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Tried bolts today

coosa1

coosa1

Active Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2019
Messages
109
Location
AL
Still waiting on my saddle, ropes, and wild edge steps to get here but in the meantime I bought an EZ-kut drill and bolts to try out. Today was my first go at them and this is what I’ve learned so far...

1. Don’t do it mid day because it’s hot as a mother in middle alabama right now. It looked like someone was pouring water out on my head.

2. Even though it has the loops for it, a muddy safety harness doesn’t work worth a flip as a lineman’s harness. It was way too loose and pulled in the wrong spots. I had an impending sense of doom the whole time I was hanging from it.

And 3. Keep your fingers out from between your lineman’s belt and the tree. All of my knuckles on both hands lost some hide today.

All in all though I can see where bolts have an advantage and I think I’ll be using them on my private land sits, especially if I go pre drill holes with the power drill.

I’m gonna go lay down on an AC vent and drink a beer now.
 
The treehopper with folding handle is great but that cheaply built ezcut will drill a bunch of holes. Im in Georgia. If you were climbing a wheelchair ramp at mid day today you would be pouring sweat.
 
I keep falling more and more in love with my bolts every year. I basically use them for everything now.

I haven’t touched my climbing sticks in a year, and haven’t touched my spurs in a year either... don’t know how much longer I will keep the spurs to be honest. I may carry them in February and March for scouting and pig killing to force me to give them a real chance.


................................................................................All climbing methods, platforms, saddle designs, and/or use of materials possibly mentioned in the post above are not peer reviewed for safety, and should only be used as an example of my own method. Do your own research and testing before becoming confident in any DIY solution to support your life.
-IkemanTx
 
Bolts are awesome and cheap. Like ES said here in Georgia, you’ll sweat like a “WWF wrestler trying to pin a greased pig”. I usually pre drill pm trees in late July early August with an electric drill. I’ll pull the bottom 4 bolts out and leave the others in. In September when the season starts, I use my woodpecker to clean out the first four and place my bolts back in. On the way up I check the remaining and make sure they’re not locked in. I’ve been doing this for the past 6 years with no problems.
 
what size bolts are you using? and how many bolts does it take to get to about 25 feet? thanks!
 
GregB said:
what size bolts are you using? and how many bolts does it take to get to about 25 feet? thanks!
Click to expand...
3/8" x 6", grade 8.
Treehopper drill is a metric size that is one size over 3/8" in order to allow bolts to be inserted and removed easier. Treehopper drill bit also has a stopper on it so it drills to the proper depth each time. Bits are avail for cordless drills for making presets. Treehopper hand drills are pretty nice, too. I can hand drill a hole in about 1 minute.
The number of bolts to get to 25 feet varies but its the same as screw in steps. Some guys need more than others, but about a dozen is a good average.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
It takes me 10 3/8" grade 8 bolts 7" long to get 20 feet! I know most people use 6" bolts but I like the extra inch for safety!
 
4 inches seems little short on step length? But I’ve never tried them??
 
It's plenty. Measure any strap on step an it is comporable. Also , there is less leverage on a shorter bolt, so they are less likely to fail technically.
 
I prepped my first two trees and I have to say I believe this method will be my favorite.
I am using carbon rods with a holder made from a saddle hunter on here...mint set up.
I used my Dewault... easy peasy
 
The treehopper has become my favorite as well. I am out of bolts until next pay period, so last weekend I prepped 2 trees by climbing with my LW sticks and Cranford rope steps, drilling as i went up. When I go back, I just have top remember to take bolts. I drill about 18" apart. That is too short for many on here, but it makes it very safe going up and down in the dark. And, when my daughter goes, she should be able to keep three points of contact as well. Buying local in 5 and 10 lb boxes ends up being about $1.50 ea. To hang at 25' I put bolts up to about 27'. That takes about 18 bolts for me. I hope to leave the bolts in and just bring them out about 1/4" each year.
 
Could you use your tether as you set the bolts as a more safe way to climb to stay connected to the tree, or would that slow you down more than using the lineman belt?
 
redhawk said:
Could you use your tether as you set the bolts as a more safe way to climb to stay connected to the tree, or would that slow you down more than using the lineman belt?
Click to expand...
The good thing about the linemans belt with bolts is what sdonx said the belt lays over the last bolt you installed so if you fell it would catch fairly quickly! But if you want to you can always use the tether but it may slow you down some!
 
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