It is fairly heavy (about 50 lbs.), but I didn't have much trouble moving it around. With the legs closed and retracted, it's only 5-1/2 feet tall x 24 inches wide x 9 inches deep. Setting it up took a little practice, but it's now a snap.

I emailed Werner about a ladder stabilizer and work platform. A rep replied very quickly and said that those accessories would be available in September 2004. The stabilizer will not be the quick click variety.

One half the price of the Little Giant (Rating: 5.00)
Review : As a contractor, I use a lot of ladders.

COSCO was the first to clone the Little Giant Ladder about five years ago. Apparently, Little Giant's patent was still in force for the hinges. I own the COSCO 17FT Worlds Greatest Ladder and used it for a couple of years, but I needed something longer.

In January 2002, I purchased the Type 1 22 FT Little Giant from Amazon.com. The only difference was the hinges and a few annoying braces in the climbing area of the two narrow extension pieces of the COSCO. The COSCO is made in Korea. The Little Giant is made in USA. Both functions flawlessly to this day.

I found the Little Giant cloned at Home Depot as the Gorrila Brand ladder at Home Depot. $99 for the 13 ft model and $199 for a 21 ft model. The ladder is essentially a China made copy of the Type 1A Little Giant.

My last purchase is the MT-13 Werner. It appears to be another clone of the Little Giant Type 1A, also made in China, probably by the same company that makes the Gorilla. I know this, because both brands include a bonus set of brackets for making the scaffolding with an almost identical blow molded polyethylene case. The brackets are identical and marked Patent Pending.

I would recommend the MT-13 and the MT-17 in the Werner Brand, but I still prefer the Little Giant in the 22 ft model. It is a lighter by five pounds than the 22ft Werner but cost about $130 more.

Since all of the original Little Giant patents have expired, the hinges on the Gorilla and Werner models are identical to the Little Giant.

Of all of the models, the MT-17 would be ideal for most home owners. It will go to the second floor window of a two story house. The 22ft model will go to the roof of a two story house, but only for one with a slab foundation, not one with a basement or a crawl space.

The 17 FT model is a good balance between weight size and function. The best deal would be the Werner MT-17. The quality of materials and assembly of all the models appear nearly equal.

One reviewer noted that these ladders were hard to extend. The best method is still the method of extending the ladder using the procedure described in the Little Giant Instructional Video. Since the methods are copyrighted by Little Giant, the clone manufacturers cannot use them with their own instructions sheets, videos or manuals. Accordingly, I cannot include the Little Giant Procedure in this review.

It is $50 cheaper at Lowes (Rating: 4.00)
Review : I searched all over the Internet for the MT-22 and every website returned me to Amazon.com. I caved in and ordered it from Amazon. Mine is still in transit via UPS. I was at Lowes today and found it for $199. It is to late for me to take advantage of the Amazon lowest price guarantee because I had already ordered it. Check your local Lowes and challenge the price BEFORE you place an order.

Great Ladder (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I would actually give the Werner MT-22 ladder a rating of 4.5 stars, if it were possible to do so, due to the weight of the thing. Other than that, this is a great ladder with virtually no flaws. Does everything it's advertised to do and more. I am still finding new uses for this thing. I have given away all of my other ladders (used to have three of them), and now use this one for everything except the "step-stool" tasks. Bottom line is that I would buy it again, which is the highest endorsement I can give.

Versatile, but LIMITED extension capability! (Rating: 3.00)
Review : Bought this for the flexibility and ease of transport. It fit without any trouble in the back of the vehicle and was very easy to handle with 1 person. Being able to use it as a stair ladder or with the included braces to use it as scaffolding support was very attractive. The weakness is in the extension ability. It is very difficult to fully extend the ladder to 19 feet. Basically your only option is to half-extend it on the ground, and once you have it standing, push it the rest of the way up. This becomes very difficult as this ladder does not have the typical pulley system found on regular extension ladders. It also cannot accept the Werner Quick-Click Stabilizer. The stabilizer would normall make window and gutter jobs a piece of cake. Also, with the angled legs, I am not sure of this ladders ability to accept a leveler. This all coupled with the flexing of 4 seperate pieces, prompted me to return it for a Werner 24 foot fiberglass extension that I am completely happy with. (...)