summit stand failure(pics added page 2)
 

has anyone had thier summit viper "fail" on them?

i had what could only be described as "catastrophic failure" with mine this morning. The metal looks like a car ran it over, the bottom part bent into a horshoe.
i have used this stand for 5 years with 0 problems, whats up?


moose

RE: summit stand failure
 

I'm in my 3rd season with my Viper. I've experienced no issues with it.....other than total satisfaction. I'd like to see some pics if you have them.

[Deleted]
 

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I hate hearing this, my goliath has been great.

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[Deleted by Admins]

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Hmmm this is my 5th season for my viper and it still works great! I would like to hear more about these problems.

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so what happened? metal just doesn't bend itself. I've beat the hel out of my bushmaster for 4 season, and this is the 4th season for my viper and not a smidgen of problems. I'm curious to hear your story.

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I have a summit and have no problems . this is the most comfortable stand i've ever hunted out of. i'm very happy with it

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That's scary. You weren't hurt were you? Did it cause you to fall?

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Believe it or not most of the time the "Creaking" you hear with the platforms has to do with the powder coat in the teeth on certain tree styles. Its weird I know but trust me, the powder coat makes noises against certain bark.
Take a file and rasp all the coating off the contact points with the tree and I bet the noise goes away.

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Mikey asked the question I was going to... How did it get that way? Something had to have caused the metal to bend like a pretzel... I really can't even see any of my Summits bending to that extreme if I dropped them 20' from a tree.

Please explain what happened...

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Metal fatigue?

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Except when the bottom falls to the ground and you are sitting on the top!!! You big dummy.


Dink....the other white meat

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I'd like to hear some details on this as well. A catastrophic failure is cause for concern for any Summit owner. Pics would be very helpful.

Matt is exactly right about the powder coat. My first time out with my Summit stand I noticed terrible squeaking against the bark of the beech tree I was in. As soon as I got home I filed the powder coat off and no more squeaking.

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yeah, but you had that stand beefed up from the factory to acomidate your fat @$$ before i bought it off you, dummy [8D]

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Matt's right. It's in the informationalDVDSummit issues with the stand. And I can't understand how you could bend that metal??? I have several of their stands and none have given me a bit of problem and I'm glad to hear they want resolve your problem in quick responsible manner.

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ok guys, i am off to work now i will post some pics when i get home.

short story, i'm climbing in the dark this morning, i am about 15 feet up and i put pressure on the bottom and it felt like it was "giving way" for lck of a better turn. i thought it was wierd, made one more "climb" and when i put pressure on the bottom again it bent more . like taffy....when you see the pics you will be shocked, i had a tough time getting out of the tree.

i have 4 summit vipers, never had an issue, but this got me scared. like i said, it was like the metal just "melted".

pics to follow

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Just saw this today-
http://www.tmastands.com/recalls.php

Lots of summits on there...... but it looks to only be fore the harness....

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Radioactive stink foot [:'(]

[8D]

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heres some pics


(edited to stack the photos so they didn't scroll across the screen)

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thought i was exagerating, huh?

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No. But I have to ask.....How much do you weigh?

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That's not good, glad I have APIs...Are those stands made by welding a seam together, looks kinda like that...Looks like the weld came apart and allowed it to bend...

RE: summit stand failure
 

I don't think anyone here thought you were exagerating; we were just wondering how it happened, that's all. As someone said, it couldn't have just happened by itself sitting in a corner... Now we know.

Glad you're ok.

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How did it bend upwards. I figured with weight on it it might bend downward.

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I'm glad you're fine, too. I think the labcoat guy at Summit used to be a NASA engineer. I'm guessing we don't see too much of this. I'm just extremely skeptical. Something happened to this stand before this (IMO).

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245. stands rated to 300

but like i've said, i've been using them for a decade, and my wieght is consistent since 11th grade...:)

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Jeff, how about NO?

let me clarify..
i use the stand at least twice a week thru oct, nov, dec for the past several years. never have an issue.

i take them in for the season and store them in my attic.

i take them down each august , check em over, and hand em in the same trees i've nbeen hanging them in for years

i use this one 4 times this year, this happens today.

for some reason your tone seems to indicate i'm BSing. i have nothing to gain here. I'm sharing some info and MAYBE preventing someone from getting hurt.. i don't hold a grudge against summit, i have a few more summit stands and i will continue to support them.

What do you have invested to suspect i'm lying?

RE: summit stand failure(pics added page 2)
 

I had the same exact failure last year. I weigh slightly less than you. I had that stand for about 2 years, and while descending a tree it buckled the bottom half of the climber about 6' off the ground. Summit was happy to replace the bottom half no questions, but it was not the same unit as was broken that I received in the mail. Obviously there is a problem. I bought that stand because of the weight load (300lbs) to be safe. What a heart stopper when that metal just kept creasing like rubber.

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Saw a stand today. I guess they're spelling it out these days. "Stand rated at 300 lbs. hunter with all gear included."

Only you know whats gone on with the stand. It is up to you to make sure the thing is safe and in good condition. Ya gota check them over before using them.

I haven't liked summits for a while, but never was concerned about their strength.

