Pole Saw to Gutter Rake Conversion

I have a tall house with a very steeply pitched roof. This means cleaning the rain gutters can be a bit dicey. In order to avoid plummeting to my death or spending lots of money on tall ladders and/or scaffolding I came up with this solution. I decided to turn my pole saw into a gutter rake. For those of you unfamiliar with a pole saw it is a wonderful invention for trimming trees from the ground. It has a pruning lopper and a pruning saw blade on an extendable pole. The model I have starts out about six feet long and maxes out at approximately twelve. It is this telescoping ability that makes it the perfect base for a gutter rake. You can extend this bad boy to rake gutters that are well out beyond your reach, while you maintain firm footing.

The best part of this conversion is it isn't permanent. The rake head and saw blade are readily interchangable.

A note about safety: I know some pedantic wanker will raise this but I figured I would beat him to the punch: be careful! Don't let the pole saw or any other implement touch over-head lines. Also when working on a roof be aware of your surroundings. Most of us are used to working in environments where you won't fall to your death. Don't become so focused on raking you fuck-up and die. Think and look before you step!!!

Step 1 Tools & Materials

These are the materials and tools I used. I mainly used stuff I already had that would have just been sent to the landfill or recycled. I spend a grand total of two dollars U.S. for this project. That was for epoxy. A word of note about epoxy, buy the fat setting stuff for this project. I get to why further down, but trust me it will save you some frustration and swearing.

Tools:
• Dremel with heavy duty cut off wheels (or similar cutting implement)
• Power drill with bits
• Drill bit/screw sizer
• Ball-peen hammer
• Marking pen
• Scissors
• Pliers
• Torch (or other heat source)
• Bench vise
• Clamps
• Tape measure

Materials:
This will very with what you have available in your junk piles. I give a general description and put what I used in parentheses.
• Metal for rake tines. Preferably something that won’t rust. (metal support ribs from old windshield wipers)
• A base to secure the tines to. (I started with circular piece of plastic, but changed to a Jif peanut butter lid)
• Epoxy (I wish I had used fast drying)
• Scrap plastic (hotel key card)
• Packing tape or finger caulk ( I wish I had used it)

Comments

[rockyt]

sweet, stop by, I have some gutters what need raking.

[RadBear]

Hmmmm...that's real tempting...but I'm going to pass...unless you're paying $30 an hour then I'm there but I'm m-o-v-i-n-g v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. :)