Customer Reviews

Werner MT-26 300-Pound Duty Rating Telescoping Multi-Ladder, 26-Foot

5 star:		(326)
4 star:		(127)
3 star:		(34)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Like another reviewer, the 'Little Giant' infomercial piqued my interest about this type of product. I was in need of an extension ladder in the 20ft range, but didn't really want to deal with storing it. The idea of meeting this need with a unit that stores in a compact space was appealing, and I could get rid of my eight foot step ladder to boot. I found the Werner MT-22 at Lowes for $198 plus tax. Little Giant didn't really lose a sale because there was no way I was going to pay $400 for a ladder no matter how well made or versatile.

The ladder is everything I expected. It works great as an A-frame stepladder. Although it is heaver than the 8-foot stepladder I'm retiring, it is also less bulky which is a good trade off when manuvering it to where I need to use it. It is also useful outdoors as a taller stepladder. The feature to allow it to be set up on stairs is a great plus.

The main reason I wanted a new ladder was to get a long enough extension to reach the eaves of the half-story of my house. The MT-17 was not guite long enough so I went for the 22. The main disadvantage is having to manuver it into position while it is essentially fully extended. Again, the slight disadvantage in setup is compensated for by the ease of hauling it out of the garage to the area where it will be used, and not having to store a standard extension ladder. I expect I'll only need to use it in this mode three or four times a year so the storage problem is actually more important than ease of setup.

I haven't had a chance to use it in the scaffold support mode, but I did do a test set-up, and it appears that it will work well for this purpose.

The ladder is sturdy and well-constructed. It is very stable when properly setup, and I was comfortable and confident while using it. I highly recommend this product.

As a contractor, I use a lot of ladders.

COSCO was the first to clone the Little Giant Ladder about five years ago. Apparently, Little Giant's patent was still in force for the hinges. I own the COSCO 17FT Worlds Greatest Ladder and used it for a couple of years, but I needed something longer.

In January 2002, I purchased the Type 1 22 FT Little Giant from Amazon.com. The only difference was the hinges and a few annoying braces in the climbing area of the two narrow extension pieces of the COSCO. The COSCO is made in Korea. The Little Giant is made in USA. Both functions flawlessly to this day.

I found the Little Giant cloned at Home Depot as the Gorrila Brand ladder at Home Depot. $99 for the 13 ft model and $199 for a 21 ft model. The ladder is essentially a China made copy of the Type 1A Little Giant.

My last purchase is the MT-13 Werner. It appears to be another clone of the Little Giant Type 1A, also made in China, probably by the same company that makes the Gorilla. I know this, because both brands include a bonus set of brackets for making the scaffolding with an almost identical blow molded polyethylene case. The brackets are identical and marked Patent Pending.

I would recommend the MT-13 and the MT-17 in the Werner Brand, but I still prefer the Little Giant in the 22 ft model. It is a lighter by five pounds than the 22ft Werner but cost about $130 more.

Since all of the original Little Giant patents have expired, the hinges on the Gorilla and Werner models are identical to the Little Giant.

Of all of the models, the MT-17 would be ideal for most home owners. It will go to the second floor window of a two story house. The 22ft model will go to the roof of a two story house, but only for one with a slab foundation, not one with a basement or a crawl space.

The 17 FT model is a good balance between weight size and function. The best deal would be the Werner MT-17. The quality of materials and assembly of all the models appear nearly equal.

One reviewer noted that these ladders were hard to extend. The best method is still the method of extending the ladder using the procedure described in the Little Giant Instructional Video. Since the methods are copyrighted by Little Giant, the clone manufacturers cannot use them with their own instructions sheets, videos or manuals. Accordingly, I cannot include the Little Giant Procedure in this review.

As a contractor, I use a lot of ladders.

COSCO was the first to clone the Little Giant Ladder about five years ago. Apparently, Little Giant's patent was still in force for the hinges. I own the COSCO 17FT Worlds Greatest Ladder and used it for a couple of years, but I needed something longer. The only flaw in the COSCO are the angular steel braces on the inside of the ends of the center hinged section. These are a bit annoying, when you are using it as an extension ladder.

