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ladder spacing

754 views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  LandonVega 
#1 ·
hey,
despite the most urgent rantings and ravings of "experts" on this site, i'm building a ladder out of 2x4's. My current spacing is 2 inches between each 2x4 and i want to know if thats right? more or less? thanks
 
#2 ·
I did not want to make a new post with this beaut here. Along with j6's question.....which would be better, nails or screws? I know screws work a hell of a lot better, but the real question, does it matter all that much? As to wood glue lot/little/none? I have plans to make this all in modules for easy storage. I have a few ideas for this, but wouldent mind imput to help my creation.

What do you think, a ladder that stays flat, yet grows taller due to the slope of my driveway, and the increasingly taller legs. then a lip, and onto a teeter maby 7' long, nice and heavy.
 
#3 ·
Ramp Spacing

j6105 said:
hey,
despite the most urgent rantings and ravings of "experts" on this site, i'm building a ladder out of 2x4's. My current spacing is 2 inches between each 2x4 and i want to know if thats right? more or less? thanks
2 inches is good, the closer the spacing, the smoother the ride. If you got plenty o wood, go for the close spacing......
 

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#6 ·
I'm not an expert, but...

One to two inches is pretty normal, but works best on faster sections (I think). For slower stuff, two inches can make it hard to keep your speed up. With two by fours that may be more exaggerated since the boards are thicker. You will have to experiment. Screws are much better than nails. It makes it easier to repair sections if the boards get damaged and helps make the structure sturdier (the screws help lateral strength because they won't slip out). The real issue is whether or not you have the resources to use screws. If you are really far out, it may take a couple of trips with two fully charged batteries to get them all in.

I like screws better. But nails are cheaper and hammers don't use batteries.
 
#7 ·
For stuff we build we start at 3" spacing and go up to 4" depending on what we are doing with it and where it is located on the stunt. We also use a lot of pallets which usually have a 4" spacing.

You guys must not have to carry wood very far back in the woods. If we spaced everything at 2" we would have to carry 50% more wood. We don't have any problems keeping our speed up, I guess we are used to pedalling fast. If our stuff got a lot of traffic we would probably use 2x4's but we only have 6 or 7 people regularly hitting the stunts.

here's a pic of a drop 4" spacing at the take off.
 

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#9 ·
BJ- said:
id say for the best of both worlds...try to get about 1"...

you dont want em to smooth unless ur building kickers...
with only 1 inch your gonna be using wood like crazy. i would say atleast two. one of the rules is if you can fit your foot in between, just make it so your foot can't get through. on things where i wanna keep my speed more i would use around 1-2 in, but 3-4 is fine
 
#10 ·
Ok.

you can use 2" gaps...

evan 3" on turns...and the bigger the gaps the more wood you save and the less weight involved but...then there harder to climb and create most resistence which means more pedaling and the bigger you make the gaps then that can also mean it can be...not as strong...

my favouritest bridge ive ever made had 2" gaps and 3" on the turn but if i could have it wouldnt have had any gaps...
 

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#13 ·
thanx...

thanx for the advice i think the final call is 2 inches since this is going to be a climbing ladder, an PS it is 19 inches wide. Maybe 1 inch. Leaving for northstar in an hour for full day o biking tommoro. Guess i can spy on the ladders there :cool: .
 
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