What do you think of this cheap scaffolding tower

[Alistair Hosie]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Scaffold-Tower...QQcmdZViewItem


My house has 14 foot ceilings and this would be great for internal and I suppose external work were great height was not an issue. All their stuff comes from China they have a neat little workbench for sale were I could not even buy the wood for that price is something suspicious about this Alistair

[pcarpenter]

My Dad has a pair of those (stacked) over in his shop. He made guard rails for the upper section which adds loads of comfort. He has gotten quite a bit of use when he put up the OSB on the walls, etc.

Me....I like my scaffolding to have a wider stance than that. I am 6'2" and 260 pounds or so. I think the ones I reneted when I put up my shop building were something like 8x7 at the bottom. They were not even close to being tippy that way, even with castors on the bottom. Still, to buy such scaffolding would have been quite a bit more expensive than the item you show.

Paul

[speedsport]

Alastair,
I have probably spent 5 years total time working on scaffolds just like these, mine are PERRY brand made in USA. I have worked off them stacked 3 high, shaky?,yes, dangerous?, can be!. I have outriggers that I bought that attaches just like the rails, the outriggers have wheels just like the scaffold, the outriggers increase the base to about 7'x7' so tipover is extremely unlikely. Once you get used to working off the scaffolds it's no problem. Also extremely useful for other things, I have used mine with a 4"x4" wood beam to pull engines from cars, I even used them to build a tower to set the roof trusses on my new shop building, If I knew how to post pictures I would. Buy the scaffolds, you won't regret it.

[Alistair Hosie]

My problem as said is working to ceiling heights on my house painting or whatever needless to say I don't do it so much myself but get help from my three sons when they come over.Used indoors for painting wall paper hanging I think they will be fine.I had a really nice one in aluminum and aloaned it to an elderly friend then he died and suddenly his son owns it now what do you do I just" let it go".that doesn not mean I diedAlistair

[madman]

If you weigh around 72 pounds might be safe to use.

[Evan]

I have a similar but slightly smaller unit that folds for storage. I bought it recently when renovating my shop as it has a 10 1/2 ft ceiling. I paid $100 ( about £50 ) and it was well worth it.



I made a simple lightweight bar that will go across the bottom to brace it so that both steel planks can be placed on the same level, including the top. It's stable and plenty strong. It's going to be handy for painting and washing windows on the outside of the house. Great for changing light bulbs in the shop. My balance isn't as good as it used to be especially after the ear infection I had last year. I don't trust myself like I used to on a ladder.

[Joel]

Somebody really ought to tell her - painting goes much faster if you put paint on the brush.

[Ries]

I have a made in the USA set of yellow scaffolding that looks just like the one on the UK ebay site.
You can purchase whichever parts you want- so assembling it safely depends on which parts you use for different applications.
I have a complete set of railings for the top, and we almost always use em.
I also have 4 outriggers, which increase the footprint to about twelve feet wide, and when we work above about 10 feet, we use all 4 of them.

The basic design is fine. You just have to use common sense when putting it together for any given situation.
The outriggers are essential to making it sturdy for most uses.

It is light, its handy, and its easy to move around- I have three shop buildings with ceilings ranging from 12 feet to 26 feet, and the scaffolding is constantly being used in one or the other.

[PTSideshow]

My first thought if you just want to paint tall walls and ceilings how about the extension painters poles that screw into the roller handle. They come in 3 to 6 foot to 16 to 32 in two and three sections in aluminum or fiberglass after a 15 minutes learning curve all most any body can use one.
I do have one like Evan is talking about by Wagner it is great and like Evan I made an extra shelf for it.
But I have one walk thru section one 1/2 section and 2 full sections with jacks and wheels. For a total of20 feet tall. only problem is the older I get the longer it takes to put it up by my self. Currently it is in use removing the aluminum siding before repairing wood and replacement windows. Insulation board and vinyl siding goes on.

[kendall]

it's a bakers rack, use them all the time at work.
Normally when installing crown mold, run through take measurement, cut and cope, then lay them out in cutting order (reverse of measure order) on top of the baker and work my way around the room to install.

Much more stable then they look, easily adjustable, and with proper blocking, or with the wheels removed can have one leg pair lower for use on stairs.

They are stackable, and half height legs are available for odd height locations.
Personally I prefer having two platforms when using two full leg sections because they do get a bit wobbly when that high

Not sure what the GOOD ones cost here, but they're one of those things that you'd realy have to work at to make unsafe from a manufacture point.
As long as the pins lock tightly, and it's not peanutbutter metal it should be good.

The little fold up type (woman painting) style are also nice, but if you have both decks set at the top for one level work platform, they are very tippy when climbing on unless you have a counterbalance. best when used in position shown. Use them pretty often for low ceilings etc. for a lot of work I prefer one of them to a step ladder, for hanging cabinets etc use the top for stocking up marking/cutting/drilling etc. makes it go very quick if you have the room for it.

Ken