Choosing weight rating for fiberglass extension ladder

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m going to order a new fiberglass extension ladder from Home Depot, probably a leveling Werner model, to replace my aluminum Werner 20 ft ladder rated for 225 lbs. Should I get the 300 lb rated model, or the 375 lb rated model?

My motivation is that my old one isn’t sturdy enough. My weight’s around 230-240 so I’m clearly pushing my luck too far. I might have something as much as 20 lbs with me too. Moreover, I often use it on slightly uneven ground and am putting pieces of lumber under the downhill leg to make up 1/2", 1" or possibly as much as 1 1/2". And I’m 63. This has to stop!

I’m pretty sure either the 300 or the 375 will feel - and be - much safer, especially with manufacturer-built levelers rather than wood scraps. What I’m wondering is which I would like better. Tuppence is tuppence, yes, but I’m not really concerned with the price difference. I think the weight is the thing to care about. Will I appreciate the extra sturdiness or curse the difficulty of lifting and moving it?

Here are the things I use it for:

Decorating the Christmas tree, the top of which is 12’ max (I lean the ladder on our exposed beams).

Getting onto the house roof from the deck, the edge of the roof only being 9’ up (I put a metal strip in between the decking boards which prevents the ladder from sliding out at the bottom).

Working on things in my pole barn such as the dividing wall and my chain hoist trolley I-beam. The barn unfortunately has a slightly sloped dirt floor. I think the highest point I’ve driven a screw is 15’.

Getting up onto the pole barn roof, about 13’ up, which is the most scary thing I do; I’m seriously considering adding some kind of attachment block up there to lock the ladder in place so it’d be near impossible to make the ladder fall, just because I’m nervous about heights and have not worked on ladders all that much.

I’m also going to go running around with a tape measure to evaluate whether I could get by with a shorter ladder; I don’t think I have ever used my 20’ ladder fully extended (17’).

So which will I be happier with, the heavier 300 lb rated one, or the extra-heavier 375 lb rated one?

Or for that matter is there some other option I should be considering?

Thank you Dopers!

2

I am a working electrician and spend a lot of time on my ladders. Always go with the heavier duty ladder. It will be safer and more durable.

3

Double your weight. Buy that one. Gravity can be a bitch.

4

Two strong votes, at least one professional, for the heavier. Thank you!

I got my heights a little bit off. The house roof is only 8’ up. But the barn roof is 14’ up, even a little more scary. Does not sound like I can go with a shorter ladder, it’ll be 20’.

5

Agree with longhair75. I had a POS ladder for a while, and now won’t use it. Better ladders are always best. Now, it’s gonna be a bit heavier to carry around.

As far as your poll barn, why not build a permanent ladder? Some 2x6 and 2x4 should do the job. Make sure you can extend one side so you have a hand hold on top. Lot’s of ways to do that.

I did that to get on top of my chimney structure so I could sweep it out. I attached removeable ‘rail, handhold’ to the side of the permanent ladder with two big bolts and wing nuts. The 2x4 was longer in one direction. And then when climbing I could easily undo the 2x4, flip it end for end reattach it to the side of the permanent ladder and have a ‘rail’, something to grab on once I got to the top. Still scared the shit out of me, but it helped.

I don’t do that anymore thank god.

If you just use a ladder, and do it often, definitely put some blocks up on your pole barn.

6

The problem is that as you older you get less and less able to handle heavy ladders. I’ve given up on handling my 28 foot Werner fiberglass ladder.

In any event also get a straight ladder for shorter heights. A 12 foot straight ladder will weigh about half as much as your 20 foot extension ladder and it will be twice as easy to handle. They have 8’, 10’, 12’, 14’, 16’ and 18’ straight ladders.

7

The solution for that is the rule that you should never be doing ladder work alone. Always have a helper/co-conspirator for your projects.

8

I ordered the 375 lb rated ladder. It has leveling extensions, too. Per PastTense’s suggestion I will also give serious consideration to getting a shorter extension ladder but similar, though this isn’t a safety issue but rather an ease issue and hence not urgent. Since I will have the 20’ model I could go quite a bit shorter, as I can always fall back on the longer one. Correction, let’s say, I can always rely on the longer one.

9

As a nervous climber, I find that a more substantial ladder is always better.

That being said - as a guy who used to sell a few ladders - there is a safety factor of 3 to 1 in the rating. So the 300 lb ladder was successfully tested for 900 lbs.