Which ladder to choose? Good question, without a straightforward answer. Every garden, every gardener and every job is slightly different and what works for one might be less suitable for another, BUT, there are a few basic truths…
Original or EN Pro Adjustable:
The heavy duty EN Pro Adjustable Tripod Ladders are designed for landscapers, tree surgeons and other tough jobs - but do perfectly well in private gardens. If the ladders are used by employees, or will be taking a heavy weight of more than 100kg, or used intensively, day in, day out, they are essential, even without the adjustable legs. Consider it a beefed-up version of the original Tripod Ladder, conforming to EN-131 standards, assuring professionals, employers and all demanding gardeners of the quality and safety of these remarkable ladders. With a load bearing of 150kg, reinforced lower rungs and a chunkier back leg, it is stronger, more robust, and more rigid, offering greater stability and user safety. For regular domestic use, the Original Tripod Ladder will do you fine - although it is not suitable, or rated, for trade or commercial use. If you need the adjustable front legs - for full versatility - go for the EN Pro Adjustable.
Size:
Using our SSH (Safe Standing Height) combined with your own height, and the height of the job in hand, we can fairly accurately say what size ladder you need (for a specific job). On the larger ladders (7' and up) the SSH is 3 steps from the top, so the top is effectively your handrail or something to lean against. On the smaller ladders, the SSH is officially 2 steps from the top, but for more cautious users we still recommend 3. So, using the 8 footer as an example, you can stand, comfortably and safely, at 5'. Let’s say you’re 6' tall, which means the top of your head is at 11' and you can reach to about 12', arm outstretched. For hedge pruning, where ideally you want to be working between waist and chest height, you’ll have a working height of 8-10'. Of course it’s higher if you’re taller than 6', and lower if shorter.
The ANSI 15' Tripod Ladder is enormous - far too big for most gardens, and very hard to manoeuvre. We only deliver this ladder in our own vehicle. Please contact us to discuss, before ordering.
Weight:
They’re all remarkably light, and folded up into a lump of aluminium, in a suitcase, would seem like nothing at all. What they are, though, is tall, and wide. Moving them around, especially when you’re deep in the undergrowth and you need to move a few feet, can be tricky: the legs stick out wider than you think, and the taller ladders can be top heavy. Taller people tend to hold the ladder higher up, so this is less of a problem - for shorter people it can be a real bore. Keiko, who is Japanese-height, finds using the 8 footer fine, but not the 10 footer.
All-rounder:
Just like everything else, there’s no such thing as the perfect all-round ladder (even though we like to think we get pretty close.) If your ladder is for one job - great. If it’s for general use, there are a couple of points to consider. If you think you need the biggest one, think again. It will be great for a few jobs, but it will be OTT for lots more: we always suggest getting the size that will get the most use, and point out that even if you get the biggest, it still won’t be big enough for some jobs. Personally, my favourite ladder is the 7' Adjustable (and you can guess how many I have to choose from). Think also about where the ladder will live, whether it will travel, and who else might use it.
Slopes:
All the tripod ladders have an adjustable back leg, with a spring-pin that extends (by 6") or shortens (upto 18") in 6" stops. So working into a slope is fine (always try and work into, not down, the slope). The EN Pro Adjustable has adjustable front legs too, adjusting in 5cm increments to cater for sideways level changes of up to 40cm.
Load Bearing:
- Original Tripod Ladder: 100kg
- EN Pro Adjustable Tripod Ladder 150kg
Tripod ladders are used all over Japan by gardeners and nurserymen. Our customers include tree surgeons, topiary specialists, head gardeners, orchard owners, hedging contractors and landscapers, as well as countless keen gardeners who all appreciate the stability and practicality of the tripod design.
We import directly from our Japanese manufacturer Hasegawa Kogyo’s factory in China, and keep stock of all models in our warehouse in Shaftesbury.
Hasegawa have the reputation for making the best quality and safest tripod ladders in use today - their production conforms to JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards).
Ask any gardener in Japan which ladders they use and they all say the same thing: Hasegawa.
- All the ladders have full safety and user instructions included as factory fitted stickers
- The EN Pro Adjustable Tripod Ladder conforms to EN-131 standards for commercial use
- The 15' ANSI is a heavy duty ladder, rated to US standards, and although it conforms to EN standards, is not certified as such
The wide base, deep steps and telescopic back leg, as well as clawed feet and flat top make them incredibly safe and easy to use.
Rather like in the design of the Eiffel tower, your weight is directed downwards and outwards, pinning the ladder to the ground.
The back leg adjusts quickly and easily up to 18" in 6" stops with a spring-loaded pin, extending 6" and shortening 12" for use on slopes and steps.
The front legs of the EN Pro Adjustable Tripod Ladder adjust in 5cm increments, allowing for a 40cm level change.
The welded, extruded aluminium construction is weatherproof, strong, and very light. Double rungs are easy on the feet, and don’t get muddy or slippery.
Use the Rubber Feet on all hard surfaces - tarmac, concrete, patios, flooring etc, to ensure sound footing, but not on grass or soil.
Jake, intrepid adventurer that he was in those days, is in Japan. Why? That’s another story, but Japan it is, working at the Furukawa nursery in a small village called Kannan Cho, near the town of Tondabayashi in Osaka. Along with the three Furukawa brothers, A-chan, Kan-chan and Ya-chan, daily duties include an awful lot of clambering about on ladders, and Jake, being the youngest, the newest, the keenest and by far the most gullible, seems more often than not to get the tallest ladder.
At this point Jake doesn’t really appreciate the ladders he uses - the work itself, the language and the summer heat are his main concerns. Day one involves chopping bamboo from the bamboo grove - not puny 6' canes like we use here, but enormous poles of Phyllostachys edulis, so wide you couldn’t get your hands around them, and so long that they could be cut into three stout 15' poles. These poles are then driven over to a field of olive trees (this is another story altogether: Furukawa had started growing olive trees, bought from a huge nursery in Shikoku, for sale to the new style of western gardens being built. The olives were doing their olivey thing, growing outwards but not upwards, and our job that day was to train a leader up from the middle of the tree to encourage a bit more height…) the afternoon involves Jake, right at the top of a 12' tripod ladder, tying in leaders to bamboo poles, with A-chan, Kan-chan and Ya-chan watching from below, smoking, chatting and probably having a good old giggle.
It’s not until Jake is back in England that he really begins to appreciate the ladders he was using in Japan - faced with a rickety old step ladder, wobbling like mad, twisting under pressure, legs sinking into the ground, the tripod design suddenly makes perfect sense, and much to his delight, brother-in-law Haruyasu ships over a couple as a present. (One of these is still in use today, fifteen years later. The other disappeared a few years ago in rather suspicious circumstances.) Using these two ladders, Jake realises just how good they are, and soon after, other people start realising too. Not long after that, a container full of ladders aboard a big boat floats gracefully into Southampton docks, and the Niwaki story begins.
