Officially this says you need a hatch at least 600cm wide - but anyone have luck with installing it on a 560 (by 550) hatch?

You do need the minimum width and length they say or you will not have enough clearance to fold the legs down but it is possible to gain a tiny bit if you are able to mount the top of the steps a little bit forward of the front edge of the hatch - but not much, maybe 10-15mm, otherwise you will cause the spring to bend too much. My steps come down through a hatch that is 525mm wide and 585mm long and I would say I have about 10-15mm to spare on the length. But I was able to mount the bracket at the top about 10mm forward from the front edge of the hatch rather than flush with it. This means the spring rests against the edge of the hatch when the steps are down and is very slightly bent. Not causing me any problems. There is no way it will fit a hatch that is only 560 long.

is it easy to open and closeis there a video

That depends. If you are fit, fairly strong, then they are easy. Less able? They can be difficult because they are quite heavy. You need to 'unhook' them and that can be a fight. They can also be hard to pull down thereafter because, generally very cold in loft and they can stick. I don't think oiling them is a good idea. On the other hand, they are very strong and should be good for relatively confined space. I did have them affixed by joiners and needed a different loft door fitted. A handle in the loft would be a good idea but I don't have one. The steps are good size. In short they are not as good as fixed steps but they are as reasonable an alternative as may be expected. Good price performance.

What size (height) of wooden batten is needed to screw the plate on?

The bracket that fixes the ladder in place is 90mm in height. In my case I had fitted a new hatch and as the framing for this used up about 60mm and as the ladder bracket sits above this I didn’t have another 90mm if exposed joist to screw the ladder bracket to, which is what was needed. I simply used a 2 foot length of plank (8” x 2”) and screwed this to the floor of the roof space. This allowed me to screw the top scores of the bracket into something secure and it worked fine.

Can the maxi ladder be shortened to close within a hatch opening 550W x 700L? My floor to ceiling height is 2.52m so the mini version wont do...

I wish I was the owner of a Maxi. Even after showing and telling several times, Amazon have mixed up the Product codes for the maxi and the mini, and I have received the mini 3 times now. As for the specific question, I think the answer is Yes, but look on the Telesteps website as they have all the specs in more detail there

Manufacturer	Telesteps
Part Number	60617
Item model number	60617
Size	60324-101 Mini Telescopic Loft Ladder
Colour	Silver
Style	MINI
Material	Aluminium
Item Package Quantity	1
Number of Pieces	1
Special Features	Telescopic
Included Components	Loft Ladder
Batteries included?	No
Batteries Required?	No
Item Weight	12.5 kg

Telesteps 60324 Silver, 60324-101 Mini Telescopic Loft Ladder

Details

Description

Specifications

Common Questions