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Lone wolf hand climber mods

rutjr said:
I don’t climb pines. Oak, maple, beech and today chestnut. I use the LWHC without mods also. I love this system!!!!


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Interesting, for me it's the opposite. I was on a hard wood tree last night and could not get comfortable with the LWHC slipping and moving around to the point that I climbed down 1.5 hours before last light, ready to give up or find another tree.
10 yards further, I found a perfect straight longleaf pine, about a foot in diameter, next to a little hard wood with nice leaves.
In no time was I up the pine, (without modifications) and ready to hunt. 30 minutes later, 2 doe came out and walked by at 20 yards.
Coming down the tree was even faster. I admit, I do wear regular shiny, yellow pig leather work gloves for the climbing, putting them in my backpack after that. So, I have no problems with the pines, decided that I'll only climb pine trees from now on.

As for the modification, I found I can skip it by making a bit of a bigger loop and use the bark of the pine tree to hook the band a bit higher, lowering the platform a bit after the band got "hooked" on the bark. ...if that make sense... don't know how else to describe it. That way, I don't have to adjust the band while climbing and the tree diameter is decreasing.
 
Hi guys I have a XOP HC I would like to use as a platform with sticks and as a climber when the tree is right.

I read that some XOP HC's broke with the bolt mod. What do you guys think of a beefy stainless hose clamp instead of a bolt?

This way you could adjust the angle to find the sweet spot between 40-50 degrees, and not weaken the cast aluminum by drilling a hole and having torque applied to a bolt twisting the frame?

- Also, should this be in a separate HC Post or in a new Post?
 

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panama said:
Hi guys I have a XOP HC I would like to use at a platform with sticks and as a climber when the tree is right. I read that some XOP s broke with the bolt mod. What do you guys think of a stainless hose clamp instead of a bolt? This way you could adjust the angle to find the sweet spot between 40-50 degrees, and not weaken the cast aluminum by drilling and having torque applied to a bolt?

- Also, should this be a separate form or in a different form?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure the hose clamp will hold. It will probably spin. Check it out low on a tree. Like John said you could always drill the arms so the bolt rests against the stop on the platform or use as is. I have two platforms the one I use all the time has no modifications, the other I experiment with.

The only issue I have is starting out. Usually the tree is big on the bottom and I don't like adjusting. I'm old and its a pita to me.
 
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I torqued the clamp with an impact driver. It is no longer round and completely square. The "bolt head" of the hose clamp is the point of impact and acts as the spacer, it does not spin. I stood on it and did some significant jumps and it did not budge.
 
Have you tried the hand climber without the mod?


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I have always struggled with this unit as a regular climber. My Summit open shot would slide up the tree no problem. I did try going up a tree with a strap on my feet with the saddle. It was a struggle. Once I read that the angle was different it all made sense. I like the idea of adjusting and experimenting with the angle. Some members on the forum say 40° is the ticket, others say 50°.
Who knows I may like 65°.
 
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Have you climbed with a saddle using the open shot top? I want to replace my broken xop hand climber top. Im trying to decide if I want to go with a legit lone wolf top or summit open shot top.


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Aeds151 said:
Have you climbed with a saddle using the open shot top? I want to replace my broken xop hand climber top. Im trying to decide if I want to go with a legit lone wolf top or summit open shot top.


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No I have not used the summit with saddles. I lent it out and it never came back.
 
Screenshot_2019-10-28-07-11-48.png

I modified my Open Shot top for my dad to use because he is familiar with Summits. Removed the seat, drilled a couple of holes, installed an appropriately cut piece of plywood. It climbs well and is very stable, but it is significantly heavier and bulkier than the LWHC. (Still way lighter than a traditional climber setup though)

I added a strap for climbing, but you can also use the corners of the frame to climb in a pinch.
 
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Here is my modified LWHC. I made arms to take the summit cable that I didn’t like at first but I added holes for more adjustments and like it a lot better climbing now but have only tested it a little bit in the yard
I did the bolt mod and then tried the JB weld mod. I hit this with a hammer and only managed to chip it. You can also see how I connected my foot strap. I have is sandwiched between two washers. My other LWHC I used grommets but this stand has larger bolts and I didn’t have grommets to fit. This works great though. I’ll give more feed back as I use it more.
0ffbac1e64c2d3fd7be782f22292c092.jpg



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Do you guys prefer to remove the lone wolf pad or leave it on? Im thinking if left on it will mitigate squeak from my rubber boots and provide insulation for my toes on the cold hunts.


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I removed it. I didnt like the way it felt under my feet. Didnt feel like I had positive traction.


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This afternoon I took out my LWHC with the Summit mod and the JB Metal mod. I went to put it on the tree and saw one side of the JB Metal was gone, LOL. I used it anyways without issue. It actually worked well so when I got home I knocked off the rest of the JB Weld and put the @Adrena123 mod back in place because I haven't tried it with the Summit mod yet. I'll try it out in the morning and let you know.
 
How easy is it to adjust while climbing?


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rutjr said:
I like it! I the bolt mod and the Summit mod. I think they work well together. Going up a tree is so easy.
Click to expand...

The bolt mod was a must do for me.... I am not convinced any of the failures we have seen were due to the bolt mod. Mine remains modded and used every weekend.
 
rutjr said:
Here is my modified LWHC. I made arms to take the summit cable that I didn’t like at first but I added holes for more adjustments and like it a lot better climbing now but have only tested it a little bit in the yard
I did the bolt mod and then tried the JB weld mod. I hit this with a hammer and only managed to chip it. You can also see how I connected my foot strap. I have is sandwiched between two washers. My other LWHC I used grommets but this stand has larger bolts and I didn’t have grommets to fit. This works great though. I’ll give more feed back as I use it more.
0ffbac1e64c2d3fd7be782f22292c092.jpg



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How exactly are you climbing with this, got a video?


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((So I am trying out using the base from my hawk self climber as I live in Canada and getting a LWHC seat is impossible without all the cost of cross bordering it. ))

Yesterday was my first try and it worked great. I use a full length rappel/tether rope and decided to try something different. Instead of stepping down the tree, lowering my tether loop as I went, I just stuck my feet in the straps of my base, disengaged it, and then put down pressure on my prusik knot and slowly slid down the tree to the ground in one motion! Before coming down I hooked my haul line into the loop on the girth hitch and pulled my tether/rappel down once on the ground.

It was the fastest easiest decent I've ever made!
 
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