Barry responds:
Yeah, well. I've got about 5'11" clearance under the collar ties in my attic, with one pull-down attic stair. Use it for boxes and assorted similar stuff. Had to move 2 collar ties: had a couple guys install it while I wasn't around, and they set the thing so it came up directly under one tie, reducing head clearance by a foot or so, which then knocked my head back into the other. Moved each one one set of rafters. And these were the 2 clowns who set their drinks done, in Styrofoam cups, on my new table saw and left them there.
There's no way I would take anything serious up that pull-down stair, either. It's badly challenged with my weight, never mind anything really heavy in addition--and the sucker is steep, more like a ladder than a stair. I did get my furnace up there, but it is light, and that's a chore I don't want to repeat.
Charlie Self In a New Hampshire Jewelry store: "Ears pierced while you wait."