I have or had a old 6' tripod I built to hunt the Aransas Mosquito Refuge. I have not used it much in recent years.
Recently I decided I wanted a ladder stand, to use on our property and to use on some public land. So I decided I would turn the ladder and the other two legs of the tripod, into a 12' ladder. Then reuse the seat. I used as much of the scrap I had as possible, one to cut cost and then also so I did not have to drive into town. I still wound up having to make a couple trips to town, for metal I did not have, I did save a few trips by using metal I had.
I was not really sure of how I was going to build it, I came up with ideas, as I went. I had a basic idea, not a detailed plan on the exact design. I still have a few things to do. I need to cut some square tubing for a ladder brace and then cut and weld some expanded metal on the platform to make a floor. Then some texture and some color, once the welding is done.
I made the platform 30" by 30", with the seat I used, 30X30 seems a bit small, I figured that would be a very large platform. I made a rifle rest, similar to the one I have done in the past, but used larger tubing to make it more rigid. Like most of my previous rifle rests, I made it, so I can remove it and use the stand as a bow stand also.
When I started getting it close to completion, I realized it was a bit heavy. Knowing I plan to use it on public land, which means I will have to take it into wherever I am going to set it up. So I decided I would set it up, so I could install a axle and a pair of wheels. Then I will bolt the two pieces of the ladder to the platform, so I can pull it to where I am going to set it up and then use it for a game cart, if I manage to kill something.
I set it up on a tree next to one of my other projects, my wife's greenhouse. That I have been told, has to be finished before I go hunting. She wants her plants inside, before it gets any colder, that it did this past week.
The stand was very stable, the platform I thought would be huge, turned out to be a bit on the small side, with the large seat, I used. I should be comfortable up on that thing for many hours at a time. Never hunted from any form of tree stand, other than just climbing up in a live oak and standing on a limb. So this will be a bit different for me. It will be similar to some of my past tripods, just only has one leg and then the other two legs are replaced with a tree. I think the tallest tripod, I have ever built was either 8' or 10'. Don't know that was a long time ago, all of my early tripods got stolen many years ago. In recent years, I have only built 5', 6' and 7' tripods, for hunting in mesquite and cedar brush.
Hopefully this week I can get it finished and then get it set up on our property. Then do some hunting from it. I have had my box blind up for months, killed quite a few squirrels from it. Seen numerous deer from it, they could not seem to see me. I have the box blind set up as a morning blind. The back of the blind is set up to the east. So in the morning, it's shadowed inside the blind, but in the afternoon, you would be looking directly into the sun and the inside of the blind would be lit up brightly. So I won't hunt that blind in the afternoons. I have been wanting to get a ladder stand set up in the back of the property, with it facing towards the east, and use that as my evening stand. Hopefully the bucks will still be chasing does, by the time I get to do some hunting. They have been chasing the doe for a while now and I have not had a blind, or stand, that would have worked for bow hunting. So they have been safe from me.
Recently I decided I wanted a ladder stand, to use on our property and to use on some public land. So I decided I would turn the ladder and the other two legs of the tripod, into a 12' ladder. Then reuse the seat. I used as much of the scrap I had as possible, one to cut cost and then also so I did not have to drive into town. I still wound up having to make a couple trips to town, for metal I did not have, I did save a few trips by using metal I had.
I was not really sure of how I was going to build it, I came up with ideas, as I went. I had a basic idea, not a detailed plan on the exact design. I still have a few things to do. I need to cut some square tubing for a ladder brace and then cut and weld some expanded metal on the platform to make a floor. Then some texture and some color, once the welding is done.
I made the platform 30" by 30", with the seat I used, 30X30 seems a bit small, I figured that would be a very large platform. I made a rifle rest, similar to the one I have done in the past, but used larger tubing to make it more rigid. Like most of my previous rifle rests, I made it, so I can remove it and use the stand as a bow stand also.
When I started getting it close to completion, I realized it was a bit heavy. Knowing I plan to use it on public land, which means I will have to take it into wherever I am going to set it up. So I decided I would set it up, so I could install a axle and a pair of wheels. Then I will bolt the two pieces of the ladder to the platform, so I can pull it to where I am going to set it up and then use it for a game cart, if I manage to kill something.
I set it up on a tree next to one of my other projects, my wife's greenhouse. That I have been told, has to be finished before I go hunting. She wants her plants inside, before it gets any colder, that it did this past week.
The stand was very stable, the platform I thought would be huge, turned out to be a bit on the small side, with the large seat, I used. I should be comfortable up on that thing for many hours at a time. Never hunted from any form of tree stand, other than just climbing up in a live oak and standing on a limb. So this will be a bit different for me. It will be similar to some of my past tripods, just only has one leg and then the other two legs are replaced with a tree. I think the tallest tripod, I have ever built was either 8' or 10'. Don't know that was a long time ago, all of my early tripods got stolen many years ago. In recent years, I have only built 5', 6' and 7' tripods, for hunting in mesquite and cedar brush.
Hopefully this week I can get it finished and then get it set up on our property. Then do some hunting from it. I have had my box blind up for months, killed quite a few squirrels from it. Seen numerous deer from it, they could not seem to see me. I have the box blind set up as a morning blind. The back of the blind is set up to the east. So in the morning, it's shadowed inside the blind, but in the afternoon, you would be looking directly into the sun and the inside of the blind would be lit up brightly. So I won't hunt that blind in the afternoons. I have been wanting to get a ladder stand set up in the back of the property, with it facing towards the east, and use that as my evening stand. Hopefully the bucks will still be chasing does, by the time I get to do some hunting. They have been chasing the doe for a while now and I have not had a blind, or stand, that would have worked for bow hunting. So they have been safe from me.
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