I needed to reach something a few days ago and found that my 6 ft
stepladder wasn't quite long enough but there wasn't room enough to
fit one of the segments of my extension ladder. Now, I'm sure I could
have rigged something that would have been adequate, but I've reached
an age where falling off of a rigged ladder has lost all appeal (if I
want to bust my ass my motorcycle is quite sufficient to the task).
So I figured an 8 footer would do the job. So down to Home Despot I
go. Looked at the ladders, looked at the prices. As usual looked at
the Little Giant and looked at the price and said "well, if I didn't
already have a decent stepladder and a decent extension ladder . .
..". But this time sitting next to the Little Giant was something
called a "Gorilla Ladder" and the price was about the same as the 8
foot stepladder sitting next to it. So I poked and prodded it and
decided "what the Hell, I'm not gonna use it that often, so even if it
sucks it should't be a problem".

Got it home, set it up, and it turns out that it doesn't suck. Does
everything they say it does, and if I get the feet set straight it's
as solid as my other ladders. It's got practically no give to it at
all though, so if the feet aren't set straight it's not going to twist
to accomodate, it's going to wobble instead. Comes with a second
connector to allow it to be used as two scaffold stands or sawhorses
or whatever--that's fixed, not adjustable, in a nice plastic case.
The adjustment latches are quite rugged looking, big solid aluminum
pins going deep into their holes. They were pretty stiff at first--I
sprayed them with some Teflon lube and they smoothed right out. The
one at the top needs a little fiddling to seat now and again--I
suspect that that may smooth out with use.

Now, it has some downsides. The biggest is that it's _heavy_. Not
unmanageably so, but heavier than one expects a ladder of its
collapsed height to be. Adjusting the spread needs to be done before
adjusting the height unless you lay it down first--you have to be able
to reach to the top of it fairly easily to adjust the spread. It
doesn't work leaned against a wall at the lowest height--try it and
you find that it rests on the back legs, not the front, and tries to
tip toward you--raise the front a notch and it's OK. Doesn't have any
kind of platform at the top like a regular step ladder, there's no
place to rest stuff. Little Giant addresses this by throwing in a
work platform--you can get a similar one premade for 40 bucks or just
cobble something up that rests on a couple of rungs.

Might or might not be as durable as the Little Giant--it's partly
welded, partly riveted, and the non-welded rungs pass right through
the rails so I don't think _they_ are going anywhere.

On balance I like it--I think that I'm going to end up using it
instead of the extension ladder for heights within its reach, but not
instead of the stepladder unless I need to go higher than the
stepladder can reach.

They also have a shorter, lighter one that does all the same tricks
but doesn't reach as high. I got the 21', the other one is 13'--I
didn't check the price on it.



--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

I have had the "3' when collapsed" Gorilla for 2 or 3 years and have had the
Little Giant "5' when collapsed" for about 6 years. IMHO the Gorilla is as
capable as the Little Giant.

That said, things that I have noticed are that the Little Giant hinge locks
do lock every time and have never missed an occasion to lock properly on
both sides. The Gorilla has failed to automatically lock on me with me
going up the ladder on a tile floor. This has happened on numerous
occasions on other surfaces. I now always look to make sure the hinges
lock, something you should be aware of and probably should do anyway.
Another slight problem is when collapsing the Gorilla the outer section will
not fully collapse unless it is perfectly centered between the bottom step
braces. This has never been a problem with the Little Giant. These two
annoying items would keep me from buying again if I used the ladders daily,
but I don't.
FYI the Little Giant rep recommended using Endust to lube the ladder.




"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
I needed to reach something a few days ago and found that my 6 ft
stepladder wasn't quite long enough but there wasn't room enough to
fit one of the segments of my extension ladder. Now, I'm sure I could
have rigged something that would have been adequate, but I've reached
an age where falling off of a rigged ladder has lost all appeal (if I
want to bust my ass my motorcycle is quite sufficient to the task).
So I figured an 8 footer would do the job. So down to Home Despot I
go. Looked at the ladders, looked at the prices. As usual looked at
the Little Giant and looked at the price and said "well, if I didn't
already have a decent stepladder and a decent extension ladder . .
.". But this time sitting next to the Little Giant was something
called a "Gorilla Ladder" and the price was about the same as the 8
foot stepladder sitting next to it. So I poked and prodded it and
decided "what the Hell, I'm not gonna use it that often, so even if it
sucks it should't be a problem".

