I've got a couple of latter stands and a climber, and was wondering what sort of maintenance should be done year to year. What do ya'll do? elite shooter
I don't leave my LW stand in the woods unless I'm in it. I just check everything for tightness and look over my traction belts for any possible cracks each year. Other than that it's pretty much maintenance free.
Check the ratchet straps, if your stand has any, for tears. I’ve seen straps cut in half by squirrels. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Loosen and retighten your ratchet and chains. You don't want the tree growing around/over them. If you're using a lock-on and ladder stick and leave them in the woods for several years, you're in for a big surprise unless you adjust for tree growth.
I came in to say this. I do this every year, as well as inspect cables and connections + load test my stands if they get left out.
Guess I’m the odd man out, I don’t leave mine out. I paid too much for them to let them hang out unattended for 7 months.
This is a lot more important than you may think. I just removed 3 abandoned stand from my lease property. Unused for 3+ years. 2 ladder stands and one hang on with sticks. Tree had grown over the strap on on ladder stand. Had to cut it off and leave part of the strap. One came down OK. The hang on and sticks had ratchets and had pulled so tight they could not be moved. Had to work from a ladder to cut everything free. It is one thing to leave your stand out when the tree is dormant. But to leave them out during the growing season is asking for trouble. Mine are home hanging up, straps are in a plastic pail with a lid.
I'll look everything over, but usually if everything looks fine, just loosen them for the summer and tighten them back up before the season
Tighten any loose fasteners. Check for wear (fraying on straps, cables, etc). Check any steel for rust- it gets brushed/sanded and a spot of primer/paint.
I bring mine home, inspect them like all previous suggestions but i then apply a new coat a camo paint, matte in finish.
I’ve upgraded to mostly ladder stands for safety/filming purposes (more room for me to move around), and I leave my stands in the woods all year round. I don’t like to “add” a stand to a bucks range a week before the season. I always buy new sets of ratchet straps every year and go around checking my stands replacing the ones that are bad. As far as hang ons, i have 2 new ones and a few older ones that I inspect real good before jumping on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I just have a couple normal run and gun set ups along with film gear. What I normally do is if you can store it where you wont ruin the stands in the off season but also work on putting them up and tearing them down before the season starts. I have a tree in my yard I am fortunate enough to be able to do this when ever. You can find out what needs to be fixed and you get better/faster at putting them up/down. I normally find some creaky bolts on my lone wolf hang on around the cleat part that I have to fix.
I have a simple routine that I abide by and it has yet to let me down. For ladder stands depending on if they have been left out all year I will usually replace the ratchet straps and check to see if there is corrosion on the ladder so it doesn't snap in half when your climbing up it or setting in it on a hunt (unlikely to happen but still a possibility). For climbing stands the most important thing to check is the fastening strap weather it is a rubber coated chain or cable, the second is the seat, seat straps can dry rot particularly the mesh seats, replacement seats are easy to find if needed to be replaced.
I bring mine in during the off season. Still need to replace the occasional strap. Test the stand before hauling it out and setting it up. Good luck!