In January 2002, I purchased the Type 1 22 FT Little Giant from Amazon.com. The only difference was the hinges and a few annoying braces in the climbing area of the two narrow extension pieces of the COSCO. The COSCO is made in Korea. The Little Giant is made in USA. Both functions flawlessly to this day.

I found the Little Giant cloned at Home Depot as the Gorrilla Brand ladder at Home Depot. $99 for the 13 ft model and $199 for a 21 ft model. The ladder is essentially a China made copy of the Type 1A Little Giant.

My last purchase is the MT-13 Werner. It appears to be another clone of the Little Giant Type 1A, also made in China, probably by the same company that makes the Gorilla.

I would recommend the MT-13 and the MT-17 in the Werner Brand, but I still prefer the Little Giant in the 22 ft model. It is a lighter by five pounds than the 22ft Werner but cost about $130 more.

Since all of the original Little Giant patents have expired, the hinges on the Gorilla and Werner models are identical to the Little Giant.

Of all of the models, the MT-17 would be ideal for most home owners. It will go to the second floor window of a two story house. The 22ft model will go to the roof of a two story house, but only for one with a slab foundation, not one with a basement or a crawl space.

The 17 FT model is a good balance between weight size and function. The best deal would be the Werner MT-17. The quality of materials and assembly of all the models appear nearly equal.

One reviewer noted that these ladders were hard to extend. The best method is still the method of extending the ladder using the procedure described in the Little Giant Instructional Video. Since the methods are copyrighted by Little Giant, the clone manufacturers cannot use them with their own instructions sheets, videos or manuals. Accordingly, I cannot include the Little Giant Procedure in this review.

The 13ft. (Actual length is 11ft. 13ft is an OSHA rating, since extension ladders have overlaps.) ladder is ideal for a one story house on a slab or a trailer. When I first used it to get on a roof of such as house, I thought it was a little short. However, after using it several times, I found that it was ideal. The key is to place the space between the top and the second rung at the edge of the roof. I know that ladder makers recommend a grabbing length of three feet above the roof edge, but you would have to go around the side of the ladder's length above the roof. This "grabbing length" is a little arkward to me. Since the top of this and other Little Giant clones have flared tops, I prefer my method. I can stoop dowm and climb directly onto the roof, while keeping my center of gravity very low. The same can be done, while getting off of the roof. So the 13ft. ladder is just right. The thing I really like about this length is easy handling. It balances well, when fully extended and makes a compact package that fits nicely into a car trunk of even some compact car. In the step ladder mode, it is probably the sturdiest and safest that you could ask for.

For the price, the Werner MT's are the best deal. Best of all, the MT-13 is only $99 at Lowes.

Bought this for the flexibility and ease of transport. It fit without any trouble in the back of the vehicle and was very easy to handle with 1 person. Being able to use it as a stair ladder or with the included braces to use it as scaffolding support was very attractive. The weakness is in the extension ability. It is very difficult to fully extend the ladder to 19 feet. Basically your only option is to half-extend it on the ground, and once you have it standing, push it the rest of the way up. This becomes very difficult as this ladder does not have the typical pulley system found on regular extension ladders. It also cannot accept the Werner Quick-Click Stabilizer. The stabilizer would normall make window and gutter jobs a piece of cake. Also, with the angled legs, I am not sure of this ladders ability to accept a leveler. This all coupled with the flexing of 4 seperate pieces, prompted me to return it for a Werner 24 foot fiberglass extension that I am completely happy with. (...)

