Back in November, 2010 the Chief Operations Officer for Lone Wolf Portable Treestands, Bob Reggin, approached Brian Holt, Vice President of Engineering of the Alcast Company about the potential to make treestand platforms for Lone Wolf Portable Treestand. According to Jared Schlipf, President of Lone Wolf, Alcast would be the perfect fit to produce the Lone Wolf Stands. Jared said that it was the perfect opportunity to bring production back home to the USA and back home he meant.

An Alcast worker cutting the mold on a brand new Lone Wolf Treestand proudly made right here in the United States of America!

Not only did he bring it back to the USA, but he brought it all the way back to Edwards, Illinois, where the Lone Wolf Assembly facility is. With only 6 miles of stop lights, and streets separating the two companies responsible for the quietest, most versatile treestands on the market are only 10 minutes away from each other. This gives Jared, Jeff Weaver, Vice President of Lone Wolf Stands, and Bob more hands on control and allows them to be in the Alcast facility on a weekly basis. It's also a bonus to know that the majority of employees, who are pouring the aluminum and producing these stands, are fellow hunters just like we are.  These guys use the product and understand the quality we demand to continue to offer the best treestand on the market. After awarding the business to Alcast Company, Lone Wolf Engineers and Alcast Engineers begin to work to redesign the casting of the platforms in its current form. With the 2011 Archery Trade Association (ATA) show fast approaching Jared, Bob, and Jeff would again meet with Alcast to see if it was possible to have some stands ready for the ATA show. Even on such short notice, Brian and his team felt confident that they could pull it off. The Alcast team, along with the mold supplier, Perfect Patterns, put in a lot of long days and hours of overtime and pulled it off by pouring the first Alpha platform on December 22, 2010.

Lone Wolf is both proud and thankful to call the Alcast Company partners.  Together, we are able to manufacture the best stands in the business.

Alcast has invested a lot of money and engineering in the development process used to produce the Lone Wolf castings. "Our propriety tilt pour process has proven very robust for producing Lone Wolf stands," says Brian.  Also according to Brian, the process has been very challenging, however, as equally rewarding rewarding. With a wonderful group of employees they are producing anywhere from 200-500 stands per day. In an already warm facility, the aluminum is melted at a blistering 1350 degrees then transferred to the proprietary Alcast Tilt pour machine where it is heated even hotter before being poured into the mold. The stands come out of the mold at about 900 degrees and are cooled before being band sawed from the gates. We can't share all the secrets of the making of the Lone Wolf stands, but in general it goes a little something like this: melt, transfer metal to machine, pour casting, saw from gates, smooth the gates, trim interior flash on trim press, drill all holes, heat treat, 100% thorough hand inspection, send to Lone Wolf for final assembly.

A Lone Wolf Treestand in the final prepping stages before assembly.  It won't be long until a hunter is safely sitting atop this stand with a trophy buck in their sights; and we at Lone Wolf take great pride in helping provide you with those awesome opportunities.

We are extremely proud to be associated with the Alcast Company who builds YOUR favorite Lone Wolf stands right here in the USA.  Again, thanks for taking the time to check out our new website, and continue to check out our blog for more helpful hints and information on all Lone Wolf products. 'Till next time from your friends at Lone Wolf, Harness up Stay Safe and Hunt like a Wolf.