I don't think it's that hard to determine whats making a creeking sound either. I ground much of the bite of my summit. Darn thing dug in way to deep for me. I was always affraid a dnr guy would bust me for messing up a tree.

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Glad you were ok Moose! I have several Summit stands myself one of them is 6 so Im gonna look it over again before I use it. I have never had any trouble but theres a first time for everything. Thanks for the heads up.

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My "tone"? Dude...I'm typing.

I didn't say anything about your stand....that I wouldn't have said if it were mine. If the same thing happened to me. I'd wanna know what happened to that stand along the lines to make it do that. I carry mine on my back every time I use it. I put it on my building wall when I'm done. I RARELY put it in the back of my truck.....but it has been there.

I've also got a 15 yr old.....it's been in my 4 wheeler baskets......and out of my sight while at a camp with friends. Honestly.....I couldn't say for sure if it had ever been damaged if I didn't see it. So......I'd guess if mine did what yours did.....that something happened to it I didn't know about, prior to the catastrophic failure.

I don't have a stake in this, either. I'm only being reasonable.

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damn. this is strange. three years ago, the father-in-law and i bought a couple summit climbers. i forget the model, viper? anyway, i've been using mine for the last three years with no problem, love the thing. this year i hung it up in wisconsin as a permanent stand for gun hunting. kind of put it in semi-retirement. myfather-in-law has been having shoulder trouble and never even opened his climber up, it justsat in his basement for the last coupleyears. so, he gives it to me to use this season, and while i'm making it just how i like it, i notice that one of the little cross braces on the bottom half of the climber (right where the bottom loop of the shoulder straps wraps around) is welded kind of "off". it isn't exactly the same on both sides. i didn't really think too much of it till i read this. i've been up in it a few times already without any trouble but now i'm a little nervous. i weigh 200-205. i'll try to post some pics later, it's hanging outside in the dark right now.

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Moose

Was the tree that you were climbing small in diameter causing the stand to be at a greater angle than 90 degrees? I dunno but when I get to the smaller diameter section of the tree it seems to put more pressure on the bottom. Maybe Im just crazy.[&:]

Sorry to hear about your luck!

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I noticed its painted by spray paint the stand was doing something be for to flake off the paint . I had one i left out on the property as a quick climb stand ,well it rained then froze in the stand expanding the metal to a little round instead of square . could this have happen to you then later gave way from the previous stress?

RE: summit stand failure
 

this particular stand was used exclusively on the same tree for its whole life. i would say the tree was "average", in that it was niether too big or too small...o couldnt give the diameter off the top of my head.
as far as the black spray paint goes, that was put on years ago just to break up the silhouette. not so much for the deer but to hide it from other hunters....

i am at a loss here, really. i could see if i climbed a tree with a radically different diameter, or left it out for a year or two and it froze and expanded, but i REALLY did'nt do anything different than i have all along...

wierd

hopefully summit will share some insight with me.

thanks,
moose

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Just glad you are safe and if you find out some results of this please let us know.

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Man, that is absolutely crazy. I have no idea how you got out of the tree in that thing. I'm glad you're alright. Someone mentioned earlier about a weld failing. I would guess that's what happened. There is no way you could have known that would have happened.

I would assume you're calling Summit about this. Please let us know how they handle it.

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Thankfully you are OK. A couple things that come to mind is:
1) Is it possible that you were close to or over the 300 pound mark? I know you say you weigh less, but with gear and everything, being a few years old maybe you just overloaded it? My Lone Wolf Sit and Climb is rated for 350 pounds. Gather up all your gear that you take, and step on a scale with all of it, see just how close you are/were to that 300# limit.
2)I broke 1 stand on a real knotty tree. Sometimes you get on a knot or bump in the tree and it twists the stand a bit, instead of distributing the weight evenly, weight shifts to one side and bends or breaks. When mine broke, I was on the way down, taking rather large steps.The deck hooked into the tree a little crooked and I dropped my weight down on it and it bent slightly. It wasn't until the next climb that it failed completely and it looked a lot like the stand in the pictures.
3) I kind of relate tree climber weight limits much like rating weight limits for a rope. A rope might be able to hold a load of 300 pounds on a consistant basis but take that same 300 pounds and drop it from 2-3 feet up. The 300 pound rated rope will break and may take up to a 1000lbs rating to stop 300 pounds on a 2-3 foot free fall. Take a 250 pound man and have him jump up and down on a 300 pound rated climber, I would expect the 300 pound rated climber to eventually fail. Add a tree that's not perfectly round or straight, it's pretty easy to stress out A climber. The entire climber industry is geared to make the lightest climber possible. The lighter the climber, the less they'll hold. I weigh 160 lbs and a 350 lbs climber is perfect for me. If I weighed 250 I'd want a climber rated to 400-500 lbs. When buying/using a climber, better make sure it fits you. A 250 lbs person, plus his cloths and gear, in a 300 lbs climber, it's just a matter of time before the climber is going to fail.

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I'm glad you okay too. Odd...

My stand....Ol'man Grand...rated to 400lbs...I weigh in at 190. ;) :D