Carrying a Ladder

Submitted: Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:29
ThreadID: 66055 Views:7437 Replies:8 FollowUps:22
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Hi all,
Just after some ideas for carrying a ladder. When travelling with a caravan behind and a boat on top of the tow vehicle there doesn't seem to be much room left.

The rear bar of the caravan is already loaded with spare wheel and boat trailer and the draw bar is reasonably short and doesn't lend itself to carrying any extras.

I have carried it in the roof rack /boat loader under the boat but was after a better spot where I can get at it easier (without lifting the boat)

Cheers
SCFA
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Reply By: Gramps - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:34

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:34
What size is the ladder and why do you need it ?
AnswerID: 349536

Follow Up By: Supercalafreakinawesome- Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:46

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:46
Its a 4 section extendable ladder folds to 1.2mtrs and extends to 3.4mtrs. I use it to get up and clean the solar panel, check the air con drain holes for wasp nests, check the pop top and gas struts etc.
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Reply By: DesF - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:37

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:37
Hi What length do you have ?. I have a 3 step folding steel one which is ample for reaching to top of our Jayco Eagle to put up the annex roof etc.
I carry it across the back seat of the Pajero and put bags etc on top of it, seems to work Ok and can be got out easily.
Cheers Des.
AnswerID: 349538

Follow Up By: Supercalafreakinawesome- Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:57

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:57
Hi Des,
The ladder is as per above follow up. I was carrying a two step folding one which fitted nicely on the draw bar behind the gas bottles. But bought a bigger one while on the road due to having to replace gas struts, bugger around with a stuffed air con and clean the solar panel etc.

Cheers

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Reply By: Motherhen - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:38

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:38
Hi SCFA

Must be a big ladder. Previous owners of our van carried their small ladder just in front of the gas bottles. We have a genny box there, so carry our stepladder under the bed. If we need a big ladder en route - we have had no trouble in borrowing one. It take it you don't need it to access the boat as you have stored it underneath the boat in the past.

Motherhen
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Reply By: Gone Bush (WA) - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:40

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:40
Super, I just bought one of these. Folded down it hides away quite nicely.

Image Could Not Be Found

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AnswerID: 349540

Follow Up By: Supercalafreakinawesome- Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:59

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 19:59
Very nice Gone Bush, wish I had seen that one earlier. Who stocks them?

cheers
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Follow Up By: Richard Kovac - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 21:39

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 21:39
GB

Yes me too, where did you get that, with my hip I need something to get up on the troopy.

Richard
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Follow Up By: Gone Bush (WA) - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 22:26

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 22:26
I got it from this place in Melbourne:

http://www.txp.com.au/shop/home.php

I actually rang them to confirm the price and it ended up being cheaper over the phone than on their website. They gave it to me, without any prompting, for $200 including postage.

I have seen one on another website but this had better specs and was cheaper. It arrived last week and is a beauty.

cheers,

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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 22:50

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 22:50
Hi Gone Bush - Was is the load capacity? Most standard step ladders are for up to 100 kgs only - no good for the big boy. I have seen telescopic ladders advertised before but i think different to yours - probably cheap stuff on one of those on line imported goods vendors.

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Follow Up By: Gone Bush (WA) - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 23:07

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 23:07
150kgs MH.

When we get to say hello you'll understand why I went for that one.

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Follow Up By: Supercalafreakinawesome- Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 23:11

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 23:11
Thanks Gone Bush, I'll check them out

Cheers
SCFA
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 23:11

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 23:11
Same when you see the Old Rooster or my sons GB. I'm the runt of the chicken litter.

Mh
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Follow Up By: Gone Bush (WA) - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 23:19

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 23:19
Just to confirm, this is an actual photo of the one I got from TXP.

Image Could Not Be Found

Extends to 3.2 metres and copes with 150kgs.

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Follow Up By: Lucko - Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009 at 10:31

Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009 at 10:31
How much does it weigh mate? I've seen one at Bunnings but it weighs many, many kilos.
Mark
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009 at 14:06

Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009 at 14:06
Mark, from the link 10.3 kgs. How doesthat compare?

"Utilizing innovative ‘Telescopic’ technology and a smart automatic locking mechanism, TXP’s Telescopic Ladder Range are lightweight, compact and strong. All TXP Telescopic Ladders feature the "SURE LOCK" sytem which prevents the ladder from contracting while in use. From the contracted position simply pull the rungs to extend your ladder up to 3.2m high; or any height in between!

TL320 – 3.2m VERTICAL Extended height = 320cm’s Contracted height = 71cm’s Width = 52cm’s Max Load = 150kg’s Weight (approx) = 10.3Kgs Colour = RED European Standard EN-131 "
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Follow Up By: Lucko - Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 at 15:57

Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 at 15:57
MH, not sure, will have to check at Bunnings. Pretty sure the Bunnings ladder is the same as the one in Gone Bush's photo. My guess is that it is perhaps closer to 15Kgs, but I'll check.
Been looking for some time for a 'lightweight' ladder so I can clean solar panels etc. I've seen one half of an extension ladder, shortened, mounted across the back of a van that looked just the trick. Been looking for one, without going to the expense of buying a new ladder, just to break it up!
Mark
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 at 16:12

Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 at 16:12
How often do you want to clean your panels or access the roof Mark? We had to replace our solar panels when in the Kimberley last year and borrowing a long and sturdy tradesman type ladder for a couple of weeks was easily accomplished. It is a long way up to the roof on our van. We like to be independent for tools and parts in case of a breakdown, but accessing the roof is usually not critical.

