Niwaki Tripod Ladders

Greatest ladder ever. Couldn’t live without it.

Thomas, Sweden.

The Niwaki Tripod Ladder is described by Monty Don as one of his five favourite gardening tools in the Telegraph. As used on BBC Gardeners’ World.

Size (open height)	Weight	Width	Spread	Folded Length	SSH*	Hedge (guide)	Steps**
4’ (1.2m)	4.9kg	95cm	92cm	1.32m	2’		4
6’ (1.8m)	6.5kg	1.25m	1.22m	1.94m	4’	6'-8'	6
6' (1.8m) EN Pro	8.4kg	125cm	149cm	187cm	112cm	6'-8'	6
8’ (2.4m)	8.3kg	1.25m	1.57m	2.59m	5’	8'-10'	8
8' (2.4m) EN Pro	10.6kg	125cm	190cm	247cm	140cm	8'-10'	8
10’ (3.0m)	10.5kg	1.45m	1.93m	3.17m	7’	10'-12'	10
10' (3.0m) EN Pro	13.5kg	147cm	231cm	307cm	197cm	10'-12'	10
12’ (3.6m)	12.1kg	1.45m	2.19m	3.81m	9’	12'-14'	12
12' (3.6m) EN Pro	16.8kg	147cm	272cm	367cm	253cm	12'-14'	12
15’ (4.5m)	17.7kg	1.45m	2.67m	4.67m	12’	15'-17'	15

*SSH: Safe Standing Height, 3 steps from the top. **Steps: includes the top

Unbelievably brilliant. Can’t describe how much we love it

Mrs B.

Ladder Bumpf

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 our ladders have full safety and user instructions included as factory fitted stickers. The EN Tripod ladder conforms to EN-131 standards for commercial use.

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. How flat is your garden? 

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.

Which Ladder

Good question, very hard to answer. Every garden, every gardener and every job is slightly different and what works for one might be useless for another. BUT there are a few basic truths.

Regular or EN Pro: the heavy duty EN rated ladders are designed for landscapers, tree surgeons and other tough jobs - but do perfectly well in private gardens. If the ladders are used day in, day out, or will be taking a heavy weight of more than 100kg, think about the EN Pro. Consider it a beefed-up version of our original Niwaki 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, the EN Pro is stronger, more robust, and more rigid, offering greater stability and user safety. For regular use, the  regular Niwaki Tripod Ladder will do you fine. 

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 (8' and up) the SSH is 3 steps from the top, so the top is effectively your handrail or something to lean against. On the 4' and 6' models, because they're smaller, 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.

Ladder	SSH	Arm Outstretched	Hedge Height
6' Tripod	3-4'	10'-11'	6'-8'
8' Tripod	5'	12'	8'-10'
10' Tripod	7'	14'	10'-12'
12' Tripod	9'	16'	12'-14'

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. Mum (pictured below) has no trouble at all moving the 10 footer around.

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 6 footer (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 our 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.

Load Bearing: Niwaki Tripod Ladder: 100kg, EN PRO Tripod Ladder 150kg