Backyard Genius: Ladder built to take ups and downs of forest work

Hano Ormsby and his Orsymb 4.2m ladder. Picture / Greg Bowker

For most of his life, Hano Ormsby's been a man of high standing - regularly working more than 8m off the ground.

Hano's a bushman, you see, and has been for 40 years.

"It's mainly private work," he says. "I get on well with farmers. I have an affinity with the country and rural people; being a typical King Country boy, I guess, brought up in the sawmill days, especially with my father being a bushman and a sawmiller and all that."

When the Forest Service was pruned in 1987 and "we were all made redundant", Hano went out on his own, launching a company with his wife, Hinga, that now employs "15 guys out in the field".

Actually, make that 16. This 57-year-old managing director is a hands-on man.

"I'm not one of those guys who sits back and uses the whip on the boys. I'm out there with them. That's me. I like it out in the bush."

But he's not so keen on the gear.

"Truthfully, I was fed up with the existing ladders," Hano explains. "When you weld aluminium, it softens the material and creates a weak point.

"If you're pruning 150 trees a day, that's 300 times up and down in a day. The breakage of ladders was quite huge."

Not to mention the safety aspect. What Hano wanted was a lightweight, durable ladder with good ergonomics. And because there wasn't one, he invented it - making 1.8m, 2.4m and 4.2m versions for different jobs.

His sons called the prototype "awesome" - and suggested that would be a great name. So Hano merged it with Ormsby to produce the Orsymb Ladder.

"I came up with a concept that excluded any welding in the rung system. We're using aircraft screws instead. If you take the welds away, you take away the fatigue which welding will cause." He gives his ladder a rigorous shake. "You'll never break that rung system."

Don't think he hasn't tried.

He's even dropped 500kg weights on his rungs but while he can bend them, he can't bust them. His ladder has passed every test.

Surprisingly, these aren't industry specific. Despite the risks, no specifications are laid down for a silviculture pruning ladder.

"OSH wouldn't tell me what I had to do when I was developing mine, but it meets the Australian and New Zealand Household Standard. That's the only one we could test to."

Which should help when he unveils his planned domestic version (plus an adaptation for orchardists).

However, for now Hano is concentrating on forestry and that's why his ladder has a pronged base to make it self-standing.

The Orsymb top retains an "accidental" bonus that's proved to be one of the ladder's best features.

Early on, Hano discovered "you could hook your leg over the rung and use it to hold on, so you could work hands-free. Very comfortable.

"That's ergonomics working to the max."

Now it's time for economics to do the same. "When you're an inventor, you can spend a lot of money on your dream. - but I know this is a good idea," he says.

"I've done everything I can to satisfy myself I've got a good ladder - the right ladder for the industry. It will sell. I don't have any doubts about that.

"I'm committed, heart and soul."