Got it home, set it up, and it turns out that it doesn't suck. Does
everything they say it does, and if I get the feet set straight it's
as solid as my other ladders. It's got practically no give to it at
all though, so if the feet aren't set straight it's not going to twist
to accomodate, it's going to wobble instead. Comes with a second
connector to allow it to be used as two scaffold stands or sawhorses
or whatever--that's fixed, not adjustable, in a nice plastic case.
The adjustment latches are quite rugged looking, big solid aluminum
pins going deep into their holes. They were pretty stiff at first--I
sprayed them with some Teflon lube and they smoothed right out. The
one at the top needs a little fiddling to seat now and again--I
suspect that that may smooth out with use.

Now, it has some downsides. The biggest is that it's _heavy_. Not
unmanageably so, but heavier than one expects a ladder of its
collapsed height to be. Adjusting the spread needs to be done before
adjusting the height unless you lay it down first--you have to be able
to reach to the top of it fairly easily to adjust the spread. It
doesn't work leaned against a wall at the lowest height--try it and
you find that it rests on the back legs, not the front, and tries to
tip toward you--raise the front a notch and it's OK. Doesn't have any
kind of platform at the top like a regular step ladder, there's no
place to rest stuff. Little Giant addresses this by throwing in a
work platform--you can get a similar one premade for 40 bucks or just
cobble something up that rests on a couple of rungs.

Might or might not be as durable as the Little Giant--it's partly
welded, partly riveted, and the non-welded rungs pass right through
the rails so I don't think _they_ are going anywhere.

On balance I like it--I think that I'm going to end up using it
instead of the extension ladder for heights within its reach, but not
instead of the stepladder unless I need to go higher than the
stepladder can reach.

They also have a shorter, lighter one that does all the same tricks
but doesn't reach as high. I got the 21', the other one is 13'--I
didn't check the price on it.



--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

On Dec 22, 11:46*am, "J. Clarke" wrote:
I needed to reach something a few days ago and found that my 6 ft
stepladder wasn't quite long enough but there wasn't room enough to
fit one of the segments of my extension ladder. *Now, I'm sure I could
have rigged something that would have been adequate, but I've reached
an age where falling off of a rigged ladder has lost all appeal (if I
want to bust my ass my motorcycle is quite sufficient to the task).
So I figured an 8 footer would do the job. *So down to Home Despot I
go. *Looked at the ladders, looked at the prices. *As usual looked at
the Little Giant and looked at the price and said "well, if I didn't
already have a decent stepladder and a decent extension ladder . *.
.". *But this time sitting next to the Little Giant was something
called a "Gorilla Ladder" and the price was about the same as the 8
foot stepladder sitting next to it. *So I poked and prodded it and
decided "what the Hell, I'm not gonna use it that often, so even if it
sucks it should't be a problem".

Got it home, set it up, and it turns out that it doesn't suck. *Does
everything they say it does, and if I get the feet set straight it's
as solid as my other ladders. *It's got practically no give to it at
all though, so if the feet aren't set straight it's not going to twist
to accomodate, it's going to wobble instead. *Comes with a second
connector to allow it to be used as two scaffold stands or sawhorses
or whatever--that's fixed, not adjustable, in a nice plastic case.
The adjustment latches are quite rugged looking, big solid aluminum
pins going deep into their holes. *They were pretty stiff at first--I
sprayed them with some Teflon lube and they smoothed right out. *The
one at the top needs a little fiddling to seat now and again--I
suspect that that may smooth out with use.