Mh
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Follow Up By: Lucko - Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 at 16:27

Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 at 16:27
You are right MH, we could probably do the same, ie. borrow one. Its just that our solar capacity is just sufficient for our needs. A ladder to keep the panels at peak is cheaper than additional panel(s) ;-) .
Will most probably go for another panel when our Super comes up for a breath.
We are looking at a gennie but are loath to use unless we are really stuck.
Mark
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 at 16:40

Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 at 16:40
Mark, our panels shake off as much dust as they collect, so really keep themselves pretty clean. An occasional shower of rain does the rest.

Until we went to the Kimberley last year, we didn't know that the little bit our panels were putting in was low as it was all we had ever known, and even in Tasmania it kept up to our needs. We were in fact operating on around half a panel. Kyocera Solar replaced all four under warranty. They did have a faulty batch, and of course Murphy deemed we'd have them. What panels do you have and how many batteries?

Mh
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Follow Up By: Lucko - Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 at 16:59

Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 at 16:59
MH, we've found that the dust does get shaken off as you say, but even a heavy dew sticks the dust like glue. Even thought about using something like Mr. Sheen to improve 'shedding', might not be as silly as it sounds!

We have 2 X 85W panels (Suntech) on the van, a fold-up 80W (Kyocera) and 2 X 100AH Fullriver Gels in the van.
We also have a 130W (kyocera) mounted on the Patrol roof dedicated to charging a 120AH auxiliary battery which runs our Waeco in freezer mode. All works very well, generally batts. full by lunchtime, but don't want too many cloudy days at all, and sometimes you can't find a good spot in the open to camp.

Thanks for your interest MH, we'll get it sorted somehow.
Mark
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 11:15

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 11:15
Mark, is there any way you can swap the panels - or even plug the car 130 w into the caravan system when stopped. The 130 w must be overkill for one battery. We have used 80 w for the vehicle, and we have now added a second 100 ah battery to try it. You could then probably charge three batteries in the caravan and be better equipped to last a couple of dull days.

We do carry a genny for the air con and emergencies power tools, and last year for the first time needed it to charge the batteries when the solar panels let us down.

Mh
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Follow Up By: Lucko - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 14:18

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 14:18
Mh, I hear what you are saying. What I have done is set the system up so that I can 'network' all of the panels, including the foldup, to feed the van batteries, alternatively we can feed the tug freezer from the van system while the 130W gets on with charging the DC battery.
Interconnection 'in' and 'out' of the van is via Anderson plugs secured behind those dinky little lock-up doors once used to access the water tank fillers. Used this setup for 6 weeks to Birdsville last year, worked well. Bright sunny skies every day though, so no real test of the 'margins'.

Mark
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 15:26

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 15:26
Sounds an ideal system Mark. What was the lowest your batteries got down to? Do you need a lot of power?

We tried to run two Engels, one as a freezer, from the 80 w panel and the one 100 ah battery. We had clouds and rain chasing us all over the countryside, and the experiment failed. Next time i will keep the smaller Engel under the caravan bed as a freezer. With the new 4 x 130 w panels, we have changed over to four 110 ah Full Rivers. The van is parked, and i have the built in 150 litre fridge running on low and nothing else going (we have mostly LED lights now and they use next to nothing). Batteries go onto float early in the monring, and even on dull and wet days, they are full.

Apologies to FCFA for hijacking the thread away from ladders.

Mh

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Reply By: Geoff (Newcastle, NSW) - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 20:16

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 20:16
You could always use a broom handle!

How does that work you may ask??

Get your travelling companion to jam the blunt end up your kyber and hey presto, your up there in the clouds.

Plenty of time to give the panels a wipe.

Geoff

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Follow Up By: Supercalafreakinawesome- Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 20:25

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 at 20:25
ROTFLMAO

Needed a good laugh

Cheers
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Reply By: Member - Axle - Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009 at 08:03

Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009 at 08:03
What about under the bed?, Just move the shotgun& whatever else over ,should be plenty of room.


Cheers Axle.
AnswerID: 349595

Reply By: Member - Boo Boo (NSW) - Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009 at 16:22

Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009 at 16:22
Oh how I wish people would not put these great ideas on this site.

I'll now have to go out and buy one for the Troopy.

Regards BooBoo
AnswerID: 349669

Follow Up By: Richard Kovac - Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 21:32

Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 21:32
Yes same here.. ordered mine last week... Troopy and van.
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Reply By: Member -Dodger - Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 at 16:41

Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 at 16:41
Oh well looks like I will soon have another toy....
The van is now approaching the weight of a B double.
Booger.
What next SWMBO said.
I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.

Cheers Dodg.

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AnswerID: 349899

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