The ratchet ladder raises one side at a time. You hop up and the foot side raises one increment. You lift and tilt a bit back and the front raises one increment.

Both can only increase by one increment at a time.

Your step ladder grows as you need it to while you are on it.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Aug 22 2024

Just needs hinges https://www.grainge...00+lb&filters=attrs
Existing item ready for farkling [minoradjustments, Aug 22 2024]

Beautifully insane [+]; for some reason I imagine silent-film comedians using it, or maybe circus clowns.
-- pertinax, Aug 22 2024


Seems like useful. Does it do anything else at the same time? ie send out messages in ratchet code to other users?
-- xenzag, Aug 22 2024


There is an existing telescoping ladder that only needs joints where the rungs meet the telescoping uprights to reproduce this idea.

So when you want to collapse it do you do it from the ground, after using it? Or can you hit a button to drop you from height?
-- minoradjustments, Aug 22 2024


Shouldn't someone post an idea for a telescopic ladder that doubles up as a pogo stick so that the user can hop around on it at different heights?
-- xenzag, Aug 22 2024


This is really clever.

How about a version that's not front to back but side to side, that's just an extension ladder with stirrups that slide up on ratchets one side at a time, same as how a lumberjack climbs trees.

Be a lot lighter because there's no rungs, only the ratcheting stirrup things. The stirrups just slide along in slots in the inner portion with the ladder tubes/handle containing the ratchet mechanisms. To go down you hold on to handles coming out of those slots that reverse the process, pull them down and the stirrups go down, but only one step at a time as the other side locks until you lift your foot to release it.

So you're only doing one movement, lifting your feet like walking up a regular ladder, but depending on the handles you either go up or down.

The decent handles clearly have arrows pointing down so you can figure it out without having to read instructions.
-- doctorremulac3, Aug 22 2024


Hmm...
On an "A-frame" ladder, you would need to connect the feet together, as locking the top at a fixed angle would mean the feet would spread as you increase height, & you may not have available or level ground to accommodate this increase.
On an "extension" ladder (against a wall or whatever), increasing the height would mean the top is sliding up against the whatever, & again you may not have a good space for this to occur.
That said (& when you DO have a good space to use it), I like the idea; both the post & [doctorremulac3]s version.
-- neutrinos_shadow, Aug 22 2024



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