we make ours with 8 or 10 ft. 2x4 for the ladder. the deck is 3'x4' - this gives plenty of room (we have a 3x3 deck that is ok, but I like the extra space). we then chain the stand to the tree (chain goes from an eyelet in the front, through drilled holes in the back. around the tree and back to another eyelet). chain is tightened by tightening the nuts on the eyelets.

trying to resize the pics to embed in post