I am not getting very long life out of the trees I use for the sides of the wooden ladders on my stands. Even oak is lasting only a few years. They keep cracking half way up. I have a good variety of hard and soft woods on our property.

Which type of tree would last longest? Should I keep bark on or off?

I use free 2x4's for the runs, which have been problem free. I have over a dozen stands, the only usable ones are the two with metal ladders which were found for free.

May just start angling ladder almost vertical.