Deer stand brackets made in MN

[Northerndave]

Hi guys, I'm an old member that hasn't posted in some time now.
  I'm a business partner and I'm fortunate enough to be partners with my brother and my 2 sons. We're in Roseau Minnesota and we run a fabrication and welding shop.
   We do mostly large structural jobs but we have also developed some of our own products.  These products are now available to the public.

Here's a sample of the sorts of products we are producing.  These are corner brackets and stair kits for hunting blinds that are elevated on tower structures. These are our own designs,  there's nothing quite like them available anywhere else today.

Here's a complete tower structure built with our corner brackets, our safety steps and railing supports.















Our corner brackets are unique to the industry in the way that they actually clamp the 4x4 post with secure squeezing force rather than a loose slip in fit that relies on lag bolts to secure the post into an oversized sleeve tube. They are also made from 10 gauge steel, the full kit weighs 46 lbs (compared to popular options that weigh in at around 17 lbs total)




The stair treads? That's our baby entirely,  nobody else is selling a modular steel stair tread with safety grippers on the tread face. These are made for hunting blinds.  Designed for attaching to 2x6 or larger (2x8, 2x10 etc) with a 45 degree rise angle.



Everything is built at our shop in Roseau MN. Laser cut from our cad drawings, cnc bends on our press brake, welded in house by our certified welders, painted, packaged and shipped.



The tower and stairs pictured in the first photo are for my wife's deer stand. The boys in the shop slammed it all together in less than 45 minutes,  it's so easy, super sturdy and SAFE!

Good luck to all in the upcoming deer season!

Sales@fabtechmfg.net for product inquiries. 

Thanks!

Dave

[LPS]

Very nice, good idea.  Good luck!

[glenn57]

Welcome back, but don't be a stranger!

[Northerndave]

Very nice, good idea.  Good luck!

Thanks!

[Northerndave]

Welcome back, but don't be a stranger!

Thanks, I'll try to stick around.  Lots of things going on, lots of content to share , not sure if it would be interesting or not.

Dave

[Steve-o]

Very nice work there!  Having just a few structural pieces like those can put the safety, durability, and fun into a do-it-yerself deer stand project.

Do you make custom brackets to attach the stair riser boards to the platform?  Or do you simply pick up those pieces from the building supply store? 

Well done.  Good luck.

[Northerndave]

Very nice work there!  Having just a few structural pieces like those can put the safety, durability, and fun into a do-it-yerself deer stand project.

Do you make custom brackets to attach the stair riser boards to the platform?  Or do you simply pick up those pieces from the building supply store? 

Well done.  Good luck.

We were just talking about that this morning at the shop. Most people have been screwing the riser tops to the platform but we are working on some simple angle brackets to help secure that connection point.

We also have a couple of leg bottom accessories in the works. One is a set of brackets that attaches the leg bottoms to a pair of skids for those that would want to drag the whole tower to a different spot. Another is a set of flat foot pads for soft ground locations. 

[mike89]

darn nice set up!!!  good luck!!!! 

[deadeye]

Northerndave,
You are 100% on the right track here. This spring/summer I built my first real "enclosed tower stand". I like your design of the leg brackets. Heavy duty, 10-gauge steel is great as is the corner application with the flat area for the stand base to actually sit on. Although the two-piece leg attachment may make field assembly a bit more difficult, the advantage of getting a tight secure grip on the 4X4 (I assume you can use the same bracket for a 4X6 post, if not, you are welcome for the hint) would be well worth the extra effort it takes to make the connections. I used shims to get a better fit between the brackets and the 4X4s.   Northerndave,
You are 100% on the right track here. This spring/summer I built my first real "enclosed tower stand". I like your design of the leg brackets. Heavy duty, 10-gauge steel is great as is the corner application with the flat area for the stand base to actually sit on. Although the two-piece leg attachment may make field assembly a bit more difficult, the advantage of getting a tight secure grip on the 4X4 (I assume you can use the same bracket for a 4X6 post, if not, you are welcome for the hint) would be well worth the extra effort it takes to make the connections. I used shims to get a better fit between the brackets and the 4X4s.   Although the steps and railing brackets are nice and convenient, I would have a hard time using them because not all deer stand steps are equal. Many factors including stair base, height and angle typically require custom steps/ladder for each application. Instead of a fixed bracket I would suggest simply removing the top part that sits on top of the 2X6 and drill holes in the plate that's welded to the actual step. This would allow them to be used for any angle the builder requires.  The brackets that attach to the bottom of the legs are a great idea for a couple reasons. Yes, attaching skids would be nice in some situations but being able to connect the legs to pads (yes, I heard you plan to also make them would be a great way to prevent sinking in soft soil/swamp and well as a very good way to anchor the stand. Several attached photos show the brackets I used, finished stairs (actually more the angle of a step ladder which does not require railings) and finished build in swamp. (I made the pads for the legs to prevent sinking in the swamp).  This is simply some of my observations and experience while building and erecting this enclosed tower stand and not meant in any way to be critical of your bracket designs. (I would have purchased your leg brackets if they were available last spring).

 
 

[Northerndave]

Nice! Very nice.

I've built a stand at home to fit on too of the platform I showed in the original post up top. I built individual walls and the roof, it will go together at the stand site.

[Northerndave]

[glenn57]

Damn that's nice. 

[glenn57]

I thought my stand was the Taj mahall.

[mike89]

Damn that's nice. 

2nd that!! 

[Boar]

Awesome ill be getting them steps.asap

[Steve-o]

I thought my stand was the Taj mahall.

It is, Glenn!     Here is all that's left of a stand I built probably 20 years ago.  That's what we did back then, and I still like hunting that way now, when I can.

There is something to be said for being warm and comfortable and not having to sit still and actually getting venison every year, but I have never been that lucky.   

Very nice job, ND!  Good luck this year.  I hope to see a "candy bar" pic from you with a nice 'un on the ground.

[Northerndave]

I thought my stand was the Taj mahall.

I can't compete with that, although I do have ruins of similar setups.  😆

[deadeye]

Nice stand for sure Northerndave. I built the stand on the platform so it could be disassembled, and the individual walls were then hoisted up onto the platform to be reassembled. Back in the early 70's, we found a tree that had low enough limbs so we could climb it. Once in the tree we would wedge chunks of rotted limbs into a crotch of the tree so our buts wouldn't get scrunched. 

[Jerkbiat]

That is a great looking stand ND!!!

[Steve-o]

Back in the early 70's, we found a tree that had low enough limbs so we could climb it. Once in the tree we would wedge chunks of rotted limbs into a crotch of the tree so our buts wouldn't get scrunched. 

Yes, back in the 70s...  As a young hunter, I used to like to find trees with trunks that snapped 4' to 6' off the ground, walk up the inclined log, and if it was a really good spot, there'd be another standing tree trunk right next to it to lean against.

And one place we hunted, there was this white pine tree 'stand' where the trunk forked pretty high up.  The crotch formed a saddle and there were old rugs laid in there for a seat.  I was shooting a Winchester 94 with no sling in those days.  I remember wondering how I would get twisted around if I saw a deer on the wrong side of the tree.  And safety harnesses...  Who was thinking about those things back then?   

But now that I think of it...  I might have used my gun haul line/drag rope to tie around my waist and the trunk of the tree.  Its too long ago.  I don't remember for sure.

[Scenic]

Nice stand ND.  I am no longer a deer hunter but if I was that is my idea of a stand.  Open all the windows if it nice out or close them and turn up the heat when it's not. 

[LPS]

Ditto!