I'm thinking about building a tree stand out in the woods, but am not totally sure of how I want to do it, but it has to be cheap. Anyone have any pictures of their? I think I have access (waiting to find out for sure if it's ok for me to grab a few of them) to a lot of free pallets, so hopefully I can salvage alot of the wood off them. Anyone have any other suggestions? I think in the next week or so I'm going to start looking for a tree to put it in and then figure it will probably take a good part of the summer to build working on it on and off

I built one many years ago out of treated lumber scraps. It is still standing over at a friend of mine's farm. It was 4x4 on the base, and I even put a small blind on top of it. It was comfortable, dry, and a great place to fall asleep... Shot a lot of deer out of it, and had deer come right up and stand under it. If you want I can look for photos of it. Might help to build it. A pallet would be an excellent base. After that it is a matter of braces and the ladder.

I don't like pallets. The ones I see most often are made out of very bad quality hard wood. They are basically useless to me. Maybe you can get some with better wood that can be nailed?

I have built many permanent stands and more than a few portable wood ladder stands. The whole project should take a couple hours. This includes only a base to stand on, something to sit on, and a ladder of some kind or screw in/strap-on steps. I don't put sides, rails or a roof on my stands.

I'm sure you have seen the basic wood ladder design. I make my ladders out of 2 10' and 2 8' 2x4s. I over lap them by 2' to make the ladder 16' long. I bolt the 2x4s together with 2 carriage bolts on each side. Removing one bolt on each side allows the ladder to fold for transport.

I make rungs out of 1x3s, and a platform roughly 2x3' out of 2x4 frame and 1x6 decking. Attach the base to the top of the ladder, allowing a few degrees of angle so the ladder is not vertical when the platform is level. Climbing a veritcal ladder is harder than one that is angled a bit. Then add angle braces between the platform and ladder. DONE. You can make your stand whatever size/height you want. One thing though, if they are too tall, or the platform is big, they can be hard to stand up in the woods. I find it helps to tie a heavy object to the bottom of the ladder when standing them up, to keep the bottom of the ladder from kicking out as you try to "walk the ladder up".

You'll need some way to secure it to the tree. I like ratchet strap from the ladder, around the tree and back to the ladder. I also use a lag screw to secure the platform to the tree.

I prefer these to permanent stands because they are easier to remove and repair.

I agree with UncleNorby about using pallets. If you're going to go through the time and trouble of building a nice stand I recommend you invest in treated lumber.

I built a 16 ft. free standing one out of treated 2x4s, metal electrical conduit, and angle iron from an old bed frame for about $60. It's kind of like a giant baby's high chair and real nice for an all day sit. Also, it can be positioned anywhere you want and is not dependent on a tree location.



The unit can be assembled/disassembled on the ground in the field, then raised into a standing position. One person can stand it up, but it's a lot easier with two. It's very stable in the upright position. The front ladder, rear frame, and seat unit, and cross braces are attached with 1/4" galvanized bolts.

Only thing I can offer to this thread is for you to build early this summer and put it up. A new stand smelling of fresh wood will generally make the deer nervous. Put it up now and they will have time to get used to it. Wait until deer season and you may not see any deer around for awhile. Had that happen to me several years ago.

Good luck.

the four corner legs and railings were added later, after I put that blind on top of it. They do stabilize the stand, but it actually locks to the tree, off a tree wedge and of course the ladder in the front.

This one sits on a small rise and overlooks where three deer trails cross about 40 yards in front of it. I sure took a lot of deer out of that stand. I tied a rope from one railing to the other, and that acts as a bench rest. Amazing how steady you can get up there, and for some reason the deer just don't seem to notice me in there. I have had to scare deer off at the end of the day, just to walk back out of my woods.

I used to make hang-on stands years ago from 2x4's and 3/4 inch plywood. I would cut the vertical 2x4s about 36 in long, then put 3 spacers made of 2x4 that were angled on each end to spread out the vertical boards so that I could have a good wide platform. I would figure out how high my seat would be from the platform and put 2 2x4s off of my verticals, these boards would be my base that the plywood platform would nail on too. Then put 2 2x4s cut at a 45 degree angle from near the bottom of the vertical boards up to the base of the platform. I know this all sounds abstract but these stands would last about 5 good years when built with treated lumber and chained securely to the tree. Now, some stand makers are selling their stands so cheap that I now buy them. Any home made stand definitely calls for you to be wearing a safety belt.

Do these count?? Tom.

That would be a great box to hunt out of especially if it was on a bluff overlooking a cornfield. Is the propane for heat?

Heat and BBQ.

The are five roads that come together in the woods where I have the one on wheels sitting. I can see over 100 yards down a couple of the old logging roads. Surrounded by Cherry, White Oak, and Red Oak.

The other one sits at the head of a long hollow. Right above about two acres of winter wheat, and 70 or 80 acres of hay fields. You can shoot a long way out of that hut. That is why there are two windows. One window is for the spotter. Tom.