Orchard guy without a orchard ladder. I have been looking for a used one for the last 10 years or so and finally found one, make that two. Bought the pair for $65.00. Fourty for the 11 footer and 25 the 6 footer. Sure feels safer now than dangling before.
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I’m going to need a 16 foot ladder soon. The 12 foot isn’t tall enough to reach the tops of my Plum and Cherry, and soon my Fig will also be that height. Due to the tall fences and tall trees around here I can’t afford to keep them short or they just don’t get enough light.
Be careful with those tripods- they can be tricky. Commercial orchards often employ them but they also have a lot of ladder accidents. I’ve always used little giant ladders because I have to transport them in a small light truck from orchard to orchard (they shrink to half their potential size- or a third if you use them as a straight ladder), but I also think they are more stable on uneven ground- although it is debatable. My Jamaican former helper (now protege with his own orchard care business) is two of me at less the height (bigger bones and muscles are a big part of it). He used the orchard ladders for over 10 years when he worked for a commercial fruit grower before working for me and now much prefers the little giants I introduced him to. The orchard ladders are nice and light, though.
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That’s a good price you’ve got.
I have a heavy duty ladder (Biggest of the Little Giant Ladder) myself which is very stable and can extend 26’ but it weighs 50 lbs. So it is hard to lug around. And so I use this super lightweight pole fruit picker instead, and I can reach every fruit in my yard without even climbing. I don’t have a lot of trees and my harvest is manageable as they don’t ripen at the same time.
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They look to be in nice shape!
Thanks for the warning, i don’t think i am going clear to the top.
A cording to the seller it is a old one used by his parents in California. How it got in Arkansas, beats me.
When I was growing up in Arkansas in the 50’s we had a number of neighbors who had moved to California for work (during the war?) and moved back afterwards. So maybe one of us “Arkies” brought home with us.
They get real heavy when you opt for the taller models, although they sometimes have light and heavyweight versions of the same height. I have one that only extends to 6’, I think, that is adequate for most of my sites if not most of my pruning. It is the big old apple trees that take the most time and require the most height. I manage those with my 21’ ladder and rarely take out the one I have that is the next size up- it feels like it weighs double and it doesn’t completely fit in the bed of my truck. The 21 only extends to about 10’ as a step ladder- so sometimes I have to climb. They are stable enough for me to comfortably perch on the very top, but I spend 100’s of hours on ladders every year- hundreds and hundreds. Half my working days are spent mostly on ladders.
Very possible!!!
