Raising a Tower Stand

[crappace]

Guys,

I have built a box stand in my garage now that is 40x48 by about 6 ft tall and its ready to head up north. It looks like a short out house with four windows. I would like to have 14 foot legs on it and think they will be going on while its laying sideways. They will be angled and it will be anchored to the ground. My questions for anyone who have done this before are about the hoisting process. Did you use pulleys? How many and what were they attached to? We will have a wheeler to use also...Thanks.

[harvey lee]

Ours has metal legs and base and then when we got to the spot we needed to put it together and raise it, we attached the two sections and pulled it up with the winches of two 4-wheelers. We welded on two loops to the base and attached the winch cables there. Just stand clear and use plenty of winch cable in case something goes wrong and you are not underneath it all. It worked very well and went up easy this way.

[crappace]

Harvey Lee,

How much did yours weight and how tall was it?

[harvey lee]

If I remember correctly, the height to the base is 9 feet and the box height is approx 5-6 feet. A total of approx 15 feet. Weight wise it probably weighs 400-450 pounds and thats really a guess as I dont really know.

[BLACKJACK]

I use a tractor and a loader with a boom attached

[xedge2002]

My dad and I just built 2 16ft box stands and put them out about a month ago. We put them together on site and to stand them up we just lifted the top up and walked it up. It was actually a lot easier than what I thought it would be. I've been meaning to get a pic of them posted on here but keep forgetting to do that.

[crappace]

Xedge2002 - how much do you think those two stands weighed??? How did you keep the legs planted to avoid a "teetertotter" effect?? Where the legs 4x4s?? Thanks.

[NELS-BELLS]

If your legs are spread apart at the bottom,(not parallel to each other) its pretty simple. Similar to the legs of a picnic table.

I made mine so that the walls and roof came off in order to transport it better. I left the legs attached to the floor. While it is laying on its side the legs will be angling skyward. I tied ropes (equal length) to the bottom of the 2 legs that were up and attached them to the back of my ATV. I pulled away slowly. The legs on the ground dug in and the floor gradually started to lift until it was balancing on 2 legs...a little farther and it plopped down on all four. I then put the walls and roof on. Make sure you have cross braces on the legs.

Nels

[crappace]

We are planning on using 16 ft 1x6s to brace it so thats not an issue. From the sounds of it...its going to be easier than I thought. How tall is your stand you did that to Nels-Bels? Thanks.

[xedge2002]

Crappace - I would guess a few hundred pounds, I am not really sure. We used treated 4x4's for the legs. The base of the platform is about 48"x48" and the legs are probably about 8' between them at the bottom. We cross-braced on 3 sides then left the fourth side open for running our steps up to the bottom of the platform. We made it so we can enter through the floor. They are suprisingly stable when you get up into them. We also drove fence post's into the ground by all four legs and chained the legs to the posts. Our hope is that it will be enough that if we get some wind they won't tip over. They are both in fairly sheltered areas so I think we should be ok. I am planning on going up to check a trail camera later this week, I will grab my camera and snap a few pics of them.

[NELS-BELLS]

I used 4X4s for the legs and they were 12' long. I had 2X4 braces about a foot from the ground and I also had a brace on each side going diagonal. The stand is rock solid. Also I attached a cable from the floor to a ground anchor in the center of the stand so that it doesn't blow over. I have a picture of the stand but I don't know how to post it on here. I could email it to you.

Nels

[luckey]

I don't think you can ever have too much bracing and anchoring. A neighboring property has about 8 tower stands. They all were cable anchored. More than half went down last month in a storm.

[crappace]

Nels-Bels - a picture would be great. You can email it to

[email protected]

Thanks!

[xedge2002]

Crappace here are the pics of my stand. I went up there this morning and got in it, the wind was actually blowing pretty good but the stand hardly moved. If you have any question's about it let me know.

[Scott K]

Looks like a nice stand! I built one last year, and wanted to build another this year, didnt have the time. I got some good ideas off your pics, thanks.

[swedishpimple]

We build our stands about like xedge2002 does, except ours are 4'X 6'. We move them around on the snowmobile trailer then walk them up from the snowmobile trailer. We have anchored them like pictured above, but we have been lazy and not achored them at all and they do just fine.

2 guys can walk them up just fine, but then again I am a cross between John Henry and Paul Bunyan.

[crappace]

Quick update: It took us much longer to get the stand and supplies to the spot which was a quarter mile back around swamps, through various hardwoods and immature popple. The worst is over but there are still 8 support sticks to haul in then its time to hoist it up. Pics to follow.

[luckey]

xedge2002

All that and no ROOF? lol. Looks like a great stand. I hope you used all treated wood.