Now, it has some downsides. *The biggest is that it's _heavy_. *Not
unmanageably so, but heavier than one expects a ladder of its
collapsed height to be. *Adjusting the spread needs to be done before
adjusting the height unless you lay it down first--you have to be able
to reach to the top of it fairly easily to adjust the spread. *It
doesn't work leaned against a wall at the lowest height--try it and
you find that it rests on the back legs, not the front, and tries to
tip toward you--raise the front a notch and it's OK. *Doesn't have any
kind of platform at the top like a regular step ladder, there's no
place to rest stuff. *Little Giant addresses this by throwing in a
work platform--you can get a similar one premade for 40 bucks or just
cobble something up that rests on a couple of rungs.

Might or might not be as durable as the Little Giant--it's partly
welded, partly riveted, and the non-welded *rungs pass right through
the rails so I don't think _they_ are going anywhere.

On balance I like it--I think that I'm going to end up using it
instead of the extension ladder for heights within its reach, but not
instead of the stepladder unless I need to go higher than the
stepladder can reach.

They also have a shorter, lighter one that does all the same tricks
but doesn't reach as high. *I got the 21', the other one is 13'--I
didn't check the price on it.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

What is important to me is not so much the versatility but the comfort
(width) of the treads, the weight (lack thereof) and the non-
conductive character of fibre glass. I have 3 that do I all need, and
when I need a tall one, I call somebody who has one, and have him
climb it.
The big wide treads are the big deal for me.

Leon took a can of maroon spray paint on December 22, 2007 12:43 pm and
wrote the following:

I have had the "3' when collapsed" Gorilla for 2 or 3 years and have had
the
Little Giant "5' when collapsed" for about 6 years. IMHO the Gorilla is
as capable as the Little Giant.

That said, things that I have noticed are that the Little Giant hinge
locks do lock every time and have never missed an occasion to lock
properly on
both sides. The Gorilla has failed to automatically lock on me with me
going up the ladder on a tile floor. This has happened on numerous
occasions on other surfaces.

Just put a little Gorilla glue on the locks.
;-)
--
Lits Slut #9
Life would be so much easier if we could just look at the source code.

Robatoy wrote:
On Dec 22, 11:46 am, "J. Clarke" wrote:
I needed to reach something a few days ago and found that my 6 ft
stepladder wasn't quite long enough but there wasn't room enough to
fit one of the segments of my extension ladder. Now, I'm sure I
could
have rigged something that would have been adequate, but I've
reached
an age where falling off of a rigged ladder has lost all appeal (if
I
want to bust my ass my motorcycle is quite sufficient to the task).
So I figured an 8 footer would do the job. So down to Home Despot I
go. Looked at the ladders, looked at the prices. As usual looked at
the Little Giant and looked at the price and said "well, if I
didn't
already have a decent stepladder and a decent extension ladder . .
.". But this time sitting next to the Little Giant was something
called a "Gorilla Ladder" and the price was about the same as the 8
foot stepladder sitting next to it. So I poked and prodded it and
decided "what the Hell, I'm not gonna use it that often, so even if
it sucks it should't be a problem".

Got it home, set it up, and it turns out that it doesn't suck. Does
everything they say it does, and if I get the feet set straight
it's
as solid as my other ladders. It's got practically no give to it at
all though, so if the feet aren't set straight it's not going to
twist to accomodate, it's going to wobble instead. Comes with a
second connector to allow it to be used as two scaffold stands or
sawhorses or whatever--that's fixed, not adjustable, in a nice
plastic case. The adjustment latches are quite rugged looking, big
solid aluminum pins going deep into their holes. They were pretty
stiff at first--I sprayed them with some Teflon lube and they
smoothed right out. The one at the top needs a little fiddling to
seat now and again--I suspect that that may smooth out with use.

Now, it has some downsides. The biggest is that it's _heavy_. Not
unmanageably so, but heavier than one expects a ladder of its
collapsed height to be. Adjusting the spread needs to be done
before
adjusting the height unless you lay it down first--you have to be
able to reach to the top of it fairly easily to adjust the spread.
It
doesn't work leaned against a wall at the lowest height--try it and
you find that it rests on the back legs, not the front, and tries
to
tip toward you--raise the front a notch and it's OK. Doesn't have
any
kind of platform at the top like a regular step ladder, there's no
place to rest stuff. Little Giant addresses this by throwing in a
work platform--you can get a similar one premade for 40 bucks or
just
cobble something up that rests on a couple of rungs.

