Loader Ladder Makes Paint Job Easy

Loader Ladder Makes Paint Job Easy MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 14-1-7 Myron Sorensen didn't like climbing up wobbly ladders when he painted barns, so he welded steel rungs along one of the arms on his Dual front-end loader. The rungs lead to a 12-ft. long, 2-ft. wide scaffold mounted on the bucket of the Ioader. "Painting on ladders isn't very safe and you always have to stop and move the ladders," says Sorensen. "I tried painting while standing inside the loader bucket, but I couldn't paint a wide enough swath. Also, if I was painting alone I always had to use a ladder to climb up into the raised bucket. Now I just drive the tractor up to the barn, climb up the loader arm and start painting. By raising the bucket 15 ft. and using an airless paint sprayer equipped with a spray nozzle mounted on the end of a 15-ft. long pipe, I can paint a 30-ft. tall barn without even using a ladder. The modified loaders also worked great for installing gutters on our two-story house." Sorensen used 11/2-ft. lengths of angle iron to make the ladder rungs. The rungs extend 6 in. on either side of the loader arm. To make the platform he bolted two 3 by 12 planks onto an angle iron frame-work that's bolted to both ends of the bucket. He bolted more angle iron onto the back side of the bucket to make a safety railing. "Next time I might use 16-ft. long planks so we could paint an even wider swath," notes Sorensen, who locks hydraulic valve levers to secure the loader in the "up" position. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Myron Sorensen, Rt. 1, Harlan, Iowa 51537 (ph 712 744-3341).

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