Built a new stand- the process

[bigbucks]

I built a new stand this fall.  I really didn't get it completely done in time for gun season.  I was thinking it's primary use would be for ML season anyway.  I'll just post a bunch of pics of the process.

Built the ladder in the garage.  Actually put the joists or stringer up mostly first with extension ladders & hang on tree stand.  Finished lagging them in place after the real ladder was up.

 

Then the platform got built.  This was a lot easier than getting the joists in place & getting the ladder tipped into position.  I should have took pics of it on the truck.  The back side joist was really hard as there's a legitimate 6' drop from the front side of the tree to the back.  It's on the river bank.  It's not water behind it yet, the cattails just start there.  It will be a great observation spot as I can see virtually all the open ground on my entire property.

Then it was time to figure out the exact design of the windows & door.  How tall it needed to be to be able to also shoot a bow out of it.  How to build it with a slight slope to the roof.  How to get the roof on & screwed in place without having to get on top of the roof WAY up in a tree...

I made those decisions & cut the sides out with the table saw.  Then I cut the window openings with one VERY DULL Skill Saw.

Then it was prime both sides.

Followed by painting both sides.  I guess the pics got in the wrong order, but the primer of course is the white coat.

Edited November 19, 2015 by bigbucks
grammar corrections

[bigbucks]

Then it was time to get it up there.  This was kind of scary.  I was really worried about the wind & getting two sides secured, cornered together without them winding up back on the ground busted to smithereens.  I wound up taking that Monday off during gun season when it was SO nice & there wasn't SUPPOSED to be hardly any wind...

I did some thinking on this & quite a bit of earnest praying.

I knew the back side which was basically the North side needed to go up first as the ladder goes up the South side.  The stronger than it was SUPPOSED to be wind was from the South, which was still the ideal direction.  I determined the thing to do was tie a rope across between the branches so if it started to tip there was a safety net.  The walls are 1/2" OSB, basically 4' X 7', 6' 10" to the N.  With the windows cut out they're not real heavy & the window opening makes a great hand hold.  Once the first wall was standing in what I thought was the right spot I put 4-5 screws into the floor & then tied a rope around the corner through the window opening to the trunk or a limb on the front.  I forget which now.

With that done, up went the second wall.  I'm a good sized guy which helped, but being able to basically pull each wall up one or two steps at a time on that ladder was HUGE.  When it got close to the final lift there was a large limb I had to cut off, but had left about 3' sticking out to the front that I could use to rest it on while centering the wall.  Let me just say I'm a bonehead & did this all by myself, other than my 17 year-old son did help me get the ladder in place & also initially help me get the joists up there.  I was starting to get pretty stoked by the time the second wall was up.  I just screwed the corner together with the first wall.

 

Okay now it was time for wall #3.  Oops, not quite right, needed to move walls one & two a bit to get all to fit on platform & clear limbs on tree.  It was a minor setback, that I was able to work through.  Somewhere in the process a tree modification was needed, so the one shown took place.  I really didn't want to remove the limb, as it helped the stand seem more a part of the tree.  I think this actually happened before attaching wall #2, as I couldn't get it to go where it needed to go, so I was sawing on this limb in the stand with two walls sitting up there.  This may not have been an OSHA approved procedure...

Anyway got the third wall up & decided the roof had to go on then or there really wouldn't be a way to get it up there past the 4th wall, so that's what happened.  I screwed the two side cross pieces down from the roof in my garage & then screwed threw the wall sheeting into them once it was in place.  Naturally I didn't remember to mark which 2" X 4" was for which side, so I had a 50-50 chance of getting it right.  So of course I got to do it twice...  That wasn't too bad as the roof was basically only 4' X 5', with a 6" overhang on front & back, so not real heavy.  I could spin it & balance it on top of the 3 walls while getting it in place.

 

 

Edited November 19, 2015 by bigbucks
typos

[leech~~]

Nice but building a stand, during hunting?

[bigbucks]

I was kind of worried about the front side as that was BY FAR the heaviest, as it had the entire 4' X 7' piece.  I had decided that window had to be 3' X 4' hinged & not glass.  I had gotten some old windows from a remodel that are going in the other openings.  I was able to get it up there & it turned out pretty good.  When I was starting to work on the stand around 11 I saw a deer come out in the food plot across the pine plantings & hayfield.  Sometime towards the end of my project, probably 1:30 I saw it come out again.  It seemed to be completely unaware of me.  It was about 250 yards away.

Anyway here's some 90% completed views.  I think it turned out really well.

 

[Xplorer]

Nice but building a stand, during hunting?

He did say it was mostly for muzzy hunting, and its on his own property.  I dont see the harm.