Might or might not be as durable as the Little Giant--it's partly
welded, partly riveted, and the non-welded rungs pass right through
the rails so I don't think _they_ are going anywhere.

On balance I like it--I think that I'm going to end up using it
instead of the extension ladder for heights within its reach, but
not
instead of the stepladder unless I need to go higher than the
stepladder can reach.

They also have a shorter, lighter one that does all the same tricks
but doesn't reach as high. I got the 21', the other one is 13'--I
didn't check the price on it.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

What is important to me is not so much the versatility but the
comfort
(width) of the treads, the weight (lack thereof) and the non-
conductive character of fibre glass. I have 3 that do I all need,
and
when I need a tall one, I call somebody who has one, and have him
climb it.
The big wide treads are the big deal for me.

When it's extended the treads on the non-overlapped sections are
fairly narrow--on the overlapped sections though the width of the two
together is OK.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

We needed a replacement for our 30 year old extension ladder this summer;
and did a pretty good source-selection on Gorilla, Werner, Little Giant. We
ended up with a 22' Werner but it was nearly an equal with the Gorilla. The
Little Giant didn't make the final cut beacause of the cost and cheesy way
the attach the tops when used in dual short-ladder/scaffod configuration.
The little whells appeared to be useless in outside applications. Obviously
Little Giant spends too much money on annoying TV ads because some dealers
had them at around $100 more than the others.

I agree with your assessment on weight. We found the Gorilla and Werner to
be heavy. They are also a little cumbersome to lift at the extended length.
However, in use they weren't that hard to extend from the vertical position.
I spent a house-worth-of-painting on the extension ladder this summer and
found it to be very stable. The ability to adjust leg lengths make those
kinds of ladders very useful for getting over landscaping or woking on
uneven ground. They make a great step ladder too.

Again, I'm basing comments on the Werner; but except for the
stepladder-configuration top joining method, they are pretty much equal.

RonB

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
I needed to reach something a few days ago and found that my 6 ft
stepladder wasn't quite long enough but there wasn't room enough to
fit one of the segments of my extension ladder. Now, I'm sure I could
have rigged something that would have been adequate, but I've reached
an age where falling off of a rigged ladder has lost all appeal (if I
want to bust my ass my motorcycle is quite sufficient to the task).
So I figured an 8 footer would do the job. So down to Home Despot I
go. Looked at the ladders, looked at the prices. As usual looked at
the Little Giant and looked at the price and said "well, if I didn't
already have a decent stepladder and a decent extension ladder . .
.". But this time sitting next to the Little Giant was something
called a "Gorilla Ladder" and the price was about the same as the 8
foot stepladder sitting next to it. So I poked and prodded it and
decided "what the Hell, I'm not gonna use it that often, so even if it
sucks it should't be a problem".

Got it home, set it up, and it turns out that it doesn't suck. Does
everything they say it does, and if I get the feet set straight it's
as solid as my other ladders. It's got practically no give to it at
all though, so if the feet aren't set straight it's not going to twist
to accomodate, it's going to wobble instead. Comes with a second
connector to allow it to be used as two scaffold stands or sawhorses
or whatever--that's fixed, not adjustable, in a nice plastic case.
The adjustment latches are quite rugged looking, big solid aluminum
pins going deep into their holes. They were pretty stiff at first--I
sprayed them with some Teflon lube and they smoothed right out. The
one at the top needs a little fiddling to seat now and again--I
suspect that that may smooth out with use.

Now, it has some downsides. The biggest is that it's _heavy_. Not
unmanageably so, but heavier than one expects a ladder of its
collapsed height to be. Adjusting the spread needs to be done before
adjusting the height unless you lay it down first--you have to be able
to reach to the top of it fairly easily to adjust the spread. It
doesn't work leaned against a wall at the lowest height--try it and
you find that it rests on the back legs, not the front, and tries to
tip toward you--raise the front a notch and it's OK. Doesn't have any
kind of platform at the top like a regular step ladder, there's no
place to rest stuff. Little Giant addresses this by throwing in a
work platform--you can get a similar one premade for 40 bucks or just
cobble something up that rests on a couple of rungs.

