Tank ladder and top rail

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I recently completed a tank ladder with a top safety rail.We started by forming the side rails and hoops with our break press(no rolling). Then I punched out holes for the rungs in some 1/2" x 3" flatbar. The sides curved quite a bit from the punching and gave me a little bit of a fight when I was tacking the 3/4" rungs in place. Next time I'll roll the flat bar back out flat before continuing on. Then I welded both the inside and outside of the rungs.After tacking the 1/4" x 2" flat bar hoops in place, I measured out for the vertical bars and glued the all together.The ladder took me about 16 hours, by the time I had it all sanded and ready for paint. I measured about 33' tall and 19" wide at the rungs.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:And here's some more photos, along with the top rail.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Looks good. Ahh, I remember the days building them. They were fun to build. We usually never welded the inside rungs, because the outside sat in a good 1/2''- 3/4'' and gave a good plug weld.Ya gotta spend money to make money!
Reply:33' is quite a climb... it even looks scary on the horizontal... especially in the next to the last photo. Is it fairly rigid to move or is it like a noodle? Will be get to see it installed? Looks good btw.
Reply:Thanks. We usually dont wend the inside either, but that's what the engineer called out for. And it was quite a noodle before I welded the rungs, now it's rigid enough that I could pick it from the center without too much deflection. We're not doing the install. That's fine with me since the weather is not so nice right now.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:had to climb one of those things to the top of the Phelps-Dodge copper smelter stacks at Douglas, Az. to check emmission sensors. NOT A FUN CLIMB ! Lol... We even toyed with the idea of putting a bathroom up there so a guy wouldn't have to climb down so often...... seriously !
Reply:Nice job with the ladder and cage.  When I was a young boy on the family farm, we had to often climb our 65' silo with no cage at all. (Sometimes just for the view) Was probably 9 years old or less when I started climbing it (mid 1960s).  A salesman stopped in one day and sold Dad a flimsy bolt-on aluminum cage for the cemented in rungs.  Even that probably wouldn't do well by today's standards, as the cage didn't start until you were about 30' up.  Matter of fact, it's still that way today (my brother owns the farm now).JackLast edited by jmhoying; 10-13-2013 at 10:27 PM.JackFort Loramie, OhioMilermatic Autoset 180
Reply:Nice safety yellow paint ! We usually make ours to pre-engineered specs called out by the refineries. At 33 feet, ours would be made from angles. Our specs do not call for the rings to be welded inside either. Strictly plug welded on the outside the ground flush. The hoops are also a bit different at the side connections too. A loop for your hands.
Reply:I just took a quick eyeball at our standards. Can't go past 30 feet without a platform.
Reply:Nice looking ladder.Sweet shop I,m jealous lots of space.