I bought this for $100 from costco and am extremely satisfied. I have never had an extension ladder because I had no room to store one. This stores in less space than my 6' step ladder and gives me an adjustable step ladder that goes from about a 4' step to about a 9' step. It also works like a 17' extension ladder. It is more rigid than an extension ladder, giving noticably more stability. In stepladder mode it can be adjusted for unlevel surfaces, which is very convenient. It is a little heavier than my fiberglass stepladders, but not too bad. Also it sticks a little when I try to unlock the angle of the ladder. This is a fantastic concept and is well implemented by werner and is definitely the right ladder for me with my limited storage space. It is the only ladder I use on my 1 /12 story house and my one story rental houses. There are a couple things different ladders can do that I would like. An MT-13 (or the gorilla version, $100 at home depot) would likely fit in my trunk, which the MT-17 will not do. I would not give up the extra length to get this, though. Little Giant ladders have some nice affordable accessories (ladder stabilizer, leg levelers) that I would like. I will not pay two to three times more for the little giant, though, and hopefully these will soon be available for the werner MT series.

I purchased the MT-22 about a month ago from a local Sherwin Williams dealer (price was $180). I brought it home and tried out all of the different arrangements for the ladder and found it to be very easy to use with the exception of the extension part. It weighs 45 lbs. which really isn't a big deal to me. I am 6'4" tall and I workout so the weight wasn't a problem. I found the best way to use it as an extension ladder is to fully extend the opposite end of the ladder first, then lean the ladder against the building, pull the adjustment pins and push the ladder upwards. I don't know if this is the best or correct way, but it works for me. I also talked with a rep from Werner and the working platform and leg levelers should be available in the beginning of September.
The ladder is very solid. I put Sikkens on my deck and used the ladder as 9 foot step ladder and it didn't sway or tip at all. I am very pleased with this product.

I first saw the Little Giant version of this ladder on a late night infomercial. It looked so interesting that I began researching it. I discovered the Werner MT-22 on Amazon.com. It was much less expensive than the LG, and Werner has a reputation for building solid ladders. The first day I got this ladder home, I used it to clean the gutters of our one-story home - it was great! I used it as the A-frame fully extended. It's rated for a 300 lb. load and I felt very secure on it. For the first time, I didn't sit on the roof to clean gutters.

It is fairly heavy (about 50 lbs.), but I didn't have much trouble moving it around. With the legs closed and retracted, it's only 5-1/2 feet tall x 24 inches wide x 9 inches deep. Setting it up took a little practice, but it's now a snap.

I emailed Werner about a ladder stabilizer and work platform. A rep replied very quickly and said that those accessories would be available in September 2004. The stabilizer will not be the quick click variety.

I'm not writing this review to really say anything new but just to reinforce what others have already said. The ladder is roughly 45lbs and is pretty heavy, but that's comparing it to my 6" fiberglass model. The flexibility of the ladder however more than makes up for the weight in my opinion. Additionally the ladder is extremely sturdy, I feel more so than the regular models. I purchased the ladder for $198 from Lowes, with a 10% off coupon and also received a $50 Gift Card so it was an excellent purchase for me. If you don't mind the weight and want something that's flexible enough to do most everything you will need, except getting you to the roof on a 2 story house, than this is the ladder for you. I compared it to the little giant but simply couldn't justify spending twice the amount of $$ on what is more or less the same ladder.

The ladder is durable but very heavy. The step ladder is great to use and the double sided feature is a plus. All the adjustable heights are super for many projects around the house however when using the full extension of the ladder it is too heavy for 1 person to put into place. Unlike other extension ladders that have a rope to assist raising it and allow you to place the ladder where it belongs and then extend it, the Telescoping MultiLadder must be extended prior to placing it. Once fully extended the weight of the ladder is just too heavy and very difficult to maneuver.

I would actually give the Werner MT-22 ladder a rating of 4.5 stars, if it were possible to do so, due to the weight of the thing. Other than that, this is a great ladder with virtually no flaws. Does everything it's advertised to do and more. I am still finding new uses for this thing. I have given away all of my other ladders (used to have three of them), and now use this one for everything except the "step-stool" tasks. Bottom line is that I would buy it again, which is the highest endorsement I can give.