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What causes the Lone Wolf hand climber to fail as a saddle climbing platform?

HuumanCreed

HuumanCreed

Well-Known Member
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Aug 21, 2020
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Location
Westminster Maryland
So l heard of a few breaking after years of use. Is there a common reason or simply it's not meant for the stress of being stand on all the time? I figured that tree stand seat can take a lot of weight since a seat portion is where most of your weight is focused on. So are they breaking because of the pressure at certain angles when we're maneuvering in the tree?
 
Going on over 4 years same LWHC, no failure. My guess would be guys with total weight above 250.
 
If I recall, they tend to break at the bolt hole where the band attaches to the cast seat. One thing is that it is a cast platform. If it were machined out of a billet, then I'm guessing the chances of a weak spot goes down. Also, the seats, if I recall, on stands do not have to be rated as highly as the platform. I guess the thinking is if used as intended then if the seat breaks then you're still standing on the platform (and I guess you can call someone to get you down if you can't figure that one out using your tether, etc).
 
IDK, Maybe bigger guys climbing small diameter trees? Puts more side pressure on traction belt arms.
 
GeoFish said:
IDK, Maybe bigger guys climbing small diameter trees? Puts more side pressure on traction belt arms.
Click to expand...

this whole climbing thing is one time when i'm glad i'm not built like an NFL player

your post made me think of the intended weight distribution

when using the seat as a saddle platform, i think you're more likely to put full weight on the edge of the seat furthest from the tree

that is a lot different than your rear end sitting on the seat or when you climb as intended with your forearms across the seat

i think there's probably a lot more leverage on that pivot once you put full weight on the outside edge
 
GeoFish said:
When I climbed with mine I used the seat climbing strap option.
It put all my weight on the two outside corners.
But all of your weight on one corner has to be worse.View attachment 95794
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good call....leaning around the tree with 200 lbs on one corner is probably something the seat wasn't tested for
 
raisins said:
If I recall, they tend to break at the bolt hole where the band attaches to the cast seat. One thing is that it is a cast platform. If it were machined out of a billet, then I'm guessing the chances of a weak spot goes down. Also, the seats, if I recall, on stands do not have to be rated as highly as the platform. I guess the thinking is if used as intended then if the seat breaks then you're still standing on the platform (and I guess you can call someone to get you down if you can't figure that one out using your tether, etc).
Click to expand...
Not sure what happened to this one.
Screenshot_20231126_145848_DuckDuckGo.jpg
 
GeoFish said:
Here is the story.
www.louisianasportsman.com

Tree stand malfunctions - Louisiana Sportsman

By always wearing a safety harness in elevated stands, checking equipment and exercising many accidents can be prevented.
www.louisianasportsman.com www.louisianasportsman.com
Click to expand...

that's a big plus of saddle hunting....i am only trusting my life to gear that is made extremely well (climbing company ropes and carabiners and saddles made by trusted companies) and that i can inspect myself

i don't think there is anyway for a regular person to tell when a cast platform or other gear is going to give way
 
Some guys were also drilling and adding a bolt weakening an already weak design. Look at a lone wolf climber. The bottom has a crossbar between the two arms the belt go through. The top has no bar and when you climb a tree smaller or larger than the width of the two arms it has a lot of leverage to try to twist the cast where the arms are bolted on. Especially on those really small trees. If you were climbing only trees the same width as the stand you’d probably break the belt before the casting. That said a lot of people have climbed a lot of trees with zero problems. Having a backup way of climbing down in the event of failure is a good idea with every climbing system that a single point of failure can leave you stranded.
 
GeoFish said:
Here is the story.
www.louisianasportsman.com

Tree stand malfunctions - Louisiana Sportsman

By always wearing a safety harness in elevated stands, checking equipment and exercising many accidents can be prevented.
www.louisianasportsman.com www.louisianasportsman.com
Click to expand...

That guy used to post on the old Bayou Bucks forum all the time. He sure has bad luck with climbers. I’ve been using Summit/Lone Wolf for close to 20 years (since I moved to the south) without a hint of a breakage problem
 
I’ve got probably around 200 climbs using the same LWHC with bolt mod. My weight has been between 200 - 215 pounds over the years. During that time, I have put all my weight on every corner and edge of that thing without any problem whatsoever. I would guess most of the trees I climb are between nine and 13 inches in diameter. In my book it is the easiest, and fastest climbing method. It also is extremely safe since I’m never above the tether, and there is very little slack in it as well. I guess I’ve just been lucky, and I realize it can break at any time, so now I use a rappel line as my tether, with a Madrock safeguard as well. I’ve just started learning how to one stick in hopes of shaving a few pounds off my entire kit. I know it will get easier with experience, but so far it definitely takes much more effort, and does not feel as safe as using the LWHC.
 
brydan said:
That guy used to post on the old Bayou Bucks forum all the time. He sure has bad luck with climbers. I’ve been using Summit/Lone Wolf for close to 20 years (since I moved to the south) without a hint of a breakage problem
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For sure. If I had his luck, I would definitely become a ground Hunter.
 
There seem to be people who are just hard on gear. A longime bowhunting acquaintance also shot BW recurves in the 1990's and early 2000's. He was a bricklayer by trade and his 'new' bow looked like it has been dragged down the highway. When he compared mine, he asked if I ever shot it or took it to the woods......mine was 5 years old at the time and had taken a lot of game. My father taught me from a young age that if you take care of your tools and tackle, they will take care of you. Certainly there are odd issues of failure that can crop up with any product or design, but misuse or abuse......even unintetional clearly shortens useable lifespan.
 
Alaska at Heart said:
There seem to be people who are just hard on gear. A longime bowhunting acquaintance also shot BW recurves in the 1990's and early 2000's. He was a bricklayer by trade and his 'new' bow looked like it has been dragged down the highway. When he compared mine, he asked if I ever shot it or took it to the woods......mine was 5 years old at the time and had taken a lot of game. My father taught me from a young age that if you take care of your tools and tackle, they will take care of you. Certainly there are odd issues of failure that can crop up with any product or design, but misuse or abuse......even unintetional clearly shortens useable lifespan.
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using the lone wolf hand climber top as a saddle platform is misuse. so there it is. it’s why it breaks.
 
@Plebe just said it. :)

It is a hand climber and was never engineered or designed for being used as a platform!
I've seen this before when people alter factory produced items and think they're engineers. Statements like" "it'll hold" or "that should be good enough" or "I re-enforced it with duck tape/zip ties" will only do one thing....land your butt in the hospital. o_O

Altered hand climbers, shortened climbing sticks, using carabiners for something other than the intended use, the list is endless.
 
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