Wild Edge Step...GAME CHANGER :)

[Kurt]

I was out climbing this past week using my WE steps and knaider/swaider. As I'm removing a step from a pine tree I was climbing I noticed that the step took out a plug of bark from one side and barely any thing from the other side. I looked at the stand offs and noticed, as I have before that the hollow tubing was plugged on one side with bark from previous climbs. So I got to thinking, I know some folks are concerned with the amount of damage the WE steps can cause. So I cleaned out the bark and jammed in some JB weld. I filled to just below the grooves on the stand offs with a plug of jb weld that was maybe an inch thick. What I did was take away the coring effect of the hollow tube, I haven't noticed any issues with stability in the step as of yet. In fact in my head I'm thinking I'm getting more compression of the bark without sacrificing any of the bite that the notched stand offs provide. Also in eliminating the coring effect I'm thinking the steps go on more solid because your compressing the bark and wood and not sinking so deep into the tree. So far I've tied them on a White pine, a thin barked swamp maple, and a red oak. In each case It minimizes penetration(coring effect) and I've not noticed any loss of stability. It's my thought That as the season grows nearer and I'm out climbing more I'll use the two steps I put the jb weld in on different parts of the tree( bottom in thicker bark, and as my top steps in the thinner bark up higher, to make sure that the positive results I'm seeing so far continues. It's a fairly quick and easy mod to do but I don't want to jump right in and do all my steps because it might not be as quick and easy to undo. I'll keep yall posted as I continue. Catchy thread title I know

 

[Flee]

Following

 

[iamcorey]

I’m just waiting for mine to fill up naturally.


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[Kurt]

I’m just waiting for mine to fill up naturally.


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They do fill up naturally but I've found as the plugs dry they can fall out. This was just a more permanent answer.

 

[Kurt]

I just got in from climbing, and I'm optimistic about this mod. It doesn't make it so there's no marks on the tree but the penetration is limited. No slippage so far.

 

[Kurt]

This the 4th step of 4 at 20 feet. You can see the compression but very little penetration. White pine.

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[Kurt]

4th of 4 at 20 feet in a small poplar. Minimal disruption of the bark.

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[PaTrout1]

4th of 4 at 20 feet in a small poplar. Minimal disruption of the bark.

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I'm pretty sure that as long as something doesn't penetrate through the cambium layer of a tree it really does no damage. That's a far way in considering the layers of bark u have to get through and then the thickness of the cambium. Although anything we can do to protect trees is a good thing, especially with all the invasive species we've got. The emerald ash borer devastated our ash here in PA in a very short period of time

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[Cript2014]

Awesome I’m interested to see how this works out!

 

[MJH]

I like where you are going with this.

 

[pesqimon]

Pic please?

I’d like to see the detail of the JB Weld depth inside the stand off tube.

#picoritdidnthappen


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[Kurt]

Here are the pics with a J-B Weld step on top

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[Kurt]

This is a picture of a very thin barked swamp maple as you can see it knocks off the outside bark but does not appreciably penetrate the inner layers. Again I noticed no instability in the step the second picture is another white pine that shows the compression marks but no coring of the bark.

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[pesqimon]

Thanks! That's what I imagined.

 

[sethwright]

How are you liking the setup with the knaider/swaider? I got my set of JC knaider and swaider in last Friday, tried them out Saturday on a modified LW stick with doublesteps and was able to get 5'5" pretty easily to one step, think i could even stretch it to 6'. the USPS man just dropped 5 WE steps and a perch off on my desk here at work, so i'm itching to get home and throw them on a tree to stretch. Can't wait to try them out with the knaider swaider.

 

[Foosty]

Following

 

[ericabbott]

I really like this approach. Did you fill the entire stand-off or just enough to plug the hole? I'm guessing just enough but want to verify. Also what type of JB Weld are you using? Punched it into Amazon and came up with a whole range of options. Thanks

 

[DaWiz9578]

@Kurt how did you get the jb weld in there so neatly?

Ive messed with jb a few times and always comes out a little sloppy

 

[fbwguy]

Think I will give this a shot

 

[Flee]

I just did this with some JB weld in a tube like toothpaste made for mufflers. I haven’t tested it yet but it seems it worked great. Was like $5 for the tube and I just filled in the ends. There’s tons left.