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DIY poor man's top of stick platform

Schemeecho

Schemeecho

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2020
Messages
313
Location
Gaston, SC.
Good morning everyone. I hope your weekend is off to a good start. I was toying with the idea last night of making a top of step platform for my climbing stick. The stick I am using is an old Rivers Edge Stick. If you don't know what these look like I will include a picture below and I do plan on posting a small video of before and after. Basically, what It is is a three step stick about 36 inches tall. The stand offs are fixed and welded so I cant remove them. What I did do was just cut the stick and weld it back together. The weld is ugly but strong, Needless to say I'm not a welder and it was my first attempt at welding something like this. So the stick was cut down to 14 inches. what I'm wanting to do is make something the resembles the U.P. platform from EWO. So my plans are to use wood since I don't have a welder at the house. I'll be using two 2x4's for the platform brace and one for the front, then I'll cut two at 45 DEG. for my feet when leaning. The top of the platform will be made of 1/2 inch furring strips that I had used to make a painting easel. I think the design will work. I just don't have the extra cash right now to buy the Stick from EWO. That will be next years purchase. I just need to get through this deer season first. So what do you think, Do you think it will work

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Hunter260 said:
What do you climb with right now? Have you already bought all the gear to rappel with and everything?
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I have the Aero hunter Flex, 25 Ft of 8mm Ultra Tech. Black Dimond figure 8 as my rappel set up. I have Sterling htp for my tether and lineman's rope .The only thing I'm missing is an actual one stick. That's why I am building my own one-stick. It's just something to by with until I can buy the one I want
 
Other than being heavy it could work. The stick attachment might be cumbersome to one stick with.

Don’t discount a single Muddy stick as an affordable one stick if you have a ring of steps or platform
 
Weldabeast said:
Fyi....welding thin gauge tubing is semi difficult and I wouldn't recommend ur first attempt at it being on something ur climbing a tree with. What type of welding machine is it?
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Its a mig welder but not sure what brand. Thats why im doing this out of wood for now.
 
TreeCreep said:
Other than being heavy it could work. The stick attachment might be cumbersome to one stick with.

Don’t discount a single Muddy stick as an affordable one stick if you have a ring of steps or platform
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0.00 dollars in budget for anymore hunting gear right now. wife has been out sick with covid and I have to stay home to take care of her. Thats the reason for using the stick that I have. It will have to get me through until the beginning of the year. Tax time means I can buy my new bow and up platform from EWo
 
Schemeecho said:
0.00 dollars in budget for anymore hunting gear right now. wife has been out sick with covid and I have to stay home to take care of her. Thats the reason for using the stick that I have. It will have to get me through until the beginning of the year. Tax time means I can buy my new bow and up platform from EWo
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understood. Best wishes for you and your wife staying healthy
I’d loan you a stick but shipping is about the same as a used climbing stick.
There are some good diy tips on here that should help.
maybe borrow some wild edge steps locally for the season .
 
Schemeecho said:
Its a mig welder but not sure what brand. Thats why im doing this out of wood for now.
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I understand the woods part platform....I more worried about the stick....depending on where the cut and weld location is there is some strong forces being applied to a material that is just strong enough to hold the required weight rating to begone with.....then u cutting and learning to weld it back together. I'm not trying to discourage u at all.....just don't want to read about u having half a climbing stick shoved up ur butt .... :)
 
Weldabeast said:
I understand the woods part platform....I more worried about the stick....depending on where the cut and weld location is there is some strong forces being applied to a material that is just strong enough to hold the required weight rating to begone with.....then u cutting and learning to weld it back together. I'm not trying to discourage u at all.....just don't want to read about u having half a climbing stick shoved up ur butt .... :)
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No, I fully understand and am thankful that my safety is on your mind. I didn't say I couldn't weld. I can weld it's just not pretty. My bead is so thick it looks like a 1 inch pencil nub. I had the temp correct just not the wire feed. It was coming out slow so my weld started out spotty and wasn't consistent so it looked like 5 tack welds on the same side. The metal penetration and bond is good. I know because I Tied it off to a tree stump and pulled it with tow strap on my truck and all it did was pull out the stump.
 
Here is the step all finished. I had an angled front on it but decided to take it off. Its still a little top heavy so I looking at other options. click on thumbnail for larger image
top step top view.png
 
Oh my!.....

In welding cleanliness is next to godliness

If I were u I would go ahead and break it back apart and clean everything withing 2" of welding down to bare metal and try again.
 
Don't get discouraged.... I'm not trying to put u down or pick on u.....but I can tell u that what u have currently will fail.
If it's worth doing...it's worth doing correctly. Pm me if u need any assistance
 
Weldabeast said:
Don't get discouraged.... I'm not trying to put u down or pick on u.....but I can tell u that what u have currently will fail.
If it's worth doing...it's worth doing correctly. Pm me if u need any assistance
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Nothing wrong with what you are saying. I want to get better welds What I'm wondering is should I just cut off the bottom step from my last stick that i have left and Just remove above the bad weld and weld on the other standoff piece from the uncut stick
 
I'm not exactly sure what u are asking...sorry
I have never used a stick platform combo so maybe I'm not the best to ask. I can answer welding specific questions all day.
I like my sticks around 16"
 
Can you just run that platform on a full length stick? If there's any concern about welds and it holding, just run a 36" stick.

Stay safe and I wish your wife a speedy recovery.
 
Weldabeast said:
I'm not exactly sure what u are asking...sorry
I have never used a stick platform combo so maybe I'm not the best to ask. I can answer welding specific questions all day.
I like my sticks around 16"
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Ok I'll try to explain better. the way the stick is made from the factory is its a 3 step stick and the upper and bottom standoffs are welded to the stick. So it's just metal tubing coming from the back of the stick. What I was wanting to do was cut the lower step and standoff section off about inches above where the bad weld was. Then, do the same thing on the other stick. Then basically weld the two section back together. That would be much easier than trying to break it apart like you suggested and rewelding. Like I said before it looks ugly but I couldnt even pull it apart using my truck. What would be the best way for me to weld the two cut ends together
 
Bdwilliams said:
Can you just run that platform on a full length stick? If there's any concern about welds and it holding, just run a 36" stick.

Stay safe and I wish your wife a speedy recovery.
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Honestly I just don't want to carry In a full 36" stick. I'd prefer to have a smaller compact stick. It just straps to my pack better that way. There is no concern on my end about the welds holding. Its just a very ugly weld job. T secured the stick to a tree stump and strapped it to my truck with a tow strap and it didnt come apart. Just pulled the stump out of the ground. So I know its strong. I would just like to have the weld look more professional
 
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