The Truth about Werner Ladders' Articulated Ladder: Subpar

Werner Ladder Co. is an excellent ladder company. Most of their ladders are of the finest quality, passing the OSHA tests with flying colors. One glaring exception to their otherwise fine workmanship is their telescoping multiladder. As convertible ladders go, this is probably not the one you want to be climbing.

Riveted Rungs: A Safer Alternative to Welded Rungs?

Werner salesmen often tout their riveted rungs, claiming that the rivets are stronger than welds or reattachable. These two claims make no sense.

Rivets are considered outmoded in many forms of manufacturing that require joint strength. While rivets were popular in metal-framed buildings and car chassis, once effective welding techniques were developed, these applications left rivets behind. Rivets are not as susceptible to heat problems as welds are, but it requires extreme heat to make a weld fail. Rivets, on the other hand, may break, shear off or pop out.

When these rivets fail, according to salespeople, you can have the rungs reattached more easily. But let's think about this for a minute. What might it take for a rung to fall off? Is it going to fail hanging in your garage? Or would it fail when you're standing on it? In all seriousness, if a salesman mentions that rungs might fall off my ladder, I'm going to think twice before buying it, even if they can be reattached. I'd take it as less of a selling point and more of a warning. After all, a fall from a height of just 6 feet can be fatal or result in serious injuries. I don't want to seriously jeopardize my wellbeing every time I climb my ladder.

Who Can You Trust?

This shouldn't scare you away from all telescoping convertible ladders. You can buy one of these ladder without having to fear for your safety. The standard for telescoping convertible ladders was set by the original US Patent holder, the Little Giant Ladder System made by Wing Enterprises.

I once read a review of a Little Giant Ladder from a Werner customer. He touted the strength of Werner's riveted rungs (obviously, he hadn't yet seen the need to "reattach" any of them) and disparaged the Little Giant. He claimed the Little Giant's rungs were held on with "orange plastic clips." A little research reveal that instead of clips or rivets, the Little Giant is constructed using dual pass zigzag welds. The unique design of these ultra strong welds helps to keep you safe. The edges of the rungs are then covered with orange plastic clips to prevent cuts and other injuries. There's no safer convertible ladder than a Little Giant--and don't believe anybody who tells you otherwise.

The bottom line is that the safety features of the Werner telescoping multiladder are subpar. So if safety is a concern in using your ladder--and safety should always be a concern in using a ladder--it makes sense to turn to the recognized industry leader for telescoping convertible ladders. Give Little Giant a try. Your safety--and possibly your life--is worth it.

About Werner Co.

Werner Co. was founded in 1922 by Richard D. Werner. During its first decades, Werner Co. produced metal trim, excelling at the kitchen trim Chromtrim line. In the 1950s and 1960s, Werner Co. added aluminum and fiberglass ladders to its product line.

About Wing Enterprises

In the 1970s, Hal Wing first encountered a prototype of a "new kind of ladder" in Germany. Through the next three decades, Wing went from reselling the German product to securing the manufacturing rights and a design patent in the United States for the Little Giant. Today, Little Giants and Wing Enterprise's other ladder products are sold throughout the world.

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