Old men and RV ladders

[erniecarpet@...]

Gardner, one of our friends, slipped on the articulated ladder and caught
his ring finger- with ring and pulled that finger right off. Ernie- no rings,
and trying to stay off the ladder.

Ernie Ekberg
83PT40
Livingston, Mt




************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Gardner Yeaw]

Ok, I'm not THAT old, but I am over 60 and climbing up the ladder and
getting onto the roof is a pain. I have to bend over at the top to hold
on as I get by feet on the platform. Then I stand up with nothing to
hold onto. Of course, to get down I have to do the reverse. My knees
sometimes give way for a moment and my balance reaction time ain't what
it used to be, so it feels pretty precarious standing on that little
platform till I get to the roof.

So what I want is a retractable handrail extention at the top of the
ladder so I can get to the top standing up. Has anyone made something
like this or seen anything on the market. I have a fair idea of how I
would make it, but I am always open to anyones suggestions.

It would also have too be wired so an alarm sounds if I leave it up
and try to drive off..(my memory ain't what it used to be either)


Gardner
78FC33

[Jon]

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Gardner Yeaw"
wrote:
>
> Ok, I'm not THAT old, but I am over 60 and climbing up the ladder
and
> getting onto the roof is a pain. I have to bend over at the top to
hold
> on as I get by feet on the platform. Then I stand up with nothing
to
> hold onto. Of course, to get down I have to do the reverse. My
knees
> sometimes give way for a moment and my balance reaction time ain't
what
> it used to be, so it feels pretty precarious standing on that
little
> platform till I get to the roof.
>
> So what I want is a retractable handrail extention at the top of
the
> ladder so I can get to the top standing up. Has anyone made
something
> like this or seen anything on the market. I have a fair idea of how
I
> would make it, but I am always open to anyones suggestions.
>
> It would also have too be wired so an alarm sounds if I leave it
up
> and try to drive off..(my memory ain't what it used to be either)
>
>
> Gardner
> 78FC33
>
On my new deck extension I have a bar that I can raise up and down to
gain access to the platform. You could do the same thing and in fact
I might just make something up to help you out and me at the same
time. I can see how this would be made and it would not take a
rocket scientist to make a unit that would work for you. It should be
easy to use but steady when in the up position.

I would drill another hole in the ladder or have someone weld on an
attachment so you could have that bar swing up and down and be able
to secure it when it was in the down position. You could attach a
limit switch to the bar so when it was down you could have an
indicator light.

You can get the basic Idea if you look at my picture I attached.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/1942...C02201.jpg

Jon

[Bob Lawrence]

Saw one of these a while back in the FMCA mag. It was a commercial
pole that went up the left side...can't remember the issue.
Bob Lawrence
84 PT36
Tacoma, Wa


>
> Ok, I'm not THAT old, but I am over 60 and climbing up the ladder
and
> getting onto the roof is a pain. I have to bend over at the top to
hold
> on as I get by feet on the platform. Then I stand up with nothing
to
> hold onto. Of course, to get down I have to do the reverse. My
knees
> sometimes give way for a moment and my balance reaction time ain't
what
> it used to be, so it feels pretty precarious standing on that
little
> platform till I get to the roof.
>
> So what I want is a retractable handrail extention at the top of
the
> ladder so I can get to the top standing up. Has anyone made
something
> like this or seen anything on the market. I have a fair idea of how
I
> would make it, but I am always open to anyones suggestions.
>
> It would also have too be wired so an alarm sounds if I leave it
up
> and try to drive off..(my memory ain't what it used to be either)
>
>
> Gardner
> 78FC33
>

[Gardner Yeaw]

Ernie,
The ring on the finger is a well known safety risk. When I worked
for IBM in the mainfrane equipment service field, the first thing you
did was take off all jewelry. Nothing like a gold ring shorted across
a 1200 amp power supply. (yes, I did say 1200 amp. The big mainframes
ran on a 1.5 volt level to supply tens of thousands of little
transistors). The really dumb thing was you had to wear a necktie and
white shirt while working on machines with high power motors spinning
all sorts of nifty things, and often covered with printing ink.

When you get down to it, a standard automotive battery will melt
that ring and burn your finger off just as well.

Once I stuck my head too close to a circuit board and zapped my
glasses, I thought they were non-conductive.

