Ground Ladder Poll

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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd Chief Sharp on May 15, 2009 at 2:54pm

I would presume its a matter of preference. Speaking of paradigms.

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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on May 15, 2009 at 4:42pm

The primary consideration might be price. It appears that after you add the first fly, the price runs somewhere between $50-$100 per foot. So the difference between a 24' and a 28' would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $200-$400 per unit. So if you're purchasing for a dozen engines, the extra 4 feet may not be that important.

Just a thought,

TCSS

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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on May 15, 2009 at 5:14pm

Considering the majority of our pumps have the ladders on the side, a 28 ft would stick out the back much further than the 24 ft. Those pumps that have inside ladder racks also wouldn't hold a 28 ft, we don't have a hydraulic ladder rack which would be nicer and easier to put a 28 ft on. Our trucks carry two 35 ft so no need for a 28 on those.

Given the buildings and construction in our city a 24 ft works just fine for the majority of operations we will use it for.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Walker on May 15, 2009 at 9:39pm

I think 24 ft. ladders on Engines work fine. However, I prefer 28ft. ladders on Ladder Companies. If it were up to me, there wouldn't be a 24 ft. ladder on a Truck, but that is just me. That extra 4 ft. can be very handy.

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Permalink Reply by Tony P on May 15, 2009 at 10:11pm

My first thought on looking at this thread was - personal preference for ladder length? Why? But then I read the replies. Points that would not have occured to me, but very interesting! Probably the fact that we don't have 'ladder trucks' here and that most of the houses in my area are single story makes me think diferently. Our pumper has three ladders, I'll always go for the shortest one that will do the job! The nice Little Giant works well for most jobs we have.

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Permalink Reply by Some Irish Guy on May 16, 2009 at 7:52pm

Well, where I live, most of the 2nd story windows are about 16 ft. off the ground. And an unextended 28 ft ladder is 16 ft. long. So for doing a rescue raise, a 28 ft. ladder is easy as hell-just throw it up to the window sill. In addition to having that extra 4 ft. to work with for going to roofs and windows of greater heights, not having to mess around with the halyard for a rescue raise is God's gift to every truckie. I'm a huge fan of the 28.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Owens on May 16, 2009 at 9:50pm

I go with the 24 cause thats what we got. Our engine is a 24 and a 12 roof, our truck company compliment is a 24, 35, 16, 20 so the 24 is what we have.

I would love a 28 added into the mix but we just do not have it.

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Permalink Reply by EngineLadder on May 17, 2009 at 3:22pm

How about this use 2 people to throw it and follow the book and do is "Safely" or be unsafe and do a one man throw

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Permalink Reply by John Rulli Jr. on May 17, 2009 at 3:35pm

Man power is alwayse a issue. Sometimes your the one man/gal for the job. Its good to know how to throw a ladder by your self.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Owens on May 18, 2009 at 8:02am

Yea that would be nice but its no realistic. I am all for safety but If I am driving a rig and someone is hanging off a balcony and needs rescue I am gonna get whatever ladder that is closest and rescue them.....you wont find this scenario in any IFSTA book but it happens everyday.

Anyone who would not do this belongs in a different proffesion.

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Permalink Reply by John Rulli Jr. on May 17, 2009 at 3:35pm

28 foot ladder is the way to go

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Permalink Reply by LVVFD622 on May 17, 2009 at 4:49pm

I can't really say about the 24' & the 28'. I can say that in the building that we have the length that the 24' saves is a big help. We had an engine that was moved to a shorter bay, and moving the ladders up was not an option. We couldn't move it up more then we did otherwise it would interfere with the Pre-Connects. Beside the Ladder contains every other length that we may need.

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