Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Ladder Storage Project

In the last post I mentioned purchasing some hardware for a project. I've two long extension ladders that I need to store out of the way. They are both 16 footers so even when collapsed, they are just a tad over 8 feet long making them too long to go into the shed (even if there were room!). I could hang them on the inside wall of the garage just below the windows but two ladders would have to go on a single set of hangers and then they would stick out a bit too far for comfort even if the little yellow Aveo is the only vehicle in there.

Instead, I think I will hang them under the deck from the deck floor joists. One end of the hanging mechanism will be a fixed bracket and the other end will be a rope and pulley system. The bottom of the joists are about 9 feet in the air leaving plenty of room to suspend the ladders beneath them and still leave 8 feet of head room. I'll be able to insert the one end of the ladders into the fixed bracket and then raise the other using the rope and pulley. I'll mount a pair of cleats on one of the 6" x 6" support posts to tie the rope to once the ladder has been raised.

It shouldn't take long to complete the installation of the fixed hanger which I pieced together this evening from some 1" x 3" rough sawn lumber that served as separators of the logs in our building kit. (I've got lots of those!) The pulleys will go up with equal speed as they will get hung from screw hooks. All I need is about an hour to do the job. As the ladders are currently sitting on the ground under the deck, this arrangement should get them out of the way and provide a little more protection to them.

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