My projects

[BuckSutherland]

Last time I went up north I wanted to get two projects done.

1. Put up a new gate (replaces old ghetto barbed wire gate)
2. Replace our oldest permanent stand

The gate was nearly impossible. It took me 4 hours to get one hole 52" deep. The first 36" took me about 3 hours and 45 mins. The last 16" took about 15 mins. It was solid tree roots and small rocks for the first 3 feet and the clay was so damn hard I thought I was chopping cement. I would like to get a bobcat and post hole auger to put in the other two holes I wanted to do so that gate never sags and has a solid post to close on. I had one hell of a curious deer kept coming to check me out.

 

[BuckSutherland]

The stand didnt get any easier. Took about (3 hours) to get to Grand Rapids and back with all the lumber and screws. Then I had to carry all the lumber in by hand. I made the 500 foot trip about 20 times back and forth with heavy lumber, tools, chainsaw, and brush hog (2 hours). The sweat, bugs , swamp ass, and soreness were awful and I was all by myself.


First I needed to clear some leaning trees, and then a bunch of downfall and other brush (about 3 hours). Finally got to building the stand later in the afternoon and got most of the structure up (3 hours). Got some temporary bracing put up. Its 6x8 platform. I will finish it with a railing around it for now and some indoor/outdoor carpet to conceal movement. Need to clear out shooting lanes and finish bracing and anchoring it down (3 hours). Finish it off by mounting 2 boat seats for chairs. Its big and roomy. It might have an enclosed blind on top in the near future.


I had several deer in sight checking me out while I was screwing down the flooring. A good sign I hope. I will have $500 in materials when I'm done, unless I decide to put stairs up to it for access, then it will be more.

 

[Bill]

I bough lumber to do that (stand) on my last trip but it was way to hot!!
Looks good.

 

[BuckSutherland]

Supposed to be low 70s for highs next weekend so I plan to get my ass up there and try to finish all of my projects and then pretty much let the woods rest until hunting. I have seen a couple really nice bucks in the field across the road. There is a youth season (gun) statewide from OCT 17-20 so I might take the daughter up for that if harvest is going well.

I used 4x4 post 10 feet long for the legs and cut the 2x8 floor joist at 10 degree angle. Cant wait to get my four 12 foot 2x4 braces up to take the twist out. The thing should be extremely rigid by the time I am done. I will most likely anchor the stand to the trunks of the old stand. Also want to get that old stand broke apart and taken down. The new one is approximately 2 feet higher than the old one.

Damn tough to justify hunting ladder stands after sitting in one of these. Eventually I want to build one or two fully enclosed stands that are big enough to put a cot in to lay down, heat, etc. That way full day sits shouldn't be a problem for me.

 

[BuckSutherland]

Finished it. Completed shooting lanes and everything. I still have a captins chair for the boat that could replace the old plastic deck chair, but its huntable the way it is. You could park a sherman tank on top of this thing. Extremely rigid. Even got the old stand broke apart. Enough room for the whole family to hunt from.

 

[Bill]

Looks like plenty of room there..

 

[buckdeer1]

I would anchor good or I bet it will blow over,.i did one that was only 6 ft tall and it blew over a couple times before I fixed it and legs were angled I just set a post on the north and south side right up against the base of frame so it couldn't tip and I set these two post in concrete

 

[BuckSutherland]

I would anchor good or I bet it will blow over,.i did one that was only 6 ft tall and it blew over a couple times before I fixed it and legs were angled I just set a post on the north and south side right up against the base of frame so it couldn't tip and I set these two post in concrete

I am either gonna make some spikes for it or use a cable and fasten it to the base of some of the nearby trees. Either way it will get reinforced when I go up again in a few weeks.

 

[TreeDaddy]

That looks badass!!!!!!

nice job

bill

 

[Mortenson]

I still prefer using plastic patio chairs like that. Big wide ones. Only seats I've ever found that don't make a sound.

 

[20’ up]

Looks like a nice setup!

Couple things...
1. You have nothing supporting the vertical load other than some non load bearing screws. I would strongly suggest carriage bolting 2x8’s to your posts to support the joists.
2. Add another diagonal brace. There is nothing stopping fore/aft lateral movement.
3. Seal the wood prior to painting. Make sure the ends get saturated good. Degradation of non treated dimensional lumber is fairly rapid exposed to the elements.

Sorry, don’t want to sound negative but I’d hate for anyone to get hurt.

Chris

 

[20’ up]

Guess I was too quick to comment. You have adequate diagonal bracing!

 

[BuckSutherland]

Looks like a nice setup!

Couple things...
1. You have nothing supporting the vertical load other than some non load bearing screws. I would strongly suggest carriage bolting 2x8’s to your posts to support the joists.
2. Add another diagonal brace. There is nothing stopping fore/aft lateral movement.
3. Seal the wood prior to painting. Make sure the ends get saturated good. Degradation of non treated dimensional lumber is fairly rapid exposed to the elements.

Sorry, don’t want to sound negative but I’d hate for anyone to get hurt.

Chris

1. I have been thinking of adding a bolted brace like you say, but its already so rigid that I am willing to wait to see how it does before I go any further. Each 6 foot joist (16" on center) is fastened with 6 four inch lag screws. All the 1x6 deck boards have 2 screws per joist. It is so solid that I don't think it is ever going anywhere.
2. I did have 2 additional 12 ft 2x4 for additional diagonal bracing but it was so rigid already that I left them off.
3. All of the lumber is treated. Every single board. Home depot had some new type of treated lumber and it only looks untreated. SUPPOSED to be the latest and greatest. Im not sure if I will paint it or just build a fully enclosed blind over it. The wood is so heavy and wet right now with the treatment that it needs to dry out for a year if I decide to paint.
4. Gonna make 4 anchors that I can drive into the ground and bolt to the post to hold it in place.