[NWH]

guys its not a net, its a professional telescopic viewing mirror  look at the link
www.kitbag.com.au/prod835.htm

Not being funny but i would get laughed out of town if i turned up with that,if it works for you fair play to you lol.

[Clive McDonald]

i haven't done that many, maybe 15 in total, but a lot have been blocked at the elbow of the down pipe. I usually take it to pieces and then reconnect.

[jeff1]

i haven't done that many, maybe 15 in total, but a lot have been blocked at the elbow of the down pipe. I usually take it to pieces and then reconnect.

If your up there Clive and its blocked, use a metal coat hanger bend a small hook on it, to unblock it? Just saves all that taking apart.

[NWH]

i haven't done that many, maybe 15 in total, but a lot have been blocked at the elbow of the down pipe. I usually take it to pieces and then reconnect.

If your up there Clive and its blocked, use a metal coat hanger bend a small hook on it, to unblock it? Just saves all that taking apart.

To take it apart it takes seconds and you can be sure it`s cleaned out,some jobs you just have to get up close to it.

[jeff1]

Been up there hundreds of times and taken loads apart myself, poke it with a hooked wire coat hanger and you'll soon know if its clear or not and to do the Job 100% correctly you should be flushing it as well.

I'm now happy staying on the ground cleaning mine.

[michael papworth]

Been up there hundreds of times and taken loads apart myself, poke it with a hooked wire coat hanger and you'll soon know if its clear or not and to do the Job 100% correctly you should be flushing it as well.

I'm now happy staying on the ground cleaning mine.

Hey, Jeff1,

You're the one who seems to speak most sense on this topic. That's probably because (i) you've had more experience than most of us and (ii) you've learned more from your experience.

How do you attach a wire coat hanger to your pole so it doesn't come off and get lost up there?

Can you supply a picture of that?

Wally

P.S Love your pictures.

[jeff1]

Been up there hundreds of times and taken loads apart myself, poke it with a hooked wire coat hanger and you'll soon know if its clear or not and to do the Job 100% correctly you should be flushing it as well.

I'm now happy staying on the ground cleaning mine.

Hey, Jeff1,

You're the one who seems to speak most sense on this topic. That's probably because (i) you've had more experience than most of us and (ii) you've learned more from your experience.

How do you attach a wire coat hanger to your pole so it doesn't come off and get lost up there?

Can you supply a picture of that?

Wally

P.S Love your pictures.

Hi Wally
I was referring to the use of a wire coat hanger if you were still using ladders, rather than taking the down pipe apart, the chances of using it on a pole and doing a good Job would be possible but very time consuming and then its knowing if you have done a good job or not.
I would look for something more stiffer than a coat hanger but still flexible enough to go around the bends if I was going to attach it to a pole, at least this way you would have a better chance of feeling for the down pipe and know its gone down there.

When I tie my CCTV onto my pole I use cable ties.

If your working on the ground go up from the bottom, this is so much quicker and you can see your mouse come out of the top and you will often see the muck come down the pipe once its hooked.

[michael papworth]

Equipment like this is ok when you can’t use ladders, otherwise do the job properly and use the right equipment, ladders that are properly secured.

I'm sorry to be thick, but I don't quite understand what you are saying here.

Is it that you are saying that the only way to do the job properly is to use the right equipment which is ladders?

Or are you saying that equipment like this is OK for a certain amount of work, but some requires the use of ladders?

Or are you saying that it's only OK to use equipment like this when the use of ladders is not possible = ladders are the first choice?

Or are you saying something completely different which has escaped me?

[michael papworth]

You might be right there, Ewan.

I have a simple policy on this:

If it can be done from the ground, I'll do it from the ground. If it needs ladders, someone else can do it.

That's why I'm looking out for ways of doing as much as possible from the ground.

[jeff1]

There’s nothing wrong with that policy, if you stick to it.

Maybe some have been on the ground to long! Or have never been able to use ladders properly.

I've been using ladders for thirty years, 20 of them in another trade and never had a fall, I also have the latest safety devices for them, but If I can do a job from the ground in half the time, and still learn of faster ways of doing a good Job, then thats the option for me.

[Clive McDonald]

I've had a good think about this and the Gardiners tool looks better and better(apart from not being offset). Having re looked at the photo it's got an angle for raking and digging.

Several internet sites offer tools proporting to do the same thing and they are all rubbishy gimmicks.

I'm still building my own, but i'm now thinking that Gardiners is pretty good. Remember you can use an angle adapter to get gutters that are set in above another roof.

[jeff1]

Just strap a hose onto Alex's, that will work but strap it on after you have cleaned them out.

[jeff1]

You would have problems with hose's if you try it any other way? Internal hose would be to heavy when full of water or the internal diameter would be to small for a good wash, having the hose fitted externally would hinder your work and with the extra weight would soon make your arms ache.

This was why I said just attach a hose once you cleaned it out, you only need it to flush the guttering through.

[Clive McDonald]

I'll post a pic when mines done. at the moment i can't see it being much better than the gardiners one but sometimes when i make something i get lucky.

I considered all sorts of ideas including water to drive dirt out, and power via a flexible drive burrowing the dirt out, the problem being that gutters are actually designed to trap water and dirt, and it's the being able to tip it over the side that's the problem. So you end up with the simplicity of returning to jeff/alex's idea.

If it's any consolation to any other would be Caractacus Potts out there (Ewan), the other internet solutions were real crack pot jackpot material.For such a commonplace problem. requiring a simple solution you'd have thought that our grandfathers would have already invented a tool.

[jeff1]

Our Grandfathers Clive, never had the restrictions of H&S, so the problem never reared its head, out came the ladders.

The problem we all have is the different gaps between the tiles and the gutter edge, I remember one Job I did were, I could just get two fingers in, so even my own or Alex's scoop would be next to useless on this type of Job, I think with all of todays technology, if there was anything out there to do a good Job on all types of guttering, someone would have come up with it by now, (I think) but like you say there is one Caractacus Potts out there that's going to produce something so simple we'll all be shocked.