Check your Gorillas
Whitetail Deer
On my way out to Colorado I stopped at my friend's place in Illinois to check and prepare tree stands. We did 91 stands in three days but found 6 Gorillas Stands with rotting side cables. See photo. If you have Gorilla Stands check the cables. There is a reason they filed for Chapter 11.
Be safe guys!
Oh BTW we found a rather big deer track on the edge of a bean field:)
I had the same thing last season on one of mine. Hadn't snapped yet but it was only a matter of time. Good heads up Charlie.
Thanks for the heads up! I'll be checking mine this weekend!
i would say any stand with cables. how old is that stand ? and its been left out all year i assume. Did u say 91 stands why so many all i need is one that many would make my head spin. wheres the pics a track not good enough
stainless cable would fix that, I love to hunt, but 91 stands, I have never moved my climber that many times in a single season. I have 6 stands, most ever had at one time 40.
only 91 stands? Man you are really slipping :)
Charlie and information on replacement cables? I have a half dozen gorilla stands.
i like the gorillas good stands but any stand in the woods all year and u will have problems down the road
Charlie,
Thanks for the heads up and to thoroughly check all stands as we are ready to get rolling!
Mark
The rubber tubing is most likely the cause. Moisture gets between the rubber and cable and doesn't dry. It rusts and failures occur. You don't need the cables covered in rubber. The entire stand is metal. If the stand isn't noisy why would the cables be? Peel the rubber off.
Yup. I had the same thing happen on a Gorilla stand a few years ago. I have not scrapped it yet. I was hoping to find replacement cables for it someplace.
The first thing I do when buying any stand with cables is to apply heat shrink tubing over all exposed area down to the bolt head. Great heads up Charlie!! Thanks for reminding hunters to take time to inspect.
the rubber will collect moisture and help in rotting the cables ,,
Ben MOORE has a product its a rust converter its stops rust and converts it .I have used on on I beams to stop flaking on trailers, stands etc etc great product easy to use
You can make your own cables. When I first stared building stands (modeled after the Screaming Eagle stand by Paul Brunner's company) I used simple cable clamps with SS cable. Then I morphed into using compression clamps. At work, we had a crimping tool and bought sleeves that were about 1.25" long. Align the cable carefully, crimp the center, then each end.
The cables were not bolted on and the clamps basically formed a loop around the stand vertical frame and platform sides. Again, the cables were stainless steel, and I don't leave stands in place. Except in rare cases, the stands reside in my garage each year, but I only have 19 total; 5 climbers and 12 chain ons that I built.
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We only got to 91 of the 165 stands on the 1800 acres. Some areas are hunted very carefully with lots of topography changes and wind directions. One food plot may have three stands. Number of stands is just right for the ground. A stand is never hunted in the wrong wind.
Whether you have one stand or many they must be throughly evaluated each year.
The Majority of the Gorilla cables are 26 inches with the large ones at 30 inches. We are going to check OTHER tree stand companies to see if they make replacement cables in these sizes. That's the easy solution. I recently replaced two stands with chain but that was a bit more work.
Just arrived in Colorado and will be switching to Mule Deer and Elk mode! Be safe! C
I filmed this segment at the 2015 ATA show, I believe the guy sells cables as well for those who asked.
Hope this doesn't violate any rules, I am not affiliated in any way with his company.
Just trying to help those who asked
Thanks for reminder. Am phasing in all ladder stands but still use some portables especially for rattling stands.
The title of the thread fooled me... I thought this was going in a completely different direction...
Me too Firehuntfish, when I saw that title I immediately rushed out and checked my gorilla cages. Thankfully they are all present and accounted for!!!
I've replaced almost all mine with chain (2/0 long link)
I've got one to check as well. I was sitting in it last fall and this very thought crossed my mind. Going to pull it down tomorrow and replace the cables.
I had a cable snap on me in that same spot as in Charlies pic. last fall. Luckily I was holding onto a homemade safety rail as it broke and caught myself. Talk about freak ya out!!!
That is a stand for every 11 acres. Unbelievable.
Yep, cables rot. Especially when they are wrapped. Put chains and good bolts in their place and leave them in. God Bless
Charlie - based on your reports, my buddy and I headed off to his farm to day to check 6 stands, one was a gorilla... What do you think happened???
I'll tell you, the grizzly lockons, and a rivers edge were fine, and they been up for years... The one gorilla stand, after I told him to please be extra careful, and hold onto the safety tether we had on tree above stand - had a cable POP when he started bouncing not quite full weight on the stand!!!!
I said get the hell down and he did... We will have to go back with our set of keys and unlock it and take it down.
I never thought cables like that would rust right through...
Great post Charlie - Thank you
Charlie how do you test them? Four of my stands are Gorilla's. I checked them all yesterday visually and by bouncing on them while tethered. They seem fine, but now I am nervous. Two of these have been out all year for 2 years but all get checked and now straps every year. For those that say Charlie has too many stands, no such thing. I have 18 stands and 4 ground blinds on our 80 acres.
Thanks for the heads up. I have 56 stands this year. That is down from a high of 102. Never can have too many. Funny I just took down an old Amacker tree stand and the cables were fine and that stand had been in the tree for 22 years. I had to use a hatchet to hack it out of the tree. Going to hang it in another tree shortly. Shawn
I have an old amaker too - well made, no issue with those cables and they are not even coated like the gorilla cables. The weakness on the gorilla is that last 1/4" that is exposed and not coated near the base... At least that's where this one just popped...
Too many stands? Now that is funny! Starting to sound like my wife!
RutNut, strip the coating off. If the cables are rusty replace them.
someone is selling the replacement cables on ebay, see my link.
I replaced all of mine a few years ago and continue to on all my stands every 4 years. Never did have an issue but was on top of it.
Just checked mine. All is well! Thanks for the heads up!!
just a thought , I wonder why they don't use NYLON straps. like car safety belts, light weight and quiet, 30yrs ago I made a lock on like that, never got to see how it held up though someone took it.
r-man, probably because they're edible. Rodents love gnawing on that stuff.
I now use the treestands Dicks sell for $40 and at the end of season they put them on sale buy one get one free. I have 40 of them and some are 10 years old. They stay in the tree year round and are held in place by ratchet straps rated 900#s. I have only had to replace the straps on a occasion even after 10 years. The cables also hold up very well. Jack the Amaker I have had the chain with the j-hook, that would of lasted as well but I had to use bolt cutters on the chain as it was grown into the pine tree about 3 inches. Shawn
Jack: Glad the post helped! Check every stand guys but the Gorillas are known to have this problem.
The majority of the cables are 26 inch cables. Rivers Edge makes a stand that uses a 26 inch cable. If they sell replacement cables we'll be buying 30 sets! C
I'm In Colorado chasing Mulies on the ground now so I'll check this thread to see if you guys find any options! Thx C
Shawn - I just put a heavy duty ratchet chain on my old amaker, it's fine! It originally had the chain. But those cables are still like brand new! Why can't other stand manufactures use same grade cables? The old Amakers are fully exposed and NO RUST NO WEAR... And look at these POS Gorilla death traps... Scary... Ifi I didn't see it first hand, it would not have had same impact. My buddy was just easing his full weight onto the stand and started some light bounding and POP! I will never look at a lock-on the same again.
