step ladder to a mistake

My definition of a mistake
A mistake can vary from the tragic type that breaks a bone, removes a limb to one that just breaks wind (some in my family consider that tragic too).

A mistake requires some human decision involvement For example, like the tree falling in the forest question (oh if you are married - it's the husband's mistake) there needs to be some human interaction. I don't think nature makes mistakes. However nature offers us the opportunity to make mistakes. Ever jump into a lake expecting it to be deeper and less filled with rocks?

I have.

Serious mistakes might land you here:





Hopefully, I didn't make the mistake of too much explanation and you're still reading so I can tell you my story of a funny mistake.

My goal that day - replace my garage door opener (motor unit part) single handed.

The tricky part of the assembly was getting the chain on the pole and connecting the gear in the motor unit. After some attempts, I found a brilliant solution, use a step ladder to hold the motor unit up with the other end of the pole attached to the wall. The top of the ladder was too high and the pole would easily slip off so I used a middle rung/step of the ladder to hold it.

It worked!!

Well kinda, my mistake was not checking sizes. The motor unit would not fit between the rungs of the ladder and I could not slide the ladder off the assembled opener.

Now the step ladder was part of my opener. I wish I had taken a picture. Maybe I would have been on the cover of DIY magazine. The fix was to remove one rung of the ladder (easier than taking the opener apart).

Here's a couple of pictures of an opener and a ladder. Picture the motor box part NOT attached to the ceiling BUT stuck between the rungs of the ladder.

Poor planning == mistake





Almost forgot to mention this post idea comes from the spin cycle.

======= update =====
a friend sent me this link to a brilliant garage door opener idea.
Check this out