Went to walmart last night, bought the Buddy stand (Mainly Because it has a bigger seat), and all was well. Today, I set it up, (Assemble) then, I go to put it in the tree. Put one Ratchet Strap on, go to put the other on, and I SUppose I leaned too far to the right, a section of the Ladder Gave way and Bent, Down I went, Clinging for dear life...at the moment Im Quite mad at HV...grrr Anyone else have any trouble with these stands??? There Supposed to support 500lbs, I know thats not good becuase it has a limit, but still, im not even half that!!

Some friends and I built soem this year. We built them out of 1 1/4" 11 gauge square tubing. The double we built is only 12 feet high, but it is heavy and very solid. The singles we built were 16' to the seat and we didn' t have to have the support back to the tree in the center of the ladder. I feel much safer in them than one of the lightweight factory built ladders out there.

Hope it works out for you.

MD without knowing specifics I can only guess. First you should have put the stand up at an angle that allowed the top section to get a " bite" then about half way up you shouldve strapped the ladder to the trunk of the tree before going any higher. Only after that should you have gone up to secure the platform. Also, what angle did you have it at? ANY ladder is designed to be basically straight up and down so that the ladder can hold the weight in a vertical direction vs bending inward or outward.

I too bought a HV 2 man ladder lastyear with an additional 4' extension. This came with an additional metal brace that tied the ladder in to the trunk and allowed you to tighten the ladder up snug so that it doesnt move while climbing or using the stand.

Good luck and be careful in those things!
RA

It was Biting and all, and I Kinda had the Bottom thing on, The strap wouldnt fit around the tree...But My main point was that the Thing Bent like it did, I Never thought it would do that! [:@]