When I first had the concern with the width I was not worried about it while in the tree, but when I would be walking in the woods, cocked. I have a huge 46 by 54 inch platform on my 23 foot ladder stand so clearance up there is fine. I just thought they were wider then that and envisioned that it would suck walking through a woods with it. But heck three to four more inches shouldn't hurt a thing IMO! Yes the pulling you guys are having is putting an arch in my back and soon will fall to my knees and be sucked in! LOL!!!