Does anybody make their own treestands with conduit?
jf
I don't build them but haved owned some that worked fine. There are a lot of 'um in the South Carolina low country.
how to???
I have built a ladder stand and a climber out of conduit. Both worked very good they where heavy and both where stolen by someone trespassing.
Man that sucks!!! Build some more!!
Made one out of 1 1/4" EMT, pretty easy of you have a way to bend it(conduit bender).
Eric
I have used EMT hang on stands for over 20 years. I believe they are 3/4". They have expanded metal seats and platforms which is lighter than plywood.The best ones are brazed (sp) and have not rusted. They are by far the most comfortable, stable stands I have ever used. A remote 2nd is the Lone Wolf hang on stands I have.
When I say I have used them for over 20 years, I mean the same stands! The only down side is getting someone to make them.
I'll try to get a pic this weekend and maybe one of you can post it.
I used to make them all the time but once I passed the 300# mark, I kinda got leery of them. We brazed them but nowdays, you can get a wirefeed mig gun and weld conduit just fine
:scared: LOL...
This is getting good. Sure would like to see some photos of them. I think 3/4 would work well.
jf
This is the first time I have every posted pics, and to complicate it even more, these are from Google Picasa instead of Photobucket, so hopefully they work.
Here is some pics of some stands that we made last year out of 3/4" and 1/2" EMT. We used a hand bender and a mig welder for construction, expanded metal for foot area, plastic coated swing set chain for the supports, and some 1.5" webbing attached with small screws for the seats. They turned out to be really comfortable and only way ~16lbs for the stand only (if I remember correctly). We copied most of the design from some commercial stands I found online. And the ladders are surely recognizable as well.
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/bluethunder1970/RuuBwTAvo9I/AAAAAAAACz8/bTisMVggFyw/s576/IMG_0918.jpg)
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/bluethunder1970/RuuByDAvo-I/AAAAAAAAC0I/DQouOddzsI8/s400/IMG_0919.jpg)
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/bluethunder1970/RuuB1jAvpAI/AAAAAAAAC0Y/T_3V2M8ll_c/s400/IMG_0921.jpg)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/bluethunder1970/RuuB4TAvpCI/AAAAAAAAC0o/hClRNwNaVps/s400/IMG_0923.jpg)
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/bluethunder1970/RuuB5jAvpDI/AAAAAAAAC0w/a1Efk7HaYzg/s400/IMG_0924.jpg)
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/bluethunder1970/RuuBsDAvo6I/AAAAAAAACzk/wgfWNQ3Zovg/s400/IMG_0915.jpg)
I used to make my own out of square stock and still have a few i use for permanent stands. They are very time consuming, and i have seen stands on sale at wally world for 50 $ its almost not worth building them.
Luckily, I have a scrap metal yard nearby, without that it wouldn't be worth it because now you can buy a steel stand cheaper than the it costs to build one out of new steel...there used to be guys around everywhere making and selling treestands but the rising cost of steel stopped alot of that...I just build one here and there for my own use...
David
I think that Pete Ward's site has some plans on a u-build stand
www.peteward.com (http://www.peteward.com)