Posted: 11/6/2024 12:41:39 PM EDT
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I have been wanting to build a large elevated deer blind for a few years and think I am going to finally start building it. It will be put on the upward slope of a hill looking over the top. I already have a small blind for this area but I want to back it off the feeder to get a longer shot. My kids are getting to an age where they want to start hunting with me so I need more space. I am going over board. Interested in feedback. Any glaring safety concerns that haven't been addressed? Am I over bracing the structure? Rear legs are 4x4x16. I intend to use ground anchors, turnbuckles, cabling. The deck is 8'x6'. Colors indicate board sizing to help me when I buy everything. Most of these boards are 2x6 and 4x4. Are 4x4 enough for a 16' load bearing support if braced? Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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I built mine in 2009, 7' x 8' and raised it 8'. As I only went up 8', I cannot comment on the 4x4 16' you are raising yours. Out in the open? Wind? Mine is in the woods, I didn't even anchor it to the ground. I went 7' wide so I could use 4' wide sheeting on the roof to the peak and still have a decent overhang. And 8' long so I could use the 1' off the width to add to the roof for 6" overhang on the ends. Topped off with steel roofing. I used OSB when I built, I wish I had used T1-11. It's been 15 years but it is starting to show it's age. I added 12 volt solar after the first year to power a ceiling fan. I was tired of my head being hot and my ass being cold. I live in Michigan's UP so it does get cold. TX, maybe no so much. Also, I'd add a handrail to the stairs. I'll add some pictures from my phone. Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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IMO - It's way over-braced, but that's not a bad thing necessarily. I can't help you with the engineering part. We've always built ours with full logs as the supports. +1 on a solar + battery setup, that's really nice to have. Put some DC 'cigarette ligther' ports around for charging stuff and some LED lights in key places. An inverter if you really need something to run on AC out there...I'm in Wisconsin, so I know guys that have 12'x12' tiny homes on stilts with full blown electric. Back in the day they had Satellite dish TV, now they have star link. Wood stoves. They stay out there most of the season...watch the packers and once in a while they even shoot a deer. They usually have out houses close by too. Oh, and set it up so they can park their ATV/UTV underneath it. I really like windows that fold up and use magnets to hold out of the way. Cover the magnets with felt so they don't 'snap' together and make noise. That closed cell foam board is really nice for some insulation and keeps noise inside the blind. This is especially helpful if you have kids in the blind with you. Ventilation. Especially if you plan on keeping like chairs and stuff inside the blind, letting the blind be able to breathe and ventilate is huge for keeping it from going moldy/musty. If you need heat, having a line run down to a 20lb(or whatever size) propane bottle on the ground is really nice. Don't have to worry about taking a heater out with you and less stuff to carry up into the blind. Carpet remnants for the floor, but before you put that down, use fiberglass resin on the plywood underneath. That will keep any moisture out of the floor. We usually do the bottom before we put the floor down, then the top after we screw it down. These floors last forever. |
| I would agree with 6x6 vs 4x4 legs. Looking at this through the lens of deck building... the sole determining factor for 6x6 vs 4x4 posts under a deck, per the current accepted codes in most places, is height. Lots of folks think big weight, big post. That's not the way it's figured. The bigger risks is the member flexing. Your design further complicates this by splaying the legs so the load isn't transferred straight down. At that height I would beef up the legs to 6x6 at a minimum. |
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Attached File Just put this up last week. Built on 4x6x16. Two feet in ground. It's solid. I didn't trust 4x4 to be solid, usually use old telephone poles but it's getting harder to find them. I thru bolt or lag screw every joint. 3/8 or 1/2 bolts. |
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Quoted: Your design further complicates this by splaying the legs so the load isn't transferred straight down. At that height I would beef up the legs to 6x6 at a minimum. My area is far to rocky to bury the legs. I can't dig farther than 6 inches without running into large rocks. I though about straight legs but worry about stability being 10+ feet off the ground and built on a slope. If anyone has redesign suggestions I am all ears. |
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16ft off the ground is no joke, that's "you might die" territory if you fall. If it's that tall to see over a ridgeline why not make it shorter and place it closer to the ridgeline? Or a ground blind on the ridgeline? Beyond the fall risk there is the buckling of the legs - proportional to 1/length^2 so a 16 foot leg will have 1/4 the buckling resistance of an 8 foot leg. You also lose buckling resistance since the bottom of the legs are free rather than anchored. A staircase that goes 16 feet vertical is no joke - you need a railing strong enough to hold your weight. Preferably a railing on each side. I'd also be worried about such a large blind getting blown over in the wind. I built one using 16ft 4x4, but the legs are around 3ft in the ground and the platform is about 5-6ft from the top(I just screwed plywood walls onto the legs). ie. the platform is only around 8ft off the ground. Even with the legs in the ground and diagonal bracing it moves in the wind or as you climb up/down. If I think about mine but twice as tall with the legs not buried in the ground there is no way I would not climb up such a contraption with my kids. |
