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10/02/2011
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Whether you are a white van man in the building industry or a DIY enthusiast, you will sooner or later come up with the problem of transporting ladders.
 If they are to be used safely, ladders should be robust, chunky items, which do not come apart during use. This means that there should be no joints in the sections, unless the user is in a different line of business and has a folding ladder that can be carried surreptitiously and quickly used to illegally access upper stories.
As a result, even when made of aluminium alloy, a proper builder's ladder is quite heavy. It is not too heavy to carry, but it is heavy to get onto and off from the top of van, especially if there are three sections of it and the van is of the Ford Transit type or equipped with a roof that is even higher.
The Challenge
Our challenge this month is to devise the best possible means for getting a standard three section builder's ladder onto and off from a rack on the top of a van, especially the taller types. The ideal solution should be capable of being used by one man or woman, without an assistant, without requiring excessive muscular strength or incurring the risk of injury.
Even if strong enough to toss a ladder onto the top of a van, such an approach is one day going to result in damage to the van or some worse accident. A crane built into a van is a non starter on weight and cost grounds. The same applies to using a pet gorilla, if one could be found who could do the job reliably. There are systems involving pulleys rope and winches, but these require some time to operate and have a tendency to jam.
What is wanted is something quick and simple to operate. The solution we offer in our next month's edition solves the problem elegantly and at reasonable cost. It was not invented in this country and one has to ask, why not? Once you see it, you may consider it obvious, except that it is innovative enough to be protected by patents and although simple in concept, took more than a year's research and development to perfect.
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Author
Tom Shelley
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