When I took the ladder stand down, I took a picture of the bushing I made, to allow the seat to swivel easier. The best way I can describe the bushing, without removing it, is it's basically a plastic tube with a 1/2" wide step in the middle. The ID of the step is a little larger than the OD of the inner piece of tubing. So there is plenty of plastic to wear, before it is metal to metal again. Because of the way I made the bushing, it should hold grease better. So far it has greatly reduced the effort required to turn the seat, when sitting on it. It's also noise free, before it was creaking or squeaking, every time I turned.
Then the idea of turning it into a cart to make it easier to get it in and out of places I can not use the 4 wheeler, seems to work, so far. I did not set it up as a cart, when I went hunting, I was able to use the 4 wheeler, so that's how I got the stand out to where I was going.
All I did was take some U bolts with a strap on them and two nuts. I am not sure what they are for, but I bought 12 of them. I use two for each ladder section, to hold each section of the ladder to the stand platform. Then four more of the U bolts, to attach a piece of aluminum channel, between the two sections of the ladder. Then I used the wheels I made for one of my other tripods. All I had to do to put an axle under it, was make a bracket, to attach two short pieces of tubing, to run a axle through. Then put the wheels on each piece of the tubing, that makes up the axle.
So far the stand has worked pretty good. Yes, it could definitely be lighter, but trying to get something built in a hurry and not spend a lot of money on materials, then I wanted something very sturdy. This idea worked. Making it out of aluminum would definitely be a better choice for weight reasons. It would still be plenty strong.
So far the biggest problems I have had, are moving it around, being as large, bulky and heavy as it is. Then because it is so heavy, it's not easy to set up. The only way I have been able to set it up by myself, has been to put the two ladder sections together and then attach them to the platform. Once I have it to that point, carry it over to the tree I want to stand it up against. Then put the base of the ladder against the base of the tree. Then push the stand up, starting from the top, buy picking up the top and pushing it up and walking towards the three, till I have it vertical. Then I spin it around, walk it around, till I have it where i want it. Then attach the brace that supports the ladder, to the tree. I strap that to the tree. Then climb up the ladder to the ladder support, stand on the support and attach the lower of the two straps for the platform. Then climb up on top of the platform and attach the upper strap. Then get the seat, climb back up and put the seat on the post.
While trying to do that for the first time, away from home. I did something I did not think was a good idea, but did so anyway. I put the bottom of the ladder on a large root. I knew it was going to slip off of that root, but I did it anyway. That's the side of the tree I wanted the stand on. I got it stood up, amazingly. But when I went to spin it around and walk it off of that root, it slipped off of the root, the base of the ladder flipped up, the stand came down. I injured my right shoulder, not really sure what happened, it happened pretty quickly. As it was coming down, the ladder hit me on the right side of my head. I wound up with a knot over my right eye. For the next two days, I could not raise my right arm above my head. The day after it happened, it was pretty hard to get in and out of my truck. By the second day I could get in and out of the truck, just could not raise my hand over my head. Today, my shoulder feels fine and the knot over my right eye is gone.
One last thing, both Wednesday and Thursday, during the middle of the day, the wind was blowing pretty good, in gusts. So trees, including the tree my stand was attached to, would start to sway. The way I designed the stand, it can not flex, other than flexing the steel, the stand is made of. So I would get some creaking, when the wind was blowing. I came up with a new idea, for the stand. I will probably reuse the piece that attaches to the tree. Then weld some tubing to that piece. That piece of tubing will stick out perpendicular to the tree. On the end of that tubing, I will weld a large nut, and thread a large spherical rod end. I will use a rod end, like the ones you can get from Tractor Supply, for the 3 point hitch on a tractor. I can then weld a piece of tubing to attach to the bottom of the platform, that will slide through the hole in the spherical rod end. Then have something on the bottom side of the tube that goes trough the rod end, that will hold the post on the bottom of the stand, in the rod end. That post will be directly below the seat post. Doing something like that, should allow the tree to sway back and forth as much as it needs to, without causing and noises.
Then the idea of turning it into a cart to make it easier to get it in and out of places I can not use the 4 wheeler, seems to work, so far. I did not set it up as a cart, when I went hunting, I was able to use the 4 wheeler, so that's how I got the stand out to where I was going.
All I did was take some U bolts with a strap on them and two nuts. I am not sure what they are for, but I bought 12 of them. I use two for each ladder section, to hold each section of the ladder to the stand platform. Then four more of the U bolts, to attach a piece of aluminum channel, between the two sections of the ladder. Then I used the wheels I made for one of my other tripods. All I had to do to put an axle under it, was make a bracket, to attach two short pieces of tubing, to run a axle through. Then put the wheels on each piece of the tubing, that makes up the axle.
So far the stand has worked pretty good. Yes, it could definitely be lighter, but trying to get something built in a hurry and not spend a lot of money on materials, then I wanted something very sturdy. This idea worked. Making it out of aluminum would definitely be a better choice for weight reasons. It would still be plenty strong.
So far the biggest problems I have had, are moving it around, being as large, bulky and heavy as it is. Then because it is so heavy, it's not easy to set up. The only way I have been able to set it up by myself, has been to put the two ladder sections together and then attach them to the platform. Once I have it to that point, carry it over to the tree I want to stand it up against. Then put the base of the ladder against the base of the tree. Then push the stand up, starting from the top, buy picking up the top and pushing it up and walking towards the three, till I have it vertical. Then I spin it around, walk it around, till I have it where i want it. Then attach the brace that supports the ladder, to the tree. I strap that to the tree. Then climb up the ladder to the ladder support, stand on the support and attach the lower of the two straps for the platform. Then climb up on top of the platform and attach the upper strap. Then get the seat, climb back up and put the seat on the post.
While trying to do that for the first time, away from home. I did something I did not think was a good idea, but did so anyway. I put the bottom of the ladder on a large root. I knew it was going to slip off of that root, but I did it anyway. That's the side of the tree I wanted the stand on. I got it stood up, amazingly. But when I went to spin it around and walk it off of that root, it slipped off of the root, the base of the ladder flipped up, the stand came down. I injured my right shoulder, not really sure what happened, it happened pretty quickly. As it was coming down, the ladder hit me on the right side of my head. I wound up with a knot over my right eye. For the next two days, I could not raise my right arm above my head. The day after it happened, it was pretty hard to get in and out of my truck. By the second day I could get in and out of the truck, just could not raise my hand over my head. Today, my shoulder feels fine and the knot over my right eye is gone.
One last thing, both Wednesday and Thursday, during the middle of the day, the wind was blowing pretty good, in gusts. So trees, including the tree my stand was attached to, would start to sway. The way I designed the stand, it can not flex, other than flexing the steel, the stand is made of. So I would get some creaking, when the wind was blowing. I came up with a new idea, for the stand. I will probably reuse the piece that attaches to the tree. Then weld some tubing to that piece. That piece of tubing will stick out perpendicular to the tree. On the end of that tubing, I will weld a large nut, and thread a large spherical rod end. I will use a rod end, like the ones you can get from Tractor Supply, for the 3 point hitch on a tractor. I can then weld a piece of tubing to attach to the bottom of the platform, that will slide through the hole in the spherical rod end. Then have something on the bottom side of the tube that goes trough the rod end, that will hold the post on the bottom of the stand, in the rod end. That post will be directly below the seat post. Doing something like that, should allow the tree to sway back and forth as much as it needs to, without causing and noises.
Comment