does anyone that hunts on private land ever used 8 in. lag bolts or bolts about 1/2 or 3/8 in diameter for tree steps using a cordless drill.sounds like a could idea instead of trying to turn those tree steps in especially in warm weather.it was suggested to drill about 3 to 4 in. in at slight angle using a bit a tad larger in diameter than bolt.he said it was great for coming down and pulling out bolts so no one could very easily steal stand.

Thats more work than using quality tree steps! Get some Cranford Ezy Climb rod steps

I would use screw in steps over lags any day. You can probably save money with steps, and they aren' t that hard to use.

And...NEVER drill a hole bigger than your bolt or step...or you are liable to end up on your head from 15' up when it pulls out!

Wasn' t this the idea behind the " Treehopper" concept?

3/8 inch grade 8 bolts - with the treehopper bit - they work great!

We use the " Treehopper" bolts on 15-20 of
our trees and they work great. For the last 2-3 steps,
we usually try and use screw in steps. Also, some
trees that are a bit awkward, like really big
oak trees, you are probably better off using
screw-in steps.

As long as the steps(bolts) are not too far apart,
and you take your time, they really are quite
safe, as well as, convenient[:-].

We bought our drill bit from Treehopper at the
Iowa Deer Classic a couple of years ago, in
addition to 15 bolts each that come in a pouch.
We wanted to buy a second bit, but the number
I have has been disconnected.

We usually can drill between 24-30 holes with one
battery (14.4 v), which equals about 2 1/2 stand
sites.

TB

Everyone should be careful when using lag bolts for steps. About ten years ago that is all one of my good friends would use instead of screw in steps. We were hunting his place one cold dec. morning and as I was climbing the tree one of the bolts pulled out allowing my boot to slide off of the end. Next thing I know I am laying on the ground on top of my bow. Once I stood up and started to look myself over I realized that on the way down another bolt had stuck into my leg through my pants and had torn about a 6" long gash in the back of my thigh. My bow was tied off to my bow rope, laying at the base of the tree, when I landed on it I broke the sight and three arrows in my quiver. At the time of the accident I weighed right at 200# so I don' t think my weight should have been too much for the bolt. My friend and I spent the rest of the day (after I got stitches) replacing his lag bolts with screw in stairs. I have not had any problems with stairs since I started using them 15 yrs. ago. Sorry for such a long post, I just don' t want to see this happen to anyone else.

I tried using lag bolts once but they did not hold up very well, and they would be hard to unscrew from the tree at the end of the season. I will stick with with the screw in steps or ladder.

thanks for answering--were do you get the cranford steps at .are they that easy to screw in.do you have to use anything to get them started.

You do not need to pre-drill for Cranfords although you can. Although the rod steps do not fold, I find them to be stronger. Bass Pro AND Cabela' s both sell them, but I am sure you can find them at an archery shop. I can get mine from my shop for $3 a piece. They are absolutely strong and sharp!!!