Homemade treestands??
 

Hey everyone, newbie here.....

Was wondering if anyone has any homemade hang-on style treestand plans. I have access to plenty of steel and a welder, but thought I would ask if anyone here has made any treestands, and had any ideas or pictures.

I was planning on mimicking a API style babygrand treestand, but I think by the time I am done with it, it will be so heavy it could be a boat anchor instead.

Any tips or ideas would be great!

RE: Homemade treestands??
 

I like to be comfortable. Maybe you could incorporate some of the seats from like a summit in your design and create a stand in two pieces like a climber.

RE: Homemade treestands??
 

Here you go. Click on this link. It is some pics of the lock-ons that I make. [link]http://forum.hunting.net/asppg/tm.asp?m=950197&mpage=1&key=pics&#950197 [/link]

RE: Homemade treestands??
 

If you have access to the material and the time it may be worth it. But speaking as a guy who fell out of a homemade stand a couple of years ago, I'd spend the money and buy a good one. I fell 15 feet and trust me it hurt. Everybody thinks that they can grab a branch on the way down but there just isn't any time. I didn't even have the chance to tie on my safety strap before it slid about 6 inches to the side tipping me over. The problem with most homemade stands is that they tend to be very unstable. You can build stability in it but man will it be heavy.

My advice if you are going to build it is don't skimp in the materail or the welds. Use enough and then a bit more.
Fix some sort of teeth to the tree side so it can get a better grip.
Design it so it's fixed on by at least 2 straps.
Put in a rail of some sort so you can grab onto something when you start falling.

RE: Homemade treestands??
 

ive made a couple. on one i used 1/4" steel box tubing which worked best, and the other i used galvanized conduit which is very heavy. both work good, just be sure to weld them good and dont skip anything to save time. like max said, use something for teeth to dig in to the tree or they will slide a bit, especially in the rain as i've learned...thats not good, i never fell but almost have. for the floor try to find some of that steel grating, it works great. i dont have any plans or pictures, i just did it as i went. be sure to use rustoleum paint or they rust really fast. good luck

RE: Homemade treestands??
 

I don't know about you but as cheap as lock on stands are to buy, it ain't worth possibly losing my life or breaking something to save a few dollars.