Maintaining your tree stand each winter will help ensure safety next fall.
Submitted photo
If you’re looking for something to do this time of year that will help ensure you have a safe and successful deer season next year, taking care of your tree stands now is a good time investment.
Treestands have come a long way in the last 20 years. When I began hunting in the early 1990s a fancy tree stand was one made out of pressure-treated lumber. Lesser stands were slapped together with any scrap wood my friends and I could find. Such stands were used season after season until they eventually rotted away and were replaced.
These days, tree stands are made of metal and, if properly taken care of, can last for many years. There are countless models of tree stands manufactured by too many companies to list. Ladder stands, climbing stands, fixed stands and tower stands are the different styles of tree stands available for purchase. You need to take the time to maintain your stands properly. Every time you climb onto one of these tree stands, you are potentially risking your life.
Every year you should remove and inspect your tree stands so you can perform routine maintenance on all of the many parts that keep a tree stand together and securely fastened to a tree. Just to clarify, do not leave your tree stands up year after year. If you hunt in an area with extreme weather conditions, like ice, snow, and below-zero temperatures — conditions found across most of the Midwest — it is best to pull your stands immediately after the season.
Once you begin inspecting and performing maintenance on your tree stands, there are a number of parts you need to pay attention to. First of all, closely examine the straps or chain that secure the tree stand to the tree. Straps are fabric, and when fabric gets wet, then dries, then gets wet, then dries, it dry rots. Look for any signs of fraying or spots of weakness in the fabric straps. Especially check any areas of stitching. If you are using ratchet straps, make sure the ratchet area closes and locks properly.
You should replace safety straps at least every couple years. Chains that are covered in rust need to go. Rust weakens metal, and you don’t want your life depending on a rusty, weak chain. Simply head to your local hardware store and buy a replacement length of the strongest chain material they sell. Go ahead and spend an extra few bucks to replace the bolts and screws that hold the chain on. Some chains are coated in tubing to keep the chains taught. If the tubing is frayed, you should replace it. Not only does the tubing keep your chains quieter, it adds rigidity to the chain. The manufacturer intended for the stand to operate with tubing on the chain, so assume there is a reason for it.
Other areas of your tree stand that you need to pay attention to are all the bolts or locking pins, the cables that hold up the platform, and all the welded joints. Once bolts and locking pins have become rusty, they must be replaced. Threads on bolts may wear out when rusty, and with the weight of a grown man on a tree stand, you don’t want to rely on worn threads.
Check the cables for fraying. If there is any, they must be replaced. Also, examine the bolts that hold the cables in place. If there is any play in the bolts, they need to be tightened. If you examine the welded areas of your stand and find any cracks, no matter how small, you must have the stand repaired or replaced. Don’t put stress on an already distressed piece of equipment. It’s only a matter of time until it completely fails.
Falling from tree stands is cited as one of (if not the number one) cause of hunting-related accidents. Yet the majority of tree stand accidents don’t occur when someone is already positioned in the stand. Most tree stand accidents occur as someone is climbing in or out of their stand. Whenever you go out to check your stands and take them down, always wear a four-point safety harness. And don’t just wear the harness and climb the tree unattached to a safety rope or lineman’s rig. You need to be hooked up the entire time you are off the ground.
Nothing is more important than being safe in the field. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Perform routine maintenance on your tree stands every year and pay strict attention to safety. If you do, then chances are you’ll enjoy a lifetime of accident-free tree stand hunting.
See you down the trail …
Brandon Butler writes a weekly outdoors column for the Daily Journal. For more Driftwood Outdoors, check out the podcast on www.driftwoodoutdoors.com or anywhere podcasts are streamed. Send comments to [email protected].
