my first real project - yet another deer stand

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hi,just downloaded some long-overdue pictures from my cameras. last summer i did my first "real" welding project. a deer stand - how unusual. anyway, the welds are not the prettiest but it has been serving me great through bow season, out-of-state rifle season and now muzzleloader season. two deer down - hopefully one to go!its only 31# ( if my memory serves me right) including mounting hardware, tarp and a wood board to sit on so moving it is pretty easy, but for a 190# guy like me its still rock solid. and with a small propane heater in there no day is too cold for hunting Attached Images
Reply:Looks good.Just curious how do you get it that high up in the tree?
Reply:i use (another) self-climbing stand to get up, make a top rope anchor and attach a pulley to it. then just pull the stand up and attach it with two ratchets. i leave the rope and make a bottom rope anchor when i come down again, essentially turning into into fixed rope. i use the rope along with some old climbing equipment to get in and out of the stand when hunting. not quite as easy as climbing sticks but less to haul around in the woods
Reply:where's the beer keg holder? 31lb?  that's great engineering.
Reply:Stand looks nice and sout.I threw away all the straps I got with stands I bought and replaced them with chains like on the ones I built. I use a smll turnbuckle to tighten the chain and it will bite the tree nice and snug with no chance of a slip or break. I had a top strap on a ladder stand break and had to hang for a bit until I could cut the harness. I also recomend a seatbelt cutter that you can keep straped to your upper chest as a must have saftey decvice must have next to the harness.Brett B & B Fabrication and Welding Inc.Spalding, MI.
Reply:brett,i'm all with you regarding durability of ratchet straps. ive bolted together many larger stands similar to this one in the past, and since they are left in the field year around they are all attached with a chain and a turnbuckle. works very nice.this stand here was made for portability and as such a went with ratchet straps. i'm planning to dispose of the straps as the season is over and get new ones next year. they're only a couple of dollars anyway. what really kills a strap is UV light. as a former climber i've seen rapelling anchors made of premium quality tubular bands turn into something about as strong as last years leaves after as little as a summer worth of sun exposure.oh - and i'm always tied in - even if the "impossible" should happen i would be left dangling in the rope. i would just rope climb down the way i came up. 1+ on always having a sharp tool for cutting a knot that wont come open if the unexepected should happen.