North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Don Yellman <dyellman@earthlink.net>]

Richard:

I have a 7 foot Stokes aluminum tripod, nearly 10 years old.  It appears 
to be practically indestructible and can be left in the orchard over 
winter, but they are not cheap.  A 7 footer would be about $100 today, 
and they go up from there.  I sometimes wish it were a 9 footer, but not 
very often, since the shorter model is much easier to lug around and set up.

Safety consists of rotating the ladder if it is on a sloping or uneven 
surface until it is vertical and stable, and avoiding lateral forces 
when you are on a high step.  I sometimes go to the top if I have 
something to hold on to for balance.  It is always possible to achieve 
good stability with these ladders.  There is really no comparison 
between these things and a standard, four point stepladder.  Stokes is 
located at Kelseyville, California, but I was able to find one locally 
at Winchester, VA, where some commercial processing apples are still grown.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, Va