1st question I have is what brand of stand do you have? If it's a cheap steel chain on stand then yes they are a pain to hang. I quickly figured out that if you will spend some money and get a decent lightweight aluminum stand, thay are 10 times easier to handle when your strapped to a tree. By far the easiest stand I have found to hang is the Summit Headhunter Lite (now called the X4). You can literally have it hung and standing on the platform in less than 2 minutes once you get to your desired hunting height.

As far as a pulley/hoist is concerned look HERE for a good deal on one.