Ladder repair

[ischua]

The ladder on my coachman has seen its share of trees and is bent and not solid . I'm not a small guy and I want to add some storage to the roof. What kind of weight is this type of ladder designed to hold? do I fix the ladder? or spend money on a good step ladder and hangers

[chasfm11]

Mike, I had a little run in with a railroad crossing arm with our ladder. The result was that I had to completely remove it and take it to a propeller shop (they were the only ones around here who could weld aluminum) to have it fixed. That exercise taught me a couple of things about my ladder:
1. It is pretty flimsy. I'd never consider using it repeatedly.
2. The method of fastening it to the rear fiberglass cap on our MH is marginal at best. When I put it back on, I increased the size of the screws and used good caulk at all of the contact points. It is one heck of a lot more stable than it was. As a sailboat guy who as done many repairs and fastened a lot of load bearing hardware to sailboats, I can tell that there is no real way that I can see fasten the ladder properly. To do that would require backing plates under the screws. I don't think that the material in the rear cap of our RV would hold up well against the kind of reinforcement that would be needed - the fiberglass is just too thin.

Your situation may be very different.

[Jackm]

Most RV ladders have a stated weight limit of 250 lb. While they can technically handle more than that (due to their built-in safety factor), I wouldn't want to push it. I use the built-in ladder when I'm in a hurry (dog chasing me). However, when there's no dogs around, I prefer to use a 7-foot folding step ladder. Found one at Wall-mart (Stanley) for $50. Then purchased a ladder/chair holder at Camping World. The device hooks over one of the attached ladder's rungs and is capable of holding a step ladder plus a couple of folding chairs. Use bungee cords or cinch-straps to keep them in place.

Jack

[ischua]

Thanks for the help. As I approach that weight limit I'm going to try the stepladder route. The coach ladder is attached top,center and bottom. Center and bottom screws are held in by RTV and support nothing and no way to move it to solid ground. My plan is to remove most of the ladder to just below the last upper step then reattach the center supports at that point. Then attach a towel bar about 15" off bumper. If done right I will be able to place the stepladder behind the the upper piece of ladder between the supports and then drop it behind the towel bar with it's feet on the bumper. a strap and lock and I'm set to go