Might or might not be as durable as the Little Giant--it's partly
welded, partly riveted, and the non-welded rungs pass right through
the rails so I don't think _they_ are going anywhere.

On balance I like it--I think that I'm going to end up using it
instead of the extension ladder for heights within its reach, but not
instead of the stepladder unless I need to go higher than the
stepladder can reach.

They also have a shorter, lighter one that does all the same tricks
but doesn't reach as high. I got the 21', the other one is 13'--I
didn't check the price on it.



--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Whew - Obviously I'm used to having an editor available.

RonB

"RonB" wrote in message
...
We needed a replacement for our 30 year old extension ladder this summer;
and did a pretty good source-selection on Gorilla, Werner, Little Giant.
We ended up with a 22' Werner but it was nearly an equal with the Gorilla.
The Little Giant didn't make the final cut beacause of the cost and cheesy
way the attach the tops when used in dual short-ladder/scaffod
configuration. The little whells appeared to be useless in outside
applications. Obviously Little Giant spends too much money on annoying TV
ads because some dealers had them at around $100 more than the others.

I agree with your assessment on weight. We found the Gorilla and Werner
to be heavy. They are also a little cumbersome to lift at the extended
length. However, in use they weren't that hard to extend from the vertical
position. I spent a house-worth-of-painting on the extension ladder this
summer and found it to be very stable. The ability to adjust leg lengths
make those kinds of ladders very useful for getting over landscaping or
woking on uneven ground. They make a great step ladder too.

Again, I'm basing comments on the Werner; but except for the
stepladder-configuration top joining method, they are pretty much equal.

RonB

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
I needed to reach something a few days ago and found that my 6 ft
stepladder wasn't quite long enough but there wasn't room enough to
fit one of the segments of my extension ladder. Now, I'm sure I could
have rigged something that would have been adequate, but I've reached
an age where falling off of a rigged ladder has lost all appeal (if I
want to bust my ass my motorcycle is quite sufficient to the task).
So I figured an 8 footer would do the job. So down to Home Despot I
go. Looked at the ladders, looked at the prices. As usual looked at
the Little Giant and looked at the price and said "well, if I didn't
already have a decent stepladder and a decent extension ladder . .
.". But this time sitting next to the Little Giant was something
called a "Gorilla Ladder" and the price was about the same as the 8
foot stepladder sitting next to it. So I poked and prodded it and
decided "what the Hell, I'm not gonna use it that often, so even if it
sucks it should't be a problem".

Got it home, set it up, and it turns out that it doesn't suck. Does
everything they say it does, and if I get the feet set straight it's
as solid as my other ladders. It's got practically no give to it at
all though, so if the feet aren't set straight it's not going to twist
to accomodate, it's going to wobble instead. Comes with a second
connector to allow it to be used as two scaffold stands or sawhorses
or whatever--that's fixed, not adjustable, in a nice plastic case.
The adjustment latches are quite rugged looking, big solid aluminum
pins going deep into their holes. They were pretty stiff at first--I
sprayed them with some Teflon lube and they smoothed right out. The
one at the top needs a little fiddling to seat now and again--I
suspect that that may smooth out with use.

Now, it has some downsides. The biggest is that it's _heavy_. Not
unmanageably so, but heavier than one expects a ladder of its
collapsed height to be. Adjusting the spread needs to be done before
adjusting the height unless you lay it down first--you have to be able
to reach to the top of it fairly easily to adjust the spread. It
doesn't work leaned against a wall at the lowest height--try it and
you find that it rests on the back legs, not the front, and tries to
tip toward you--raise the front a notch and it's OK. Doesn't have any
kind of platform at the top like a regular step ladder, there's no
place to rest stuff. Little Giant addresses this by throwing in a
work platform--you can get a similar one premade for 40 bucks or just
cobble something up that rests on a couple of rungs.