Gardner
'78FC33


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, erniecarpet@... wrote:
>
> Gardner, one of our friends, slipped on the articulated ladder and
caught
> his ring finger- with ring and pulled that finger right off. Ernie-
no rings,
> and trying to stay off the ladder.
>
> Ernie Ekberg
> 83PT40
> Livingston, Mt
>
>
>
>
> ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-
new AOL at
> http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

[Mike Hohnstein]

I hear ya on the no rings. Old boy I know got his crossed with the hot side of
a battery. Turned that ring red hot right now, one of the guys in the shop got
if off with side cutters. Grisley. He still has the scar.
MH
----- Original Message -----
From: erniecarpet@...
To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2007 7:49 PM
Subject: Re: [WanderlodgeForum] Old men and RV ladders


Gardner, one of our friends, slipped on the articulated ladder and caught
his ring finger- with ring and pulled that finger right off. Ernie- no rings,
and trying to stay off the ladder.

Ernie Ekberg
83PT40
Livingston, Mt

************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Gardner Yeaw]

Bob, Jon,
I put a rough picture of a powerpoint drawing of what I am thinking
of in the Photo's section under Gardner and Kathy's 78. Basically it
is a triangle frame hinged to the goat rail in two places, and a tube
within a tube hinged at one end on the ladder. It would provide
lateral stability and vertical movement.

Gardner
78FC33

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Lawrence"
wrote:
>
> Saw one of these a while back in the FMCA mag. It was a commercial
> pole that went up the left side...can't remember the issue.
> Bob Lawrence
> 84 PT36
> Tacoma, Wa
>
>
> >
> > Ok, I'm not THAT old, but I am over 60 and climbing up the
ladder
> and
> > getting onto the roof is a pain. I have to bend over at the top
to
> hold
> > on as I get by feet on the platform. Then I stand up with nothing
> to
> > hold onto. Of course, to get down I have to do the reverse. My
> knees
> > sometimes give way for a moment and my balance reaction time
ain't
> what
> > it used to be, so it feels pretty precarious standing on that
> little
> > platform till I get to the roof.
> >
> > So what I want is a retractable handrail extention at the top
of
> the
> > ladder so I can get to the top standing up. Has anyone made
> something
> > like this or seen anything on the market. I have a fair idea of
how
> I
> > would make it, but I am always open to anyones suggestions.
> >
> > It would also have too be wired so an alarm sounds if I leave
it
> up
> > and try to drive off..(my memory ain't what it used to be either)
> >
> >
> > Gardner
> > 78FC33
> >
>

[Hugh Turner]

Rings, fingers and maintenance never mix.When I in the Air Force did not see
it thank GOD but herd about a guy had his ring on got caught on a moving part
and took finger and nerve from the shoulder with it. Rings and Electricity use
Ohms law to figure out how many Watts are coming that bank of batteries. A DC
battery will do more body damage than 110VAC. Just my two cents worth.

Hugh Turner
84 PT40


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[truitt44@...>]

When I was in the Army I jumped out the back of a 2 1/2 ton truck and caught my
ring on the top hook wher the rear gate fastened. It cut the heck out of my
finger.
Howard T., S. Ga., 86 PT40
>
> From: Hugh Turner
> Date: 2007/07/27 Fri AM 09:45:35 EDT
> To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Old men and RV ladders
>
> Rings, fingers and maintenance never mix.When I in the Air Force did not see
it thank GOD but herd about a guy had his ring on got caught on a moving part
and took finger and nerve from the shoulder with it. Rings and Electricity use
Ohms law to figure out how many Watts are coming that bank of batteries. A DC
battery will do more body damage than 110VAC. Just my two cents worth.
>
> Hugh Turner
> 84 PT40
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>

[Jon]

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, wrote:
>
> When I was in the Army I jumped out the back of a 2 1/2 ton truck
and caught my ring on the top hook wher the rear gate fastened. It
cut the heck out of my finger.
> Howard T., S. Ga., 86 PT40
> >
> > From: Hugh Turner
> > Date: 2007/07/27 Fri AM 09:45:35 EDT
> > To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Old men and RV ladders
> >
> > Rings, fingers and maintenance never mix.When I in the Air
Force did not see it thank GOD but herd about a guy had his ring on
got caught on a moving part and took finger and nerve from the
shoulder with it. Rings and Electricity use Ohms law to figure out
how many Watts are coming that bank of batteries. A DC battery will
do more body damage than 110VAC. Just my two cents worth.
> >
> > Hugh Turner
> > 84 PT40
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Yep when I put my time down at Uncle Sams play yard (Pugent Sound
Naval Ship Yard) we were always told not to wear rings when working
aboard the ships. Also when way back when (60's) they wanted ust to
wear hair nets when operating drill presses and other fast moving
equipment. But now I wouldn't haft to worry about that hair net as
up top side its kind of sparse now! Oh well I've got my poor man
topay (Baseball cap) and that hinds allot of nothing up there!)

Jon
Rebel Bird
Bremerton

Car Show today and here's a picture of my old
42:http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/1942...dmother.jp
g
> >
> >
> >
>