Thanks very, very much for the feedback. Great tip with the coathangers, I won't stress myself cutting down some old rebar that was left over from the old owners.

For the record, I also PM'ed Waste on this and he added "to not install the ladders for 3 weeks after pouring the pads, as the stress to 'uncured' crete could cause premature failing of the crete."

I went AH-HA with that as I used the ladders within a couple of days last time. So with this job, I'll do one slab, let it sit for 3 weeks and then do the other.