Originally Posted by
BIG TUNA
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.
Well I can kinda paint a mental image with what your saying but still need to see a picture to tell you EXACTLY what you need.
The only natural Wood the that would last the longest would be Cedar(based on type of wood in the Appalachian region I'm from), I'd find a way to keep it off the ground so it wouldn't rot from the bottom up. Generally this would mean high enough that water doesn't splash on it from below. I'd use fasteners to concrete blocks or rocks, and to be honest, remove the bark, and stain it with two coats a finish, and it will last you forever with yearly up keep.
For Checks in the wood to keep the log from rotting that way caulk it every time you stain it. (small splits that over time ruin the log through rotting by letting water to the middle core of the log)
Tack the 2x4's (Hopefully pressure treated but you can stain/finish non pressure treated to try and care for them) then screw em with some good deck screws and like I said with regular maintenance of staining, checking and keeping up with growth of tree you should be good to go for a lifetime.