I read an article once that stated more treestand accidents are from homemade wooden stands than any other
Yup that's why I caution folks so much about these home made stands even tho I used them for almost 20 years myself before finally giving up climbing into trees completely. I tend to fall down a lot and just can't see taking the chance from up high anymore. My last time up in one of mine was almost the end of me.
I had hunted the morning from my very oldest stand which is 14' to the floor and was getting ready to climb down. For some reason totally unkown to me then or now I just turned loose completely from the stand with my feet on the first rung of the ladder. I felt myself falling backwards heading head first to the ground. I had a backpack on my back which would have just about assured I hit head first when I reached the ground.
Some how I manged to reach out with my hands and grab onto the pair of 2x12 boards that form the front of the stand to hide me from deer to the front. I got just enough of them with my finger tips to stop my fall. You can bet I hugged that ladder on the way down after that and I've not gone back into a treestand since and have no intention of ever doing so again. I just tend to fall from ladders and even on flat ground at times for no obvious reason. It's just too unsafe for me anymore.
I used either 2x6s or 4x4s as the ladder uprights on my stands. I placed them generally 24" apart outside to outside so the rungs could be made 24" wide and the rungs were made mostly from 5/4"x6" decking boards but at times with 2x4PT lumber. ALL wood used was PT with no exceptions. I used mostly 16d nails and three per side per rung for a total of six 16d nails holding each ladder rung onto the uprights.
I used 8' 2x6s attached at the top of the ladder set at an angle so the ladder angled out a bit at the bottom for easier climbing. I used 2x6s as braces as needed under the floor and around the two 8' boards that went around the tree. I used another section of 2x6 fixed firmly between those 8' boards that rested against the tree and then surrounded the tree with more of them to box it all in. I used huge nails to attach this entire boxed arrangement to the tree on four sides so it couldn't spin on the tree. I also used angle iron pieces driven into the ground deeply and then nailed or bolted to the base of the ladder to keep it from moving.
I covered the top with either 2x6, 2x8 or 5/4x6 and generally made it either 4'x4' or at times 4'x6' in size. Some I further reinforced and added sides and roof to make them into shacks that completely covered you from view of the deer and helped keep out the wind some. Most times I left the sides front and back partially open and covered them with burlap netting to hide me from deer but still allow easy shooting when needed.
I put up many of these stands in several locations over the years beginning back in '88 when the first one went up. That tree later fell in a storm and damaged the stand but didn't destroy it. I took it apart as best I could and rebuilt it and put it back up using new parts for what was damaged and it still stands today against an old oak just 15' to 20' from the original location. It's still solid but the tree has grown enough that it has begun to push the boards out away from it but they are still locked to it and you still cannot move it from ground level or up at the stand level. The roof was made of PT plywood and eventually rotted out anyway. The floor is 5/4"x6 decking boards painted with oil base paint and are as solid as when new.
I'll never climb into it again but the land owner and other folks who still hunt there still use it every season. I've shot more deer from that one stand than from any one spot that I've ever hunted. It's still in an excellent spot and deer move past it regularly all year long. It has been there for so long that generations of deer have been born seeing it as they move about daily and it's just accepted as a normal part of the landscape no different than the trees are.
