Based upon personal experience, I’ve always been convinced that ladder would kill if given half a chance. Don’t give them the opportunity. In accordance with Z133.1, as well as common sense, follow these rules:

  • All ladders shall be inspected daily before use.
  • Keep your ladders tight. Replace that broken rung you’ve been meaning to fix.
  • Make sure that footing is secure. Sometimes you’ll gave to use a block of wood or a board under one leg to level off the footing on uneven ground. wood or a board under one leg to level off the footing on uneven ground.
  • Tie yourself in whenever possible. Tie off the ladder whenever needed. An extension ladder may be lashed off at the base or at the top, if practicable, for additional security.
  • An extension will generally rest more securely in a tree if laid across a side limb, as opposed to laid against the trunk, where it can rock back and forth against the top rung.
  • Keep this in mind when calculating the needed working height of an orchard ladder. NEVER stand on the top rung or on the one below that; step no higher than the one below that! Some manufactures specify no step beyond four rungs from the top.
  • Have an assistant steady the ladder for you, if necessary, while ascending. Remove the ladder before heavy limbs are cut and dropped.
  • An extension ladder must never be “run out” more than 3 feet less than its sold height. That gives a 32-foot extension a beginning working height of 29 feet, which is further reduced when the ladder is inclined to the correct approach angle.
  • Aluminum ladders shall not be used where an electrical hazard exists.
  • Do not use “in service” ladders as bridges, or inclined planes, to load or handle logs or other meterial.
  • Never paint wooden ladders. Clear varnish or wood preservative is all right, but paint can hide cracks and other defects that could cause ladder failure.
  • Beware of nicks, splinter and burrs on the rungs and side rails of a ladder. I slashed my palm open on a burr that I found the hard way on an aluminum extension ladder. Troy nicked our fiberglass ladder once with a