We purchesed a couple of Equalizer Leveling Treestands a couple of years ago and have been EXTREMELY pleased with these stands... but I ran into a small problem last year. In the late season with the temperatures dropping down very low both the leveling crank handles on my stand broke. Now I will be the first to admit I am kinda rough on stuff but dagnadit I hunt ALOT and 99% of the time its from my climber. I was still able to ajust the leveling on the stand but it was a pain trying to turn the broken off small squares at the base of the handles. So I thought no problem I'll order new ones.. well for some reason they are not operating their buisness at this time ( there were some rumors about them going around I will not repeat ) I didnt want to call all over the USA to Dealers hoping one would have them in stock. So I figured to hell with it me and the hubby can find a way to fix them, so off the the hardware store we went and we came up with this idea. I hope this will help someone else if they run into the same problem with the crank handles breaking. We used these Black PVC plumbing parts as replacement handles( dont ask me what they are called I dont have a clue ) This is what the original handles look like. 1. I first ground down the old broken crank handle to a square on he grinder. 2. I then took the Black PVC Pipe put it in the vise and dremeled 4 groves down in it to allow the Original Crank Handle Square to fit down inside it snuggly, and then cleaned up the plastic burrs out of it with a pointed file. 3. I then put a small amount of JB Weld down the groves I had Dremeled in the the Black PVC Pipe. 4. I then put the pipe back in the vise and inserted the original crank handle square down in the pipe to let it setup in place with the JB Weld for 6 hours. 5. After the 6 hours I attached to stand. And so far they seem to be working very well
People who haven't used an Equalizer just don't realize what they are missing. Being able to adjust the stand while going up and down is a big advantage. That along with the quality construction make them IMO the best stands on the market. I too learned of their "closing" a while back. I hope they get everything up and running again soon.
I have had handles break and was always able to get new ones. Hope they havn't folded. Mine would break because of the way they are mounted to the stand so I remove them and carry them in. The one that mounts to tha outside I mount on the inside at the stand site. To me it's easier to turn from an inside the stand mount vs the outside of it. If I ever break them again I will remember your fix. Ingenious idea. An alumnium handle would be the ultimate fix though.
Rick you are correct = An alumnium handle would be the ultimate fix .. but I didnt see any way of mounting it to the square rod that is attached to the handle and I dont weld or machine so it wasnt like I could just make my own ( I wish I could ) I found the plastic they used to make the handles to be very brittle and pourous ( the plastic where the handle broke you could see had many air bubbles inside it )I think this is one item in their lineup that maybe they could find a way to improve on it. I as well hope they are back and up and running soon !!!!!! I would hate to see them fold cause I absolutly love this climber. My hubby liked mine so much that we got him one as well and he feels the same way about his.
