vipertech - Obviously you missed the last part of my message I had above. Long reply short... I have a treestand or two.(tongue in cheek) And I doubt 3 2"x6"s and 5-7 2"x4"s, some lag bolts and wood screws come up to even 1/2 the cost of 1 ladder stands. We'll see! Thanks for the advice regardless.
No, I saw the last part. I based my response on the fact that I built a few wooden ladder stands in the past. I ultimately sold all of them. I used pressure treated lumber, tongue and groove for the platform and decking boards ripped down the center as ladder rungs. The cost of the materials, screws, paint, etc was on par with a decent store-bought ladder stand of roughly the same dimensions. Factoring in the time it takes to build the stand AND the fact that the home-built stand does not adhere to any TMA standards, it's just not worth it.
But if you still want to go forward and make a wooden ladder stand, here's some tips:
Dado cut the ladder rungs. It's much stronger than just nailing some rungs against a couple of long pieces. In case a screw or nail comes out, the rung still have a chance of not falling. I used decking boards ripped down the center because the sides of the decking boards are rounded. This made the wood last longer because sharp edges would constantly rip away from stepping on them.
I made my platforms with tongue and groove pieces. It was very strong and the grooves added a bit of traction.
I used large eyebolts on the sides of my platforms. I hooked ratchet straps to these eyebolts to secure the stand to the tree.
I would cut a V notch in the back of my stand where the platform would rest against the tree. Then, I drove about 6 bolts into the V cut. Cut off the head of the bolt then sanded the remaining shaft down into a point. These points would then help anchor into the tree.
Hope this helps.