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Aider/ladder step spacing?

Swampfox

Swampfox

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2016
Messages
749
Location
Bottom of the boot
About to sew up a few custom step ladders. What is the typical spacing between each step within the ladder?


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Swampfox said:
About to sew up a few custom step ladders. What is the typical spacing between each step within the ladder?


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It depends how you are climbing. My close spacing is waist high and high as I can reach using Cain’s method or with a wild edge aider method.
 
I put a aider on each step and I won't space them more than 24" apart . Try tying one together at 24" you can out tie it and adjust whatever you need.
 
^^this^^. I would recommend tying some temporary aiders to try out before making permanent ones. Depending on the material used and wether you have the steps reinforce all determines how much they will sag. I made 3 step aiders with tubular webbing and reinforced the steps to reduce sag when weight is applied. They are set at 18” when at a 90* angle and drop to about 20-22” when climbing. This is my max distance with heavy layers on and is very comfortably to climb for most of the season. I originally set them for my max distance and found it was a pain to climb with when on leaning trees and almost impossible layered up. I would rather climb comfortably and faster than have to stretch and struggle.

Now if you are using a one step aider you may be able to extend the distance because stepping from aider to a fixed step is much easier than continuous aider steps. Play with different length to see what is comfortable.


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I like about 20" max on aiders, that's in cold weather gear with numb fingers and bulky clothes and boots. I could probably double that in gym shorts and light hikers out my back door right now. That is the folly of some backyard testing and hypothtical internet stuff, it just doesn't fly in the real world.
 
elk yinzer said:
I like about 20" max on aiders, that's in cold weather gear with numb fingers and bulky clothes and boots. I could probably double that in gym shorts and light hikers out my back door right now. That is the folly of some backyard testing and hypothtical internet stuff, it just doesn't fly in the real world.
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I would agree with this. Aiders are also more difficult for me to get a large step in comparison to a solid step on my stick. Cold weather and thick clothes definitely make your step smaller.

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Sewed this up for a test trail. Probably going to drop that top step some.

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The other thing to consider is how high you can get your bottom stick step off the ground or above your previous stick. If you can stretch out to climb a 20”+ aider step but your bottom step is only 10” from your precious stick/ground is it worth it to do that stretching or split the distance and make it comfortable/faster/more efficient?


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Chistavocat said:
The other thing to consider is how high you can get your bottom stick step off the ground or above your previous stick. If you can stretch out to climb a 20”+ aider step but your bottom step is only 10” from your precious stick/ground is it worth it to do that stretching or split the distance and make it comfortable/faster/more efficient?


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That is an important factor. It is so much easier to stretch a bit for a solid contact point like a stick versus an unstable aider.
 
Chistavocat said:
The other thing to consider is how high you can get your bottom stick step off the ground or above your previous stick. If you can stretch out to climb a 20”+ aider step but your bottom step is only 10” from your precious stick/ground is it worth it to do that stretching or split the distance and make it comfortable/faster/more efficient?


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The process I’m going for is to set a wild edge step at knee height from ground, step up. Set stick with aider as far as I can reach, step on ground and remove WE step. Climb to top of stick and set WE at knee height. Climb up on step and set stick with aider, step down to top of first stick remove WE step and climb to top of second stick. Set platform and two WE steps at knee height. Thus giving me almost 25’ with 2 sticks with aiders and 2 WE steps.

I’m trying to incorporate a platform back into my setup and trying to minimize weight by loosing a stick. I always have WE steps to the side of my platform so I want to make the most of them. *currently considering including a single step aider to the bottom of the WE step for increased height.*


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