I had better explain what a ladder feeder is first...
This ought to be in uk.radio.amateur, but it has been full of trolls for years and I will likely get more sensible suggestions here....
Its an antenna feeder cable, like a coax, but two separate parallel wires spaced apart around 1.5inches. The feeder you buy, is solid steel wire, copper plated, insulated by plastic, with the plastic insulation forming a pierced gap, rather like a ladder.
It appears out of the loft, between the roof tiles, it then goes up to feed a wire dipole. Imagine it coming out of the loft, the like a T where it meets the wire dipole. The ends of the wire dipole terminate at the front of the front garden and rear of the rear garden.
The problem is that the ladder feed keeps snapping too regularly, because it is very exposed and is in constant movement due to the wind. I replaced the commercial solid wire with 1.5mm flexible, spaced apart to form a ladder with several strips made from the plastic of milk bottles. Two small holes pierced either side, then feed the 1.5mm in then out and it stays put.
Use more substantial wire and it catches the wind more. Put twists in the ladder as it comes down and the wind causes it to try to rotate, alternatively winding itself up and un winding, putting more stress at the ends. I'm not sure whether it would be better taught, or more loose.
I should just like it to survive more than the present couple of years it presently lasts between replacement. It usually breaks, where it appears out between the tiles, down at the angle of the roof, then vertically up to the T. Adding metal around it is not an option, do to the RF on the feeder. I've tried various ways to try to relieve the stress, where it appears out from the tiles.