece of timber, plastic or steel that attaches to the legs of the ladder (usually on one side is enough). It attaches on the bottom of the legs sideways, and gives the ladder extra stability. The wider the ladder leveler the more stable the ladder is, but at the same time the heavier the stabilizer is, and therefore the harder it is to transport around. There are many cases where you won’t need a Ladder Leveler, but having one with you is a good idea. Particularly for those who are working in soft soil, or those who are working at heights above 3 meters these are a very handy safety device.
If you are any good with your hands then you can knock one of these up without much effort at all. You can use timber and drill holes in it for the ladder legs, or you can use a piece of angle iron and weld little bits of pipe onto it. Whatever you use, make sure that the ladder legs sit far enough into the holes and that you have a pin to stop it from coming undone. If you don’t have a pin, chances are that when the ladder goes to slide sideways it will just pop out of the hole, and you will fall down anyway. These ladder holes can’t go right through either, or the ladder will just sink and you will still fall. Climbing a ladder needs to be done safely and with a bit of thought, or accidents can happen! Having proper Step Ladder Safety will reduce the chance of having an accident in the first place.