Might or might not be as durable as the Little Giant--it's partly
welded, partly riveted, and the non-welded rungs pass right through
the rails so I don't think _they_ are going anywhere.

On balance I like it--I think that I'm going to end up using it
instead of the extension ladder for heights within its reach, but not
instead of the stepladder unless I need to go higher than the
stepladder can reach.

They also have a shorter, lighter one that does all the same tricks
but doesn't reach as high. I got the 21', the other one is 13'--I
didn't check the price on it.



--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 11:46:23 -0500, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

I needed to reach something a few days ago and found that my 6 ft
stepladder wasn't quite long enough but there wasn't room enough to
fit one of the segments of my extension ladder. Now, I'm sure I could
have rigged something that would have been adequate, but I've reached
an age where falling off of a rigged ladder has lost all appeal (if I
want to bust my ass my motorcycle is quite sufficient to the task).
So I figured an 8 footer would do the job. So down to Home Despot I
go. Looked at the ladders, looked at the prices. As usual looked at
the Little Giant and looked at the price and said "well, if I didn't
already have a decent stepladder and a decent extension ladder . .
.". But this time sitting next to the Little Giant was something
called a "Gorilla Ladder" and the price was about the same as the 8
foot stepladder sitting next to it. So I poked and prodded it and
decided "what the Hell, I'm not gonna use it that often, so even if it
sucks it should't be a problem".

Got it home, set it up, and it turns out that it doesn't suck. Does
everything they say it does, and if I get the feet set straight it's
as solid as my other ladders. It's got practically no give to it at
all though, so if the feet aren't set straight it's not going to twist
to accomodate, it's going to wobble instead. Comes with a second
connector to allow it to be used as two scaffold stands or sawhorses
or whatever--that's fixed, not adjustable, in a nice plastic case.
The adjustment latches are quite rugged looking, big solid aluminum
pins going deep into their holes. They were pretty stiff at first--I
sprayed them with some Teflon lube and they smoothed right out. The
one at the top needs a little fiddling to seat now and again--I
suspect that that may smooth out with use.

Now, it has some downsides. The biggest is that it's _heavy_. Not
unmanageably so, but heavier than one expects a ladder of its
collapsed height to be. Adjusting the spread needs to be done before
adjusting the height unless you lay it down first--you have to be able
to reach to the top of it fairly easily to adjust the spread. It
doesn't work leaned against a wall at the lowest height--try it and
you find that it rests on the back legs, not the front, and tries to
tip toward you--raise the front a notch and it's OK. Doesn't have any
kind of platform at the top like a regular step ladder, there's no
place to rest stuff. Little Giant addresses this by throwing in a
work platform--you can get a similar one premade for 40 bucks or just
cobble something up that rests on a couple of rungs.

Might or might not be as durable as the Little Giant--it's partly
welded, partly riveted, and the non-welded rungs pass right through
the rails so I don't think _they_ are going anywhere.

On balance I like it--I think that I'm going to end up using it
instead of the extension ladder for heights within its reach, but not
instead of the stepladder unless I need to go higher than the
stepladder can reach.

They also have a shorter, lighter one that does all the same tricks
but doesn't reach as high. I got the 21', the other one is 13'--I
didn't check the price on it.

I looked pretty hard at both before buying the gorrila. It seems
pretty close to an equal with the Little Giant - little less quality -
at a significant price dif. I bought because I needed a step ladder.
For inside the house I have a couple spaces that need a tall ladder
and others where 8 ft would be a max if not a bit much. It is a pretty
good step ladder except for the weight. It is almost as heavy as my
dad's REALLY stable 8 ft. wooden painters' step ladder. I did bolt on
a couple casters that I had laying around to mimic the LGs wheels and
it does help. Got a work platform too that is pretty nice. It is damn
heavy and ackward as an extension ladder and at 21' not all that long
anyhow.

