RE: homemade stands
TREATED WOOD!!!! If you are set on building them, treated wood is a necessity. You can buy some real nice ladders these day for not too much money...I fell from a homemade stand when I was younger, one that I made, and had all the confidence in, I woudl have sworn you could have put a bulldozer on it. Trouble is, you can't see inside the wood to know which piece is good or bad. 2nd to last step broke in half, and down I went 14'. Last wooden stand I've been, and ever plan to be in. And these were all constructed with treated 2X6 material, steps, rails, everything.