willtill

I' ve got the same problem with my Summit Classic too. William Woller does read these messages about his stands, and he' s sent me two emails. I' ve replied to him twice but haven' t heard anything from him. The second email he sent indicated that he didn' t read my first reply to him.

At any rate, I think the the answer to our Summit' s slipping on " slick" barked trees is to sharpen the gripping teeth a little bit on the edges. I haven' t done mine yet (too busy hunting) but I try to keep alot of weight on the teeth of the climber as it contacts the bark, this is what makes it cling to the tree anyway.

I do not have any other experience with other companies climbers. But I see no reason to replace my Summit with another brand. This stand is sturdy, quite and I feel very comfortable and safe in it. It' s a good thing that they package the body harness and rope with the climber though!

Kindest Regards,

-Will in Maryland

clearanceman

Thanks! What do you mean by sharpen the teeth? The teeth on mine are square on the end, I thought about turning them into triangles, actual teeth. Because this can' t continue. I was climbing yesterday and the bark on the tree was pretty rough. And I tried my weight on the bottom platform on my summit viper and it was ok, so I moved the top part and the bottom part fell a whole foot before it stopped. I could hear the wind whoosing by my ears. I had the harness on, and it didn' t fall far enough to use the harness but still, when I climbed down, I was hugging the tree the whole way down. I HATE the feeling of something dropping out from under me. I ride the roller coasters but I won' t go on the drop rides because I hate that feeling. If this continues I will have to stop using this thing. I am thinking of selling it and buying a tree lounger. If the tree lounger can stick to an aluminum pole, it is not going to slide down a tree. But I thought maybe turning the end of each tooth into a point might work too. What do you think, and why isn' t summit fixing this? They give you a strap to attach the top part of the stand to the tree once you get set up because if you take weight off the top part of the stand without using the strap, the whole top section will fall. With no strap, you can' t even sit in the top part because when you go to stand up, it falls all the way to the bottom platform. I just can' t take it anymore...

Matt / PA

Clearanceman,
I can' t imagine why you are having the difficulties that you are? (not saying that you are not)
I am on my 5th different Summit Stand (4th Cable style climber) and I have never had mine (knock on wood) slip even the tiniest bit while climbing or sitting.
I don' t climb smooth trees here in Pa simply because I hunt a lot of public ground and don' t need the treebark police (PA WCO' s) siting me or harassing me for damaging a tree.
I stick to rougher barked trees, and there are times when I have to really wiggle the heck out of the platform to get it loose. Mine sticks like velcro.
I absolutely HATE heights but am comfy as a clam in my Summits.......

Are you climbing trees that are very big in diameter? If you hook up to the biggest trees the cable will allow you don' t have full engagement of all of the teeth. Take the stand outside and find some different diameter trees.......you will quickly see which size trees allow the most teeth to be engaged.
Even so, I still haven' t had one slip regardless of diameter? Odd.

I did have a Loggy Bayou slip a few feet once.........So much for scent control on that hunt.[][X(]

Bmott

Satisfied !

I have been useing treestands since the first Bakers and Loc Ons came arround. And I slid more than once with the old Bakers. I recently bought the Summit Goliath , I am 6' 7" and 285 lbs. This stand is the most secure climber that I have ever owned. To me it even rivals the old Screaming Eagle stands that Bruner first came out with. The only thing that I would like to see changed is making the bottom part a couple inches longer for us tall persons. I remember reading one time that Mr. Waller is a former Marine, with that in mind it should not surprise anyone with the quality of his work !

bmott

bubbamoose

I very satisfied with mine. In fact I bought a summit because I liked what people had to say about them here.
I am like Matt and really have to wiggle the thing to get it out of the tree sometimes.
B

willtill

Oh, sure you can....

First of all, the strap that they give you is to fasten the BOTTOM part of the stand, not the top part.

You do have to be conscious that you have to keep your weight in such a manner that the teeth of the climber are always pressed into the tree bark. This should always be one of your mental focuses when climbing the tree.

They do slip on slick feeling bark. The " faces: of the gripping teeth of the Summit climber are squared off, I think that they should have made them a little more tapered as well. You can easily do that with a file. Just file a little bit, not a whole lot...

Kindest Regards,

-Will in Maryland

clearanceman

Ok, if I pick the perfect diameter tree with rough but also soft bark, it doesn' t slip. But there is not always a tree around that is rough AND soft. Rough and hard bark it slips some, with smooth bark it slips alot. I remember seeing in the video or manual, can' t remember which they flat out said don' t climb smooth bark trees with this stand. And I read my manual and I looked at my video and on my model (summit viper) the green strap is for tying the top part to the tree once the stand is in position to hunt. It is the only way to use the top part without it falling. It doesn' t fall if you put weight on it, but with no weight it falls. So if you sit in it and stand up without the strap, the top part will fall. The bottom doesn' t fall because there is always weight on it. And I have had to wiggle the stand to get the teeth on the bottom platform out of trees too but only on trees with bark that is both rough and soft. Again, there is not always such a tree anywhere near where I need to set up. I wonder if I should file the teeth or just sell it. I am afraid if I file the teeth and it doesn' t work, I won' t be able to sell it. And it was $230. If I leave it as is, I could sell it and get something more secure, maybe even a newer summit, although mine is only 2 years old. I am afraid to sell it to an individual though. What do I say? Hey, it slips unless you pick the perfect tree? That won' t work...

TreePhantom

I had a problem with mine last year along with 3 of my friends. The weld on the platform that looks like a " v" came undone. I notified them and had a brand new stand in 3 days!!! Great company!

Wildweasel

To those that are having problems with the teeth not biteing into the bark,Dont Be Afraid to set them hard with your weight.Notice i didnt say jump up and down on them.Just lightly bounce the front,and it wont come loose ,unless you want it to,and then with some effort required.Ive never had that problem with my Viper,sometimes im complaining that i have to struggle to get the darn teeth to release it' s bite,but never loose.

clearanceman

I' m starting to wonder if the teeth on my stand aren' t cut right. I am 210 pounds, no lightweight and I put them solidly into the tree. But they just won' t sink into the tree unless the bark is soft.