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Tree hopper bolts
- Thread starter JCope
- Start date
Bama_Xander
Well-Known Member
@Nutterbuster is the resident drill expert.
Im not sure I understand what you plan to do.
When I drill holes for presets, I install the bolts at that time.
I don't pull the bolts and then re-drill holes when I return weeks or months later.
Pulling the bolts can be a crap shoot. Some bolts easily pull out even after a full growing season and other bolts get tight and require turning them with a tool to remove, which IMO is not a bad thing.
THE BEST tool for pulling bolts is mini vice grips. They are tiny and make pulling bolts a breeze. It makes pulling bolts very sure and controlled. Sometimes a bolt can be just slightly snug and it may take a little extra effort to pull with just your fingers. If the bolt doesn't instantly easily pull with my fingers, then I grab it with the vice grips. Its fast and actually safer because there is no question about the rate in which it will pull. Without the v grips, you might struggle for a minute or so, and at that point, the bolt may free or it might not. Meanwhile you are trying so safely and quickly get down the tree. I had several trees this year that there was no way a bolt could have been removed by hand. Even after only 5 months in the tree, the bolts were rock solid tight, but they pulled easily with v grips. You WILL need a tool to pull from time to time. Don't waste your time with any type of wrench that can be easily dropped. Carry vice grips.
When I drill holes for presets, I install the bolts at that time.
I don't pull the bolts and then re-drill holes when I return weeks or months later.
Pulling the bolts can be a crap shoot. Some bolts easily pull out even after a full growing season and other bolts get tight and require turning them with a tool to remove, which IMO is not a bad thing.
THE BEST tool for pulling bolts is mini vice grips. They are tiny and make pulling bolts a breeze. It makes pulling bolts very sure and controlled. Sometimes a bolt can be just slightly snug and it may take a little extra effort to pull with just your fingers. If the bolt doesn't instantly easily pull with my fingers, then I grab it with the vice grips. Its fast and actually safer because there is no question about the rate in which it will pull. Without the v grips, you might struggle for a minute or so, and at that point, the bolt may free or it might not. Meanwhile you are trying so safely and quickly get down the tree. I had several trees this year that there was no way a bolt could have been removed by hand. Even after only 5 months in the tree, the bolts were rock solid tight, but they pulled easily with v grips. You WILL need a tool to pull from time to time. Don't waste your time with any type of wrench that can be easily dropped. Carry vice grips.
I have used bolts in previous years. And I would predrill my trees in August and September and I had no trouble installing or removing my bolts during that season. I always removed my bolts at the end of the hunt. And if I used a tree the next season that I used the previous season the holes were completely grown shut so I would have to redrill the tree.
A lot of this depends on the species of tree. Some species tend to "own" the bolt faster than other species.
And even an individual tree may grow tight on a couple bolts and not grow tight on a bolt 18" away.
It's almost impossible to predict. That's why it's best to carry mini vice grips, a hand drill and some extra bolts because you never know when you'll need them.
ChasingDinner
Active Member
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2019
- Messages
- 178
As a rule of thumb if pulling the bolts after a sit I am prepared to redrill the same hole the next season, but it really depends on the tree, how fast they grow in your area...etc. Pines seem to clog up with sap as fast as anything.
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2016
- Messages
- 142
Waxing the threads with paraffin helps with removal.
+1 on the mini vice grips if you don’t pull after the season.
+1 on re-drilling at the start of a season.
I have a couple of trees that I have left bolts in, but I’m trying to not overhung the same spots like I used to, so recently I have just pulled the bolts after each hunt.
+1 on re-drilling at the start of a season.
I have a couple of trees that I have left bolts in, but I’m trying to not overhung the same spots like I used to, so recently I have just pulled the bolts after each hunt.
