RE: build or buy a treestand
I have 4 houses on 4X4 supports, and about 6 wood tree stands. Most of the material was salvaged, but the 4X4's were purchased new, treated. As I am retired I have plenty of time to constantly check, repair, replace faulty parts. And there is one thing that is required, they must be maintained constantly or suffer the consequences. Besides repair, it is a battle keeping wasps, hornets, etc. out of them. Even had a bee hive in a storage box in one house. My brother-in-law helped me with it, he is a bee keeper. Squirrels love to get in them and they will shred anything chewable. The ladder stands are heavy (treated 2X4's) but can be dropped in 10 minutes and moved and put back up in 30 min. No way could I have purchased this amount of stands ready made.
Russ