Dave Hall

On Dec 22, 11:46 am, "J. Clarke" wrote:
I needed to reach something a few days ago and found that my 6 ft
stepladder wasn't quite long enough but there wasn't room enough to
fit one of the segments of my extension ladder. Now, I'm sure I could
have rigged something that would have been adequate, but I've reached
an age where falling off of a rigged ladder has lost all appeal (if I
want to bust my ass my motorcycle is quite sufficient to the task).
So I figured an 8 footer would do the job. So down to Home Despot I
go. Looked at the ladders, looked at the prices. As usual looked at
the Little Giant and looked at the price and said "well, if I didn't
already have a decent stepladder and a decent extension ladder . .
.". But this time sitting next to the Little Giant was something
called a "Gorilla Ladder" and the price was about the same as the 8
foot stepladder sitting next to it. So I poked and prodded it and
decided "what the Hell, I'm not gonna use it that often, so even if it
sucks it should't be a problem".

Got it home, set it up, and it turns out that it doesn't suck. Does
everything they say it does, and if I get the feet set straight it's
as solid as my other ladders. It's got practically no give to it at
all though, so if the feet aren't set straight it's not going to twist
to accomodate, it's going to wobble instead. Comes with a second
connector to allow it to be used as two scaffold stands or sawhorses
or whatever--that's fixed, not adjustable, in a nice plastic case.
The adjustment latches are quite rugged looking, big solid aluminum
pins going deep into their holes. They were pretty stiff at first--I
sprayed them with some Teflon lube and they smoothed right out. The
one at the top needs a little fiddling to seat now and again--I
suspect that that may smooth out with use.

Now, it has some downsides. The biggest is that it's _heavy_. Not
unmanageably so, but heavier than one expects a ladder of its
collapsed height to be. Adjusting the spread needs to be done before
adjusting the height unless you lay it down first--you have to be able
to reach to the top of it fairly easily to adjust the spread. It
doesn't work leaned against a wall at the lowest height--try it and
you find that it rests on the back legs, not the front, and tries to
tip toward you--raise the front a notch and it's OK. Doesn't have any
kind of platform at the top like a regular step ladder, there's no
place to rest stuff. Little Giant addresses this by throwing in a
work platform--you can get a similar one premade for 40 bucks or just
cobble something up that rests on a couple of rungs.

Might or might not be as durable as the Little Giant--it's partly
welded, partly riveted, and the non-welded rungs pass right through
the rails so I don't think _they_ are going anywhere.

On balance I like it--I think that I'm going to end up using it
instead of the extension ladder for heights within its reach, but not
instead of the stepladder unless I need to go higher than the
stepladder can reach.

They also have a shorter, lighter one that does all the same tricks
but doesn't reach as high. I got the 21', the other one is 13'--I
didn't check the price on it.

I noticed the Gorilla at the Borg a few years back. I've had my
Little Giant for going on 13 years, so I was curious to see a clone
with such a price difference. It looked alright, but I've never been
on one so I can't comment on its comparative quality. I can say that
after more than a dozen years of use I consider my Little Giant one of
my best tool purchases. The thing operates like the day I got it, and
I've never lubricated the rails with spray wax the way they tell you
to.

If the thing ever dies - I'll probably go before it will - I'd
probably get the fiberglass model as the weight is a bit more than I'd
like.

Thanks for posting the review.

R

On Dec 22, 11:46 am, "J. Clarke" wrote:
I needed to reach something a few days ago and found that my 6 ft
stepladder wasn't quite long enough but there wasn't room enough to


I looked at these two and went with the COSTCO model that Wal-Mart
sells for $99.

Its too heavy for regular use, but great for getting close to a wall
surface, working up a stairwell and as a scaffold - though its a bit
scary to use becuase the assembly of the "second" pier seems flimsy -
but does work OK - although I did add clamps to secure the 2x12 as I
wa working on an uneven gravel surface and am scared sh++less of
hieghts.

Son-in-law has the Gorilla ladder and didn't seem to find much
difference worth telling me about.

I, too, would prefer the fiberglass. Though the fading color on my
Werner FB indicates they may not take too well to being left in the FL
sun.