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6x6 legs, or layer up some 2 by's, 4x 2x6 or 3x 2x8s. Would cross brace them corner to corner halfway up (like an X looking from the top) for splay, you'd still need the x bracing on the faces for racking. Would form up and pour a concrete 'pier' for each leg that you could wet set or anchor in a post base after it cures. Use Titen HD anchors so as not to crack the pier. I know you said you can't go deep, so go higher / wider to increase the mass of each pier. Wet set would give you the ability to angle each base versus trying to align the top of each pier appropiately. Can you move the stairs to a different side so they are not so tall? |
| As an engineer, I'd say 16ft is too high for 4x4s. No calculations, just intuition. Cross-bracing aside, column buckling becomes a real issue with long, thin members. With hot/cold fluctuations and wind, cross bracing will loosen somewhat and then youll be reliant on the 4x4 itself. If you want to go that high, upgrade to 6x6s. The highest I would go with 4x4 is probably 10ft. |
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6x6 is spacious for 1 person. 6x8 seats 2 comfortably. I skipped the stairs and just built a ladder on mine with a hatch through the floor. Saves money and gives it a smaller footprint. If you want to move it at some point Get some anchors and screw them in the ground. Secure your stand to them with straps and you won’t need to worry about it blowing over in the wind. Make sure you put a shelf or two on the inside for your stuff and a hook or screw to hang things on. At least paint the inside of the stand from the windows up black to help hide movement. Lastly, enjoy your new stand! |
| 4x4s are plenty for 16’. Anchoring the structure soundly should be the concern. If you need the 16’ height then I’d suggest pouring concrete sono tubes or the equivalent and anchoring the posts to the concrete cylinders with a Simpson strong tie post base. Other than that brace it well and make sure the stairs are safe and build it like a house and you’ll be fine. |
| I’d use 6x6 like mentioned above. Swap from stairs to a ladder and use the savings for the 6x6s. I’d also look to see if it needed to be that high, and if it does, maybe you could find higher ground to put it on over the same area to shorten the height. It’s not unheard of for hunters having to un ass a ladder when a blind has a big red wasp nest or a pissed off racoon six inches from your face when you open the door. |
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I will go with 6x6 for the legs. I might try and move it forward to reduce the high requirement and get it off the slope some. I am going to stick with stairs as I don't want my kids climbing a tall ladder. Attached File Here is the area. If I move the stand about 10-15 yards forward I could probably shave 3-5 ft off the rear legs. I was trying to maximize the distance though. My current stand is about 20 years old and starting to fall apart. I also never really liked how it was built and its noisy as hell. The stairs to it are now dangerously unstable and the floor is rotting. Its about 5 ft in elevation built on some old scaffolding I found on the property that had the remains of a blind on it. If I am redoing the blind I want to redo the entire area. Better visibility, sight line to my second feeder that really isn't in use, open up the right side of the field. Space for both of my kids to join me comfortably. I want something that will be comfortable enough to stay in for half a day if I wanted and that will last 20+ years. |
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I changed the design some. The ground is a lot flatter than I remembered so I don't need the rear legs at such a drastic height difference. 12ft legs will be sufficient. I am also changing the dimensions to 8x8. 8x6 would just be wasting wood so why not make it bigger. Changed a few of the 2x4s to 2x2s in non load bearing locations. I will be building small concrete pads at every ground contact location. Attached File Here's the blind location. Attached File And a look from behind the blind showing the slope. Attached File I spent a day and a half cutting to clear the shooting lane to the second feeder. |
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+1 on swapping the 4-by's for 6-by's. It's never a bad idea to over-build DIY engineering, particularly for a load-bearing structure. A few extra bucks to move up to 6x6's is pretty cheap insurance. ETA also seems like it would be more structurally sound to run the legs all the way up to the roofline, and frame everything off of that instead of the box-on-a-platform it looks like you're planning. Four 20' 6-by's tied together at the top ain't going anywhere any time soon. |
| I was planning on using steel brackets for the legs that have a built in angle. Not sure how well that would work tying those into the roof. I think the 20ft leg approach would work well for a straight legged stand. I am also going to use some steel cable and eye bolts to brace the interior of the legs. |
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Built a stand on a old hay wagon frame. Welded some I beam to the frame and went from there. Reason is mobility. Can move it around as needed is the number one reason. Things change over time and it's been nice to move the stand around. Sorry I'm not allowed to post pictures. |
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My dad and brother built one in 1988. I still use it with a friend and now his kids today. It's seen lots of patch work and fixes over the years. Used to get there a lot, recently we get there a little more rarely as it's about an hour away. Every year we go for a maintenance trip before deer season, and every year we wonder if it will still be standing. So far so good. I just did a count the other day, we've gotten 46 bucks there over the years. |
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I want to build this one to last. Our main stand was built in the early 90s and is still kicking. The one I am replacing was kind of thrown up in the late 90s and is falling apart. Pretty neat that you know how many deer have been taken from the stand. I need to incorporate a tracking board in the new blind. |
