Jim,

Thanks for the reply.

On Mon, 11 May 2009 15:14:11 -0700 (PDT), Jim Wilkins wrote:
On May 11, 9:03*am, Frnak McKenney
wrote:

How do you use the extension pole? Vertically ("ladderless"), or
horizontally ("less ladder-shifting")? What to you use at the end of
it?

Frank McKenney

I made gutter hangers that don't block the top out of 1/8" aluminum
strips.

Ah! Mine were "professionally" installed using cross-supports ("stick
barriers" at cleaning time) screwed into a long face strip. At least,
_most_ of them were screwed in. Grump!

Did you do this, that is, install the gutters, from scratch?? Or just
replace... er, re-hang existing gutters?

... The scoop is a Home Depot 'Gutter Getter", which they don't
seem to carry now, bolted crosswise to the end of the pole with a
diagonal brace to the handle of the scoop.

Okay. Once you've eliminated the barriers, and set the ladder up once,
your only limitation would seem to be the length of pole you can work
with while balanced on the ladder. Heck, with those logjam hangers
out of the way, my Looj might even work.

... The top section of pole is
a wooden broomstick since the wires hang close to the gutter.

My telephone and fiber cables are in the way on one run, but after
re-reading I realized that you're probably talking about _power_
lines. Ack!

My front gutters are two stories up and often clogged with catkins and
leaves from the overhanging oaks. Leaves aren't too bad but when the
gutters are half full of muck I can only scoop out a foot or two at a
time.

If you had a Trained Assistant runing below with a large bucket, you
could replace the scoop with a "tilted wedge" shaped to the gutter
that would get under the sludge and firce it up and over. Hm. Guess
you'd need two so you could work both ways from the ladder.

(It's a lot more fun to design something for someone _else_; you don't
have to deal with the inevitable Unforseen Consequences. grin!)

The gutters wrap around the ends of the roof overhang to reach the
downspouts, which are straight. I ran short pieces of gutter straight
through the downspout tee fittings and cut a large drain hole in the
bottom. There are no end caps so I can push debris out the end.

The downspouts are screwed to and supported by wall brackets at the
lower end only so they are simple to remove from the ground when they
clog at the top. I had to loosen the fit at the tee to make them go
back on easily enough.

Ah! That leaves the lower bracket supporting the entire weight of the
downspout; not a problem?

Thanks for the description. You've started several trains of thought;
now all I have to do is get one to the station before it derails.
grin!


Frank
--
Everything has to start with fantasy... Knowledge is what
you finish up with, if you're lucky, after you've done the
hard work -- but the hard work needs passion to drive it.
People need reasons to be interested, reasons to be committed,
reasons to do their damndest to find the truth.
-- Brian Stableford / Dark Ararat
--
Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates
Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887
Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney ayut mined spring dawt cahm (y'all)