build or buy tower?

[hammer33]

I want to add a tower blind to the farm. Needs to be approx 10' off the ground to see over a low rise in the field.
Would like it to be relocatable if possible. (Original plan was to sink telephone poles and build a tower stand.)

Am I better off building the whole thing? (probably not going to be able to move or relocate it)
Buying a 10' tower/platform and building the blind on top? ( no experience with this)
Or buying the whole thing? (Pricey)

Thanks!!

 

[Hduke86]

Build one on a used utility trailer is the way I would go.

 

[TNTreeman]

Check out my post New Spot. It's a SC on 10' posts. I'm still bracing but so far it's been great. Water and bug proof.

 

[Jcalder]

I built one. Factoring my time, I coulda bought one for about the same money. I had the lumber for my floor. Bought posts and 3 2x12 for my steps. Bought 40 2x4s for the walls and roof. Probably could have gotten by without using pressure treated, but I don't trust my metal. I think have $650 tied up. Used metal for the sides, and it was free. Used a replacement window on the front, it was free. One plexiglass was free. Had I needed to buy all that, the condo that's sold here would have been a much better investment. The biggest pro, it's built to my needs

 

[TNTreeman]

Looks awesome. If I built one it would leak and let in bugs.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Been quite a while back since I built mine, but I used steel tubing, and welded my platform and the main frame for the box. It is semi permanent, but I could move it by pulling the anchors and seeing it on a trailer with the tractor.

 

[DoubleRidge]

We've built several over the years. On the last two we had some lumber on hand but bought most everything new...saved some money vs just buying a nice blind but not much...we built them to last....pressure treated, wrapped and trimmed out in metal, elevator brackets, built loft style steps, not cheap to construct but again...some savings.....if you have a tractor with a front end loader and some experience framing then you may consider building....if not, consider the Sportsman Condo...very nice blinds that are not much more than constructing with new materials....as for portability....as mentioned in previous post...you might set blind on a trailer...then you can use jacks to level and block the trailer....you could also build it on sled rails and pull it to a new location with a tractor but leveling it may be a challenge.... good luck with your project!

 

[Omega]

Several years ago I built one, but when I recently priced the material for one on my new spot I decided buying one was much cheaper.

 

[rem270]

Those redneck blinds, sportsman condos, and all the likes are super nice but I just haven't made myself justify one when I can build one that lasts 15+ years at a fraction of the cost. I have $622 in my latest one I built last year. For the same exact blind I've been in it as low as about $400 when lumber prices were normal. 4x6x8' are the sizes. Don't get me wrong, like I said all the ones out there are very nice and should last a lifetime but just a personal preference I can't justify it.

 

[BSK]

Build one on a used utility trailer is the way I would go.

I have seen this done, not only with home-built blinds but also Redneck blinds, etc. The down side is it is tough to build one that is tall.

 

[BSK]

Check out my post New Spot. It's a SC on 10' posts. I'm still bracing but so far it's been great. Water and bug proof.

I've got four SCs and love them.

 

[BSK]

Several years ago I built one, but when I recently priced the material for one on my new spot I decided buying one was much cheaper.

Two years ago, when lumber was at its peak during the lockdown, I priced out building 6'x6' shooting houses. Turned out buying a prefab ones were actually cheaper.

 

[Hduke86]

I have seen this done, not only with home-built blinds but also Redneck blinds, etc. The down side is it is tough to build one that is tall.

I imagine building one on a trailer with "outriggers" on the trailer and maybe have the bases of the stand on a "hinge". That way one could attach a boat trailer winch to the front of the trailer to lower and lift it for moving. I imagine unless someone had that kind of stuff laying around that it would be cheaper to buy a setup.

 

[cecil30-30]

I've built 2 and bought a sc3. Inonly built the 2nd one because I had most of the material gave to me from work. I sure prefer the sportsman's condos for ease of set up. My next one will be a sportsman condo. Already trying to figurenout hownto come up with the cash. They are super easy to set up.

 

[tellico4x4]

Have 21 shooting houses at our place ranging from converted porta johns, to self built, to Sportsman Condos. For ease of setup, mobility & cost these days, the condos are way to go.

 

[muddyboots]

Tellico is correct. I've done it both ways. For practical uses factory built is way to go. Especially if you own the property.

 

[BSK]

For set-up of commercial towers, I watched a ton of Youtube videos of others doing it and learned from their mistakes. We got it right on the first try. Eventually we had it so down to a system that we could go from the stand on its side in the bed of a truck to fully in place, braced, and anchored to the ground in under 30 minutes per stand.

 

[hammer33]

One thing that is mandatory is a staircase style set of steps with a small landing. No more climbing up ladders to find wasps napping in the door frame !! I like the look of that set up BSK. Do you have a photo of the stairs/ladder installed? I can build one no problem, but it wont be portable.

If you are thinking of building one on a standard size utility trailer, it cant be very tall without a lot of tie downs and strapping. I have one that is built on a trailer elevated about 52 inches above the floor of the trailer and its a tad shaky. Also, if you are going to build one out of roof metal, frame the walls up with plywood first or you are making a giant base drum. Every little noise will reverberate. Finally got mine quieted down to a usable level with about 5 cans of spray foam, a big roll of carpet padding on all the walls/floors and a piece of carpet over that. Still have to be careful not to bump the walls.

anybody have pictures of a sportsman condo on the tower with stairs? Or just the tower up?

 

[TNTreeman]

One thing that is mandatory is a staircase style set of steps with a small landing. No more climbing up ladders to find wasps napping in the door frame !! I like the look of that set up BSK. Do you have a photo of the stairs/ladder installed? I can build one no problem, but it wont be portable.

If you are thinking of building one on a standard size utility trailer, it cant be very tall without a lot of tie downs and strapping. I have one that is built on a trailer elevated about 52 inches above the floor of the trailer and its a tad shaky. Also, if you are going to build one out of roof metal, frame the walls up with plywood first or you are making a giant base drum. Every little noise will reverberate. Finally got mine quieted down to a usable level with about 5 cans of spray foam, a big roll of carpet padding on all the walls/floors and a piece of carpet over that. Still have to be careful not to bump the walls.

anybody have pictures of a sportsman condo on the tower with stairs? Or just the tower up?

You can look at my post " new spot" . Mine is a SC crossbow. It's base has a wide set on the back , narrow on the door side. The narrow post section is 24" apart to facilitate cross sections for a natural ladder. I'm not doing it that way bc I have a really nice steel ladder I'm using .

 

[BSK]

One thing that is mandatory is a staircase style set of steps with a small landing. No more climbing up ladders to find wasps napping in the door frame !! I like the look of that set up BSK. Do you have a photo of the stairs/ladder installed? I can build one no problem, but it wont be portable.

If you are thinking of building one on a standard size utility trailer, it cant be very tall without a lot of tie downs and strapping. I have one that is built on a trailer elevated about 52 inches above the floor of the trailer and its a tad shaky. Also, if you are going to build one out of roof metal, frame the walls up with plywood first or you are making a giant base drum. Every little noise will reverberate. Finally got mine quieted down to a usable level with about 5 cans of spray foam, a big roll of carpet padding on all the walls/floors and a piece of carpet over that. Still have to be careful not to bump the walls.

anybody have pictures of a sportsman condo on the tower with stairs? Or just the tower up?

Ours are just ladder for now. But one of our hunters can no longer climb ladders, so we're looking at making stairs, although they will be steep stairs. Someone posted a picture like that a while ago, but can't remember who.

We do have two "built" towers, with full stairs with typical runners, but those stairs and runners were astronomically expensive due to the long runners.