Homade 2 Man Ladder Stand

FishingGuy23 · 11-09-2008, 12:06 PM

I am interested in making a homade 2 Man ladder stand. I need some help and ideas on how to make one that is safe and portable. If anyone could help id really enjoy you helping me. Maybe even if you guys have pics to that would even help. Thanks For your guys help.

FishingGuy23

MJL927 · 11-12-2008, 08:15 AM

One thing to consider: is the time, effort and cost of materials and tools necessary to build your own stand worth it? Generally speaking...not really. For the price of one store-bought single ladder stand (around $150), you can get enough raw material (ie: tube steel, nuts/bolts, etc) to make one, possibly two stands depending on design. But then factor in the time spent and price of tools, you'll find that you've likely exceeded the price of getting the store-bought one. Of course, if you plan on building a number of stands and you can get some bulk material, you'll eventually come out ahead.

Also, the store-bought ones have to pass TMA safety standards as well. No such standard with a home built stand. So you need to be honest with yourself about your craftsmanship.

Having said that......

If you can weld or have access to someone who can, than you can build a decent two-man stand. However, "portable" is going to be pretty much out of the question. Not even a single ladder stand is very portable. You'll want to have some help getting it out to your location and once you set it up, you'll probably not want to move it again.

I built a two-man ladder stand based on the design I use for my single ladder stands. I just doubled the width. Simply go to the stores and look at the various designs to come up with ideas for your own. When I built my first one, I brought a measuring tape and a notepad to the store and jotted down ideas. I've made 6 ladder stands and one double all based on the first drawing. Each stand has gotten better and better through refinement.

I buy all my metal from a local raw materials retailer. It usually comes in 16 to 24 ft lengths but they cut it to 8ft lengths for me for free. I usually get the 16 or 18 gauge 1 inch and 3/4 inch tube steel. I can't quite recall which of those gauges I get though. It's whatever is closest to the store bought stands. I also buy 8x4 sheets of expanded steel for the platform and the seat. You'll need a saw for cutting the materials and a grinder/sander for smoothing things out. I use a Lincoln Electric mig welder. I don't recall the model offhand but it's definitely not an uber-expensive model. More like a small project or small farm grade tool.

For the double-stand that I built, my wife's uncle had purchased a ton of these old metal frames used in a warehouse for shelving. We used two of these to create the vertical posts. I had to machine a piece of flat steel with bolt holes in it and weld this to my stand. These were used to connect the stand to the frames. It worked out perfect. My double is 16 feet high to the platform. In order to get into the stand, we use a regular steel ladder which is ratcheted to the side of the stand as well as stabilized to a nearby tree.

I'd be happy to try to answer any other questions you might have.

tmontgo1 · 11-12-2008, 09:10 AM

If you make a ladder stand out of wormanized wood then your cheaper to just buy one.

OHbowhntr · 11-12-2008, 09:44 AM

On a different side of things, I think "if" you can weld decently, and you can get the steel at a reasonable price, you could probably make something BETTER than what you'd buy in a store. You just have to look at what YOU want in a stand, and build upon that. Certainly it will be a little work, but if you get something BETTER than what you can buy, and do it a little cheaper, then you've succeeded. The weld on many treestands aren't really the GREATEST anyhow, look around on different forums and you'll hear of more Summit Stands breaking welds than anything. Granted part of that is the fact that there are more SUMMIT Stands out there than API, or Lone Wolf, or whoever, but still even the GOOD American Made stands break welds. You'd have some money invested into it, don't get me wrong, but if you can weld well, and put the time into it, you may very well end up with something you liked better than the "ready-made" stands you can buy in the stores. Looking at prices of 3/4" and 1" steel tubing, you'll run about $1-$1.25/ft.