Tree Stand Maintanence & Safety

[Cr0ck1]

Now is the time to give your stands a good going over. I spent Thur/Fri pulling all my stands and stuff out of my lease. I just now got around to pulling everything off the trailer and looking them over really quick to see what supplies I need to spruce them up. Gonna change all bolts to stainless, paint, and replace the straps and padding..Also, get the caked up mud out of the bottom of the legs



Low and behold...One of the ladder stands bottom section of ladder was busted. Looks like it filled up with water and exploded. I did not notice this when we took them down the other day. Luckily it held while we were taking them down. Scary.


Luckily I can get a replacement section of ladder and be back in business with this stand

and NO i didnt use that stand.. lol

[nachogrande]

man your rough on chairs, buckets, stands and trucks, better have them check the springs and shocks while the trucks in the shop. and thats comin from no flyweight either.

[DouglasB.]

I'll give another tip if ya'll don't mind. I'm sure everyone already does this... But just in case... if you're in a climber be sure you have a lead line that attaches the foot platform to the seat platform. I've sat in a tree for 13 hours waiting on someone to answer their phones and get me out of a tree because my foot platform fell 25 feet to the ground. Thats a LONG wait, I don't care HOW comfortable your stand is.

I too leave my climber in the woods. I've been known to leave it out all year. Check the bolts and connectors before climbing for rust. Rust equals weakness. If it's rusted up, it needs replacing.

[nachogrande]

thats somethig you learn after the first time it happens. luckily I did it in the back yard at 6 feet just practicing with it.

[DouglasB.]

This just happened to me a couple of years ago. I got in a rush one morning and didn't tie it. Figured since I was climbing a pine I wouldn't need it, that extra 10 seconds was WAY too long ya know. Now that lead line NEVER gets untied.

[Papa_J]

I had a section of one of my 2man stands do the same thing. Haven't used it since, cus I'm gonna have to find out where the water got in and seal it up before I add reinforcements with the trusty welder. Gonna be making several new ladders this year anyways. As for the OSHA report about the "boys"....I can't imagine that that feller's gonna be up high or in a harness anytime soon. Made my eyes water just readin it.

[nachogrande]

only thing high about that dude will be his voice

[Papa_J]

Now dat's fo sho. His dizzle's been mo fizzled.

[bodysnatcher]

man your rough on chairs, buckets, stands and trucks, better have them check the springs and shocks while the trucks in the shop. and thats comin from no flyweight either.

[Skunk Ape]

This just happened to me a couple of years ago. I got in a rush one morning and didn't tie it. Figured since I was climbing a pine I wouldn't need it, that extra 10 seconds was WAY too long ya know. Now that lead line NEVER gets untied.

I've shimmied down a few trees in my day.Mine is always tied together.

[nachogrande]

headin out today for a few quick repairs/changes on 2 ladder stands I'll be using tomorrow. if allowed I like to screw a big eye bolt into the tree at about eye level when standing on the platform ,and just snap your safety harness into it with a carabiner. also to zip tie some camo netting around the sides, and attatch some palmetto fronds or leafy branches to the tree trunk to help break up the outline. and lastly an adequate sized pee bottle, nothing worse than overflowing one thats too small.

[nachogrande]

went to work today on that ladder stand where I almost comitted hari kari. put some vinyl covered cable. to the ladder support and attached to tree with a big eye screw and tightened up real good with a turnbuckle. then used a nylon ratchet strap snugging the platform into the tree. replaced the seat with 3/4 plywood and am going to use 3/4 ply for the backrest but use 4" lag screws to attach the upper frame to the tree as well. all the foam and fabric ( what was left ) I removed and will need new pads as well. Carlos didn't think it would hold my mass. when I'm done it should even support his weapon of azz destruction.

[trouttouter]

After all that work on the stand while it was up you better let that spot cool way down....

[Papa_J]

Starting to fix up my jig for my ladder stands. The boring bees got a hold of a couple sections of the jig, so I'm gonna hafta rebuild it. Will be good though, cus I'm gonna modify the layout a bit to make it a bit lighter and stronger and attaches to the tree a little better. The current model holds well and doesn't move much, but there's a LOT of weight in metal where it wraps around the tree and such, and I think my mods will decrease some of the weight and make it grab the tree tighter.

[tap1912]

For those of us who uses and leaves their climbers in the woods these waterproof covers work great, Here is mine in use in Ohio it rained all day the day before and it was 26 deg that morning. I was the only one that was not miserable that morning. It also should make your seat last longer.