Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Read other reviews for the primary details. This easily holds my Home Depot 10 foot tall ~125lb tree where previous stands wouldn't come close to holding (e.g. this one is terrible past ~5 foot trees: St Nicks Choice Pivot Point Tree Stand) . Two critical notes that I don't see clearly elsewhere are the core reason for this review: 1) Bring your own bolt or locking stick. As people have commented the handle (which doubles as the tension release device) has a little plastic slider that let's you "lock" the system so you don't accidentally release your tree. The slider does not stay in place and should not be trusted. It is clearly designed so that you can put a bolt or shaft through the hole to secure it. I used a 1/4-20 x 2-inch bolt with a washer on each side and a single nut. No tools required (it's just finger-tight). See my picture for details. 2) Don't trust the liquid-indicator float. Unfortunately the design is very susceptible to torque jams (meaning "it's floppy and gets stuck indicating too much water"). I've found that literally *every single time* I have checked the system by hand, the float is stuck at the highwater mark and evaporation has taken the level much lower. In related news, pushing the float with your finger is an easy and clean way to "feel" the water level. I've still found the little device useful, just not in the way originally intended.