Leg leveled luxury or necessity

Hey guys, so I’m in the process of buying a ladder (little giant 22) to get ready for the up coming gutter cleaning season. How ever, being a new business money is tight and little giant makes two 22 foot ladders one with leg leveled and one with out. There is about $230.00 difference between the two. In your opinion are leg levelers a luxury or Necessity.

For gutters why not get an extension? Way cheaper.

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I faced the same dilemma when I was buying mine. I opted for “without” and have been fine so far (2 years).

I believe the leveling system also adds about 10 lbs to the total weight of the equivalent model, and those ladders are already more bulky than your average fiberglass step ladder.

I also live in coastal FL, which is not known for having uneven terrain. YMMV

I bought this -
Cosco
17 ft. Aluminum Telescoping Multi-Position Ladder with 300 lb. Load Capacity Type IA Duty Rating
Its super light and super strong and i can do so much with it I have had it for years and it is amazing! Im also getting the larger one next, and i just recently added these because i ran into toooooooo many jobs with un-even topography!

LeveLok Ladder Permanet Mount Style Leveler (LL-STB-1AL)

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cosco-17-ft-Aluminum-Telescoping-Multi-Position-Ladder-with-300-lb-Load-Capacity-Type-IA-Duty-Rating-20127T1ASE/300364635

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Ide love an extension ladder but right now I’m working out of a car that is leased. So right now the only option is a ladder I can put in the back seat.

That’s my dilemma also the one day I get to a job and need them and don’t have them I’m gonna be pist but ide rather save an extra 250 dollars if I can as I’m saving for a truck, new equipment, advertising after the winter to really try and grow my business

Yes leg levelers are a necessity when doing ladder work, you will run into uneven terrain.
Get a 24’ extension ladder with standoff (so you don’t ruin gutters leaning a ladder against them.)
You can strap the ladder to the roof of the car. Many people do it every day.
A 17’ ladder most of the time will not get you to a second story roof line.

Leg levelers are a necessity for safety positioning that ladder footing

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Until you get a vehicle with a roof rack pick up a couple sets of foam kayak racks and strap whatever you need to the roof.
Don’t let that limit you, there are ways around everything.
662048

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Wow that’s a cool idea. Does one strap go on the roof while the other one feed thru that channel to hold everything down?

luxury lol
I Don’t have one, occasionally there might be instances where one would help
I might buy on of these if the job called for no other way to do the job.

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Yes, one set holds the foam support in place. For a ladder you can add additional ratchet straps with front and back tie downs to help hold it in place. As with any add on like this instead of a solid attached roof rack common sense rules the day.
It is temporary until one chooses another vehicle or gets a permanent roof rack installed.
Be a business not a hobby. Sacrifices today pay off for tomorrow.

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This intrigues me.

I am not enthusiastic about installing a roof rack on my van because after many years of working on and owning a commercial fishing boat I hate putting holes in overheads. Even with caulking and sealing, etc. they start to leak, largely due to extreme temperature fluctuations in Alaska.

The seasons are changing so I can add a couple of comments now. :grinning:

We clean a LOT of gutters. It is all we do from November to March. A few roof cleanings thrown in on warm days.

Levelok is the best one out there. You will pay for it, but they last forever.

Extension ladders and ladder stabilizer bars are a must! I have been doing it 11 years now and I would never climb any ladder without the stabilizer bars. Ours are fixed on all ladders.

So I was planning on buying a little giant revolution 22 foot ladder with leg levelers… would you trust the LG as an extension ladder to clean gutters.

Its not really about trust imo, the ladder will do the job however its gonna be a great deal heavier than an extension ladder.

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The topography in my area is either hillside or kind of level but lumpy and/or soft. Not prime ladder terrain. I just finished sending off my order for these:

That levelizer is so scary!

Shortly after reading this thread I was chatting with my neighbor about ladder work. He’s a painter and does much more ladder work than me. He showed me his levelizer and said he just loves it, particularly on stairs, so I want to try it out.

I use sectionals so a ladder leveler really isn’t necessary but I use to carry a little giant leveler on the truck just in case.

Now I carry a mini pivot tool.

That’s a 12” squeegee

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