Tree stand FYI

Just a FYI for those who put up loc-ons and ladders permanently . If you attach them to a Hickory , you MUST occasionally loosen the chain and/or straps . Hickorys are so hard they will not grow around the tree stand bars or chains. They'll break your chain , if the chain is strong, it'll break the stand. I have stands that have trees ( even oaks) grown around the bars and chains, Hickory won't do it. I love ladders that are grown into trees, safe as being in yo Momma's arms.

Doesn't work well for screw in steps tho. I made the mistake of leaving some in trees and after two years they were un-usable.

Don't think I've ever tried to put screw in steps in a hickory, , those things are harder than a woodpecker's pecker.

Some folks at a saw mill are gonna be pissed off at you one day. Lol

Gotta ladder in one of my best spots grown into the tree that I just cut a new plywood seat for.

“Momma’s Arms” fer shol

My favorites are down by the creek in the no cut zone.

Bayed up, most Saw mills use metal detectors before they cut anything now. There are thousands of cotton picker spinals in trees all over the South.

You should check your chains every year and loosen them up every other year

I pull my lock-ons down every year. The ladders have been up about 15 years I have now. I loosen them every year so they don't grow into my trees. Stands are too expensive now to not take care of.

I like a turn buckle with a chain and add a new ratchet strap each year. I’m accident prone big time.

We check ratchet straps every year and loosen them some. We loosen our cinch straps on our sticks yearly. We replace both every 2 years. We have lifelines on all loc-ons.

FYI, your life is worth not buying the cheapest Ratchet Strap from WalMart. Ratchet Straps are made from, for the most part, three materials... Polypropylene, Nylon and Polyester. BUY THE POLYESTER straps. I don't have time to list all the reasons why, but take my word for it. Polyester is the best material so make sure you're buying quality. IDK the website, but I buy my ratchet straps online and they're QUALITY. In this case, a broken ratchet strap won't mean, "Just another ladder on the Interstate (road)!" but rather a hunter on the ground from a 25'-15' fall. Oh, I always put more than one ratchet strap on my Loc-ons and I ALWAYS us a LifeLine.