Customer Reviews

Ladder-Max Stand-off Stabilizer

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For years I've had no choice but to rest my extension ladder against the gutters in order to clean them out. This certainly hasn't been very kind to the gutters themselves; but more importantly, I've always feared that the ladder could slip and I would fall to the ground with it. And that hasn't been a very comforting thought.

Last November I hired someone to clean the leaves from the gutters that had accumulated in them when they fell from the trees. I watched him and saw that he had some sort of ladder stabilizer that provided him with real stability. Until then I didn't know such things existed. This spring -- after a horrible windstorm that blew all the maple trees' 'polly noses' into the gutters and clogged them horrendously (particularly after they started to sprout), I went to my local Home Depot where I bought a Werner stabilizer. I attached it to my ladder and gave it a test run. I immediately found out that it was useless for my purposes because the arms were not deep enough to touch the roof, and the ladder still rested on the gutter. I took it back to Home Depot.

I then began my on-line research. I finally boiled it down to two options: (1) the Louisville Ladder Adjustable Ladder Stabilizer; and, (2) the Ladder-Max Stand-off Stabilizer. I liked the adjustability concept of the Louisville Ladder stabilizer, and I also liked the idea of free shipping, but I could not find anything on line that would show me how it attached to the ladder, and/or how it came off the ladder. To me that was of critical importance because I would only be attaching the stabilizer when I needed to use the ladder, and would then remove the stabilizer when I had finished. I was afraid that if there wasn't something that showed how easily it went on and off the ladder that it probably wasn't too easy. I contacted Louisville Ladder and they finally sent me the instructions. As I suspected, mounting and unmounting their stabilizer necessitated the use of tools for each procedure.

The Ladder-Max web site, however shows exactly how their stabilizer attached to and came off the ladder. It looked easy and it is!

I bought the Ladder-Max stabilizer.

It's a bit tricky to assemble, but once assembled it attaches to the ladder in seconds. And it comes off just as easily. No tools required!

I used it for the first time the other day and it's a pleasure. The arms are long enough to rest on the roof and the bumpers on the end of the arms seem well designed and did no damage to my asphalt shingles. For the first time ever (and I've been a home owner for 42 years) I felt secure while cleaning my gutters.

There's no question that with any stabilizer attached to one's ladder makes moving the ladder a bit more problematic, but the rock-solid feel while up on the ladder with the Ladder-Max Stand-off Stabilizer outweighs any such concern for me. And my wife is happy that I'm not likely to fall.

I was terrified working up any ladder over 3 feet in height. Adding this stbilizer really gives the ladder a solid feel and now I feel confident climbing to the top of my 28 foot ladder. I havn't used the stabilizer on a roof yet, just against brick and aluminum siding. Once in position, it does not move at all. It takes seconds to install or take off. The only negative is the relatively narrow span of the product. It just about spans across my smallest windows. I will have to find a different product for my larger windows. The weight can also make it more difficult to maneuver the ladder since it becomes top heavy. Definately a 2 man job. No regrets however, It's allowed me to do things I did not think I was capable of.

I am a professional home inspector and would not dream of using my ladder to access roofs without this stabilizer. Before finding this, I used to have my ladder against the roof edge, which can damage the eve shingles or against the gutters with can make the ladder slide to the side. One day after I had my ladder slide and fall, leaving me stranded on a roof top, I knew I had to find a solution. I use this every day and it definitely adds to my confidence. It is well made but one thing the factory should do is that the edges of the steps were very sharp and could cut your hands. The factory should buff the edges before shipping. I took some emery cloth and smoothed them myself. I also wish they would come up with a model that could fold up flat for easier transportation and save space in my truck. I think this is a great product and for the money it is worth not getting injured or worse.

The stabilizer took a few minutes and an extra pair of hands to assemble, but was easy to attach to the extension ladder. It is deep enough to rest solidly on the roof without touching the gutter, providing a secure feeling when working more than 10 feet off the ground. It is an excellent product that I would recommend to anyone that is a bit apprehensive when working on a ladder.

I received mine the other day. It was very easy to put together, but it was missing three of the washers. Luckily I had some in the garage, so no problems there. I would agree with the other reviewer to be carefull of the time of day that you put the extenders on the roof on asphalt shingles. If the shingles are warm, you could damage them. So do it early in the morning or late in the evening if the sun has already warmed the shingles considerably. * Use common sense. :)

The nice part was I used to cut up the back of my hands quite a bit on the shingles' edge while cleaning out the gutters and have left some dents in them too. The Ladder-Max Standoff keeps you off the gutters and far enough back where you can easily and comfortably see what you are doing, thus working more easily and less worrying about tearing up the gutters nor will you be worring about bending them down to where they're non-fuctional any longer. I didn't cut my hand once!

As far as the ladder being top heavy, yes, a little, but if you're going to be throwing around a 16' to 24' foot ladder, either get some help or please practice with it a bit before you get near the commercial electrical drops to your house/business as it's a little ackward until you get used to the added weight and width at the top of the ladder. It only take one momentary 'slip' and you would be toast!!!

Good buy and would do it again!!!

The product worked just as advertised. As an engineer, I appreciate when a product performs as expected. The assembly was a little tedious (two people could have gotten it done in no time), but that was, in my opinion, a minor point. When deployed on a roof, it not only protects any damage to the gutters but stablizes the ladder incredibly well...rock solid. Only negative thing I can think of is that its weight makes deploying the ladder somewhat harder than without it. But the gain is well worth the effort. A real plus from a safety standpoint!!

got it today put it together in about 30 min and tried it out on my house roof, man it does work great. I would recommend this product

Used this with Little Giant ladder (a 20-foot plus version) in a difficult access situation to fix a section of gutter on a deep eave. For this non-standard ladder you must have one or two rungs of extension set up (to attach to the narrower rungs on the part that extends). The stand-off attachment does change balance dynamics on ladder, so tie a rope on top rung and use that to ease the ladder into position from the vertical (even a small additional weight that high up levers a huge balance change as ladder moves each degree away from vertical -- think about it a sec and you'll anticipate the effect). I subtracted one star because so much safety depends on those two attachment pins -- I'd prefer a 4-pin system for redundancy since they're so quick to engage. But zero problems and 100% performance as advertised. Gave a secure grip on the roof in a scary situation. Stands off from gutter, leaving plenty of work space. Repositioned ladder every few feet along eave, sometimes dragging the plastic feet a bit, but with no damage to old shingles. Now thinking of getting a really tall standard extension-ladder (Werner) to work the previously off-limits second-story gutters, thanks to the Ladder-Max's ability to stand off using roof deck for support.

This stabilizer works good, it allows you to work on dormers and get closer to them than if the ladder was against the gutters, and it saves the gutters. But beware, the hard plastic caps will dig into your asphalt shingles and also damage them if you drag it across. I first put down small rubber backed area rugs from the Depot, either using the window in the dormer or another ladder. Also, it makes the ladder top heavy, so with one person I usually lean the ladder against the gutters temporarily, then add the stabilizer out the dormer window or with another ladder.

A fairly simple design, the Ladder Max gives you safe access to your roof while protecting your gutters. Installs to and removes from virtually any ladder in seconds. Significantly increases stability up top. Exceptional product.