Building stands

[putmeincoach1]

When I was younger I drove railroad spikes in a pine tree and climbed about 20 feet up. I stopped doing that when I almost got blown out one stormy winter. I now build 16' out of pressure treated 2x4. I never used any safety devises but since I am now 70 years old I guess it is time to do that. Anyone with experience with HSS Harness Vest?  Also, There is a climbing devise called the Fall Guy 20+ and a SOP 30' rope with a Prussic Knot. Are these worth using to get up and down safer? Thanks

[burnnurse1]

I hunt out of box stands that I've built myself. By building these stands myself I get exactly what I want as far as size and height. I can put shelves, windows, and anything else I want to my specifications. I have never had one of my stands fall over. My climbing stands however, are store bought. I use a summit viper and find it very comfortable for sitting all day. Not quite brave enough yet for homemade climbers and lock on's.

[fasteddie]

ORIGINAL: hunter480
I never go into Dicks.......what a waste of a, so called, sporting goods store. Their hunting gear is the cheapest stuff you can find anywhere, and the selection is pitiful on top of that. They`re more of a cut-rate soccor mom store than anything else.

Yeah , I guess you're right . They sell Remington , Mossberg,Winchester , leopold, Nikon , Garmin , Stealthcam , Ameristep , Primos , M.A.D. , Medalist , Bushnell , MacKenzi , etc ... Nothing really any good .............[8|]  [8|]

[vipermann7]

This isn't really a reply to the original post, I'm actually adding my two cents about Dicks sporting goods.

I could go both ways with Dicks. They do sell good, quality, and brand name items, as the last post indicates. However, I also can see where anyone might say they aren't a good hunting gear store. The Dicks in my area has a terrible selection of hunting gear. They have a little of everything, but only a few items here and there, and much of it isn't what I'm looking for when I'm looking for something. I also do not shop for hunting gear there, but that's just because of their poor selection. Now last month I was in Jacksonville, Florida, and the Dicks I went to there was 100 times better in the hunting and fishing department. I would still maybe prefer the scheels and fleet farm in my area, but it was better than the Dicks in my area. location, location, location.
For selection and comparison shopping, I do most my shopping on line, much of it at Bass pro and cabelas. I find exactly what I want, then see who has it.

[jacannon63]

I build all my stands except tripods. my climbers are all built with .063 3/4 sq. tubing. I only rifle hunt and like to face the tree and couldn't find a stand that I liked, so I started trying to design something that was comfortable for long sits. It took awhile to get something that would climb well and I could sit in all day if I wanted to. I also build a hanging ladder stand that is lag bolted to the tree and a 17 ft. steel tubing ladder is hung off of the platform. Some of these have been in trees so long that the tree has grown around the back of stand and covered the angle iron. I also build a 16 ft. ladder out of 1 1/2 inch elec. conduit. These have padded arm rest and shooting rail, but are light enough for me to move and put up by myself. They attach to the tree with a chain and turnbuckle. I have never trusted stands built out of wood. One of my old hunting buddies is lucky to be alive because of a wooden ladder stand that wasn't checked be the season started.

[Squirrelhawker]

IMO the only really good reason we have left to build our own stand is theft. I have never had wooden ladder stand stolen.
I have enjoyed hunting out of my wood platforms a whole lot more. They are usually way more comfortable than any of my metal ladders. Roomier too. But the cost of a ladder stand is so cheap it almost precludes building anything even in the light of it getting stolen.

All my wood stands have been totally PT wood. Properly made, secured and inspected, a PT stand can be very safe. There are a ton of PT decks in the world, many of them hanging out in space over creeks, ravines, lakes, etc.

I usually opt for a 4x4 platform with the ladder the width of the stand and rungs close enough to accommodate stiff muscles in bulky clothes. A nice wide bench that can hold 2 adults if need be too.

[vipertech]

I used to build pressure treated wooden ladder stands.  Pretty simple design really.  I would dado cut the ladder rungs for added strength.  The platform was roughly 3'x4'.  They measured around 12' to 14' high.  I would take a chair that you could strap to the tree. I wound up selling them all because I came up with what I thought was a better design out of metal.

I weld my own ladder stands via 1 inch tube steel.  I use 3/4 inch tube steel for the entire flip-up seat sections and the diagonal braces.  I still use the very first one I made but over the course of building 7 or so stands, I've made the design lighter and a bit more compact. The first one I made was pretty heavy and a bit too large.  The last few are close to perfect. I rarely hunt out of anything else. 

[fasteddie]

Here is a stand that my son built a few years ago . It took some work hauling the parts up into the tree . It's 6' X 7' and over 6' in height . It's about 16 -18 feet in some Oaks .
It has a lockable door on the ladder side and 3 drop down windows on the other sides .
 
 
 

[JOEL]

eddie thats not a stand its a tree house[:D]

[ranwin33]

Wouldn't be hard to sit in that all day.