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Quoted: I want to build this one to last. Our main stand was built in the early 90s and is still kicking. The one I am replacing was kind of thrown up in the late 90s and is falling apart. Pretty neat that you know how many deer have been taken from the stand. I need to incorporate a tracking board in the new blind. We have an old wood stove in ours and there's a piece of white sheet metal on the wall behind it as shielding. When they first started, they were logging deer taken, who got them and when, on that sheet metal. But eventually we ran out of room to write on there, at least conveniently. So now we keep a paper log in there to write them down. But yeah, definitely fun to look back on that when we're in there. I've been hunting there for 29 years, which is hard to believe as I type that. I've forgotten so many days up there, but reading that log brings at least some of it back. |
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Quoted: I changed the design some. The ground is a lot flatter than I remembered so I don't need the rear legs at such a drastic height difference. 12ft legs will be sufficient. I am also changing the dimensions to 8x8. 8x6 would just be wasting wood so why not make it bigger. Changed a few of the 2x4s to 2x2s in non load bearing locations. I will be building small concrete pads at every ground contact location. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/228258/2024-12-03_08-47-30_jpg-3396877.JPG Here's the blind location. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/228258/1000012995_jpg-3396889.JPG And a look from behind the blind showing the slope. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/228258/1000012992_jpg-3396890.JPG I spent a day and a half cutting to clear the shooting lane to the second feeder. scenic Central Texas / Hill Country. Probably not far from where I am. |
Built a swing up/down ( kind of like a scissor lift) trailer for this 5x8 deer blind, gun rest is 9+ feet off ground, 2 swivel desk chairs and a heater inside, my buddy had a 110acre farm, I built it so I could bring it home or move it around his property as needed.
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Quoted: more better. not even kidding. you can save alot of time and money buying a crappy old camper and putting it in the air. It will have a bathroom too. https://www.airforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=65984&d=1219344359  Failed To Load Title |
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I have about 40 hrs into building this thing. It worked well this year, just need some graphite lube to prevent a frozen door lock situation from happening again. I planned on using this for late season muzzleloader or when I have a good North wind during rifle. I took two mature doe first week of muzzleloader season out of this so far, put the stand up this August. I always saddle hunted and used a climber. Being in this thing is like cheating, but I like the comfort aspect. It really shines on super snowy or rainy days. Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Quoted: I have about 40 hrs into building this thing. It worked well this year, just need some graphite lube to prevent a frozen door lock situation from happening again. I planned on using this for late season muzzleloader or when I have a good North wind during rifle. I took two mature doe first week of muzzleloader season out of this so far, put the stand up this August. I always saddle hunted and used a climber. Being in this thing is like cheating, but I like the comfort aspect. It really shines on super snowy or rainy days. (snip) @Berger24 Can you share some measurements/specs on that? I need to build a ground blind and I’m liking the looks of yours. |
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Quoted: Quoted: more better. not even kidding. you can save alot of time and money buying a crappy old camper and putting it in the air. It will have a bathroom too. https://www.airforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=65984&d=1219344359  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-hLfIsmegg |
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T-Posts? I might be able to bury 1 post to an acceptable depth but I doubt it. I am guessing 4-7 inches below the surface before I hit a big ass rock. Attached File |
| you'd be surprised how far you can drive a T-Post through rock. My terrain is the same as yours... I installed a couple miles of welded wire fence to keep my livestock in (mostly dumbass goats). The majority of it was T-Posts. Out of a couple hundred posts, I had less than 10 that I had to dig around and pour concrete "pads" to give them lateral stability. |
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Who cares about engineering? Nobody mentioned a funnel with a piss tube yet? OP, just have someone weld one up for you and then strap it down with mobile home tie downs. It won’t be any more expensive than wood, it’ll last longer than you will, and, if you make the bottom legs into sliders, you can reposition it very easily. |
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After losing our tower stands to the derecho we had in May of 22, we came up with an anchoring solution that has so far survived two additional wind storms with 75+mph winds. The soil is pretty rocky on my 40 acres, so sinking posts is a chore. Big slabs of concrete are free. Pro tip - make sure you have insurance that covers your stands for wind/storm/snow damage. Saved me and my buddy about $6500. Attached File |
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Quoted: Who cares about engineering? Nobody mentioned a funnel with a piss tube yet? I got you bro! Attached File |
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Ours is a base 8' tall welded out of 1" scrap angle iron. The box is 6'x6' and the roof is scrap barn tin. I used 1"x2" for the frame and 1/2" plywood. The windows are leftover plexiglass on cheap cabinet hinges covering a squarish hole cut with a sawz-all. It's painted with that $5 a gallon return paint from Home Depot. It's lasted 14 years so far even after I left the window up and some owl filled it with shit and dead animal parts. 
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