If it was public then, well that would just be wrong

[bigbucks]

I hunted every evening for almost 3 weeks including that one, so I decided I could give the mid day up.  I'm mostly a morning & evening sitter.  The majority of my spots are on field, slough, & small woodlot edges.  There's generally not much daytime activity.  It was on my land where I'm out & about all the time & none of our guys were hunting there, nor were any of the neighbors mid day on Monday.  I was wearing an orange T shirt.

[Xplorer]

Looks like you've got a comfy spot to sit in for the future with some nice deer habitat around it.  I'll be wishing I was in it tomorrow at 6AM, when I am climbing in my ladderstand freezing my tush off 

Edited November 19, 2015 by Xplorer

[Jarrid Houston]

For the platform 2 x 4 floor joist, what type of fasteners are into the tree? 

Looks nice BTW

[bigbucks]

The joists themselves are actually 4 X 4, which makes it stronger & a lot more surface to screw the floorboards too.  The floorboards are 2 X 6.

I put the joists onto/into the tree with lag bolts.  I used the size with a 9/16's head.  I can't remember what diameter that is.  One size larger maybe would have made them a bit more durable.  Some were 8" lag bolts & some were 6".  I predrilled the holes as best I could with a smaller bit, but one of the trunks, the smaller one I think, was so hard, especially on one side, that I twisted off a couple of 8" lags with less than an inch to go...  It takes a LONG time to turn in an 8" lag with a half or quarter turn at a time when you're on a ladder twisting at some funny angle hanging on with the other hand.  Lagging the joists in had me calling that stand the project from hell.  I dropped my socket 3 times one day & had to climb down & get it.  The 3rd time I still haven't found it, so that suspended the project until I could buy another 1/2" drive 9/16's socket.  Yes I bought 2.

Edited November 19, 2015 by bigbucks
incomplete

[leech~~]

He did say it was mostly for muzzy hunting, and its on his own property.  I dont see the harm.

If it was public then, well that would just be wrong

I was just saying wasting "shooting" time? Not where, when or how! 

[bigbucks]

My wife would argue I've NEVER wasted any shooting time, of course I have a little...  Besides it's not like my gun wasn't right out there with me the whole time...

Edited November 19, 2015 by bigbucks

[leechlake]

fun project, looks heavy.  If you've never had a box blind remember next fall to clean all the flies out, they really accumulate.  Last weekend my buddy in South Dakota couldn't handle the flies they were so bad because it was warm, the blind is slightly off of the ground so they sat under it since it was raining.  

[CANOPY SAM]

Interesting build idea.  Suspended between two separate large oaks though, I'd keep a sharp eye on that.  If it's still standing up there after all this wind you should be good to go, but I'd expect quite a bit of movement between those two trees, which might really wear on your lags, or at least how well they are afixed to the trees.

[paceman]

Great looking Stand Rodd! Good timing as well with this cold snap! Hope you drill one out of it yet this year!

[Boar]

really nice sniper box! good luck out ther! why did yu go with a tree? wind and growth over the years will certainly take its toll.  im in the proccess of one as well, i went to the local power company and dug out some telephone pole for free. sunk them three feet in to the ground.

[DonBo]

Interesting build idea.  Suspended between two separate large oaks though, I'd keep a sharp eye on that.  If it's still standing up there after all this wind you should be good to go, but I'd expect quite a bit of movement between those two trees, which might really wear on your lags, or at least how well they are afixed to the trees.

That's what I was thinking. At some point, movement of the trees are going to tear it apart.

[nofishfisherman]

One thing I've seen done when building in trees is to cut a slot in the support beams and put your lag bolt through the slot and into the tree.  This allows for at least some movement of the tree without putting as much stress on the beams and structure.

Something like this.

There are also some special brackets you can buy that allow for movement of the tree but that's an extra expense that might not be needed for a deer stand.  

[bigbucks]

It's not 2 trees, it's 1 with 2 trunks.  I have another stand built just like it, although only 3' sides & no roof, double trunked white oak.  I've had it at least 3 years.  The old stand that I replaced just because it wasn't much of a stand had been there for at least 10 years, longer I think.  These trees are big & strong & they basically don't move.  I've been in them in 25mph wind & they just have the most gentle tremble to them.

I have some stands built into white oaks where one of the contact points is a limb say 10" in diameter.  I have to reattach those points every 1-2 years.  Some of these big old trees are REALLY strong however.

I'm not opposed to stands on legs, but I like the height of being in trees & they just aren't as noticeable when they're in a great big tree that's always been there.

Apparently I also like the challenge...

 

Edited November 20, 2015 by bigbucks
complete thought