The Buddy Stand II

I put the first of the two new buddy stands into place yesterday with the help of Angus and KYHillChick. This was the first time I tried the pulley-and-rope method of getting a buddy stand into place– MUCH easier.

1) I put up a climbing stick
2) I put a sheave on a rope and tied it around the tree about 14 feet up.
3) I ran a rope through the sheave and back to the ground.
4) On either end of the seat, I attached a rope and then made a loop.
5) I attached one end of the rope from 3 above to the loop. This way the buddy stand did not sway and stayed centered.
6) I ran a safety belt around a nearby tree at waist level and attached a carabiner to it. I then ran the other rope from 3 above through the ‘biner

Angus stood at the base of the ladder and stood on the ends so they would not move.

KYHillChick worked the rope. She wasn’t hauling as much as just taking up slack. By doubling the rope back through the ‘biner, she got enough friction so that she could hold it effortlessly.

I got on the far end of the stand, the platform, and started lifting. KYHillChick spotted me with the rope. Up it went and rested against the tree. Done!

After tying off the rope to the tree, and putting in the lower stabilizer bar, I went up the climbing stick and installed the ratchet strap that secures the platform to the tree. I then gave the rope from 3 above a little slack and went up the ladder, and used a little body english to get it settled in, on my way back down I tightened down the ratchet and I was done.

The other thing that made it easier was that I used two ratchet straps to bind the ladder sections together. One strap hooked in the bottom rung and the top rung. This locked the sections together so they would not seperate. The second strap bound the platform to the top of the ladder. In the past– I’ve put up three before– I have had problems with one section of the other trying to separate from the others. There is nothing more unnerving than having your platform in place, and ratchetted in and then have it come off the ladder. This can happen, and it makes for a very sticky problem.

As with all tall ladder erections, have somebody at the bottom, keeping the bottom end from kicking up. In a father/son gig, that usually means your son is the one standing on the end of the ladder while you put it up. Make sure he knows his escape route if things go wrong. Agree ahead of time:” . . . if it goes bad, I go this way, you go that way, and I give the ladder a shove so it goes falls somewhere besides on our heads. ”

One other hint. Find a big rock and put it between the ends of the ladder at the bottom. The end of your stand will sink into the dirt. The rock keeps the ladder from sinking more than a few inches. If it sinks too far, the platform will disengage from the ladder.

This post has already been read 486 times!