Looking for used Telephone Poles

[fonz58]

anyone know where I could get some used telephone poles (20ft. minimum) to be used to construct a shooting platform.

[Fisher Dave]

A little creativity and a chain saw .. watch out for sparks.

In all reality .. I never thought about it, but the power company must do something with their old damaged poles. Might be a good idea to contact them? Or another alternative might be damaged light poles from the freeway... How many do you think are taken out in a week from accidents in the metro? All I have ever seen snap off at the bottom when hit so they should be salvageable for an application like this.

Other than that 4x4's or 4x6's should be more than sufficient. They will easily support the weight, you would just have to be sure they are stable and cant sway.

[can it be luck?]

2o' min. is pretty tall. Could you use trees instead of telephone poles? My stand is about 20' max height, and I used straight strong trees for my "legs". My stand was built, then disassembled in the garage, then reassembled in the woods. A plywood floor with 2x4 frameing. A 4x4 in the center, which I attached a swivel back bar stool for easy turning around. 4 sides built with 2x4 and 2x2's for frameing. The sides fit together similar to how you'd tie in walls together on a house, notch's and overhangs fastened together. Deck screw were used for easy assembling. To avoid weight I framed the side walls then tacked on a lumber cover as the wall covering vs. plywood. It's been holding up for 6 years now without needing to be restapled. A hinged, latched door as an entrance. The roof is corrugated steel, held up by 4 2x4s. Ice and water shield tacked on to eliminate sound from sticks or rain. I'm not completely closed in, but the bottom and sides are, the sides comeing up to my shoulders while sitting, makeing only my head visible. And the roof keeps me dry. The base was made by cutting down 4 straight trees for poles. A post hole was used to dig the holes at a measured distance. Use lateral braceing to secure the posts at the distance you need, mine is app. 6'x6'. Once I had the 4 posts set and tied in together, I leveled off the top useing a chainsaw. This is where I could've used a trained monkey. I set my floor on the posts and fastened it, added the sides and roof, and it took less than a day of horseing around. It helped to have a tractor. I imagine you're on private land useing some sort of equipment, if you're talking 20' min. telephone poles let alone the material that'll need to be hauled in. The whole thing was cheap, easy, and does what I need.

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[icehousebob]

A friend was hired to tear down an old football field bleechers. He let me scrounge through and get some 12ft. redwood 6x6s for legs and 2in. boards for framing and floor. The sides of the box are salvaged plywood. Its 3 years old and its as solid as when I built it. 6x6s are strong enough to hold you and a lot easier to work with than telephone poles. You'd need a tractor and loader just to set them up, especially 20 footers.

[BLACKJACK]

Check local lumber yards, sometimes they have piles of lumber salvage, you may find some treated 4x4 or 6's, they may have a kink in them, making them unsuitable for a deck but fine for a deer stand.

[Havin' Fun]

Just curious....but isn't the maximum allowed height of a permanent stand 16'??

Am I off on this??
I

[Mark Christianson]

Hammer 'em might be right. Oh well.

There is a place on Hwy 10 west of Becker that has piles of posts of all sizes. For the life of me I cannot think of the name.

I may be up in that area this weekend, and I will get the name and number off their sign.

[jlm]

We get all of ours from the local power co-op for next to nothing. I think we paid 10 bucks a piece for them. I would just give them a call. They work great and will last for many years as opposed to 4x4's or othe post because they are soaked in creasole (spelling). Some advice for you though; Make sure to sink them in well below the frost line or they will come out of the ground and your stand will lean. If you use 20 foot poles, you would want at least 4 to 5 feet of the pole in the ground. I use three poles but have also used four poles in construction. Three works just fine! The best way is to build a platform on top of the polee and then build the stand on top of the platform as opposed to using the poles as part of the walls. Good luck!

[fonz58]

My Plan is to sink them 5ft, and have 15ft above ground. I will construct a Deck/Platform at the top. It'll be more like a "shack" on top. Platform size 8'x 10' with the shack size of 8'x6'....leaving the remaining 4' as an outside deck, which the overhanging roof would cover. This will be a "multi-purpose"unit.....the primary use will NOT be for hunting! It will be for SHOOTING! For ease of getting up, I plan to build a standard staircase with a safety rail to get up there.....that way, when practicing with the bow, it'll be easy to climb down to retrieve arrows. It will also be used to shoot clay pigeons, plink with the pistols, etc. It'll also serve nicely for wildlife viewing as it'll be positioned next to two ponds, some apple trees, my garden, and about a 1/2 acre of clover. This is why I wanted telephone poles, so that It would be extremely strong, and durable. Mike

[yellowlab]

fonz that sounds awesome. I live in St. Cloud and would love to see it. Heck I would probably help put something like that together. Let me know if I could be of assistance.

[Mark Christianson]

fonz58

I didn't realize you are in St Cloud.
I drove by that place this weekend on Hwy 10 that has piles of poles and posts.
PRI "Product Recovery Inc". I wasn't able to get a number off the sign.
Its not to far east of St Cloud. Right on Hwy 10 on the north side.