Ladders are simple to do. Battery screw gun and directions. Lay out your parts and bolts. Follow the directions and it’s a cinch to assemble. You might brain fart here and there but you’ll get it assembled. For hanging it ? I have my own system I use because most times I’m alone. I tie a heavy rope to the top of the ladder platform. I prop the legs so that when the rope is pulled from the back side of the tree, the legs dig into the ground. If not, as I pull the rope ( on my atv or swamp truck) the stand legs stop because they hit the tree, then the platform begins to ride until it’s up against the tree. I tie off the rope tight. Adjust the stand, Afix the center brace, then climb the ladder to the top and put on the ratchet straps, and I’m done. Undo the rope from the top of the stand before I get down and it’s over. With two people I substitute the atv out. I still use the rope to tie the erected stand off. One guy digs the stand into the dirt while man #2 walks the ladder up rung by rung onto the tree. Tie off again, Center brace affixed and climb up and ratchet strap it down. I use the rope as a safety net to keep that stand up against the tree as I climb up to do the ratchets. This is the hardest, most tenuous part. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
They are very top heavy, 3 people is better than 2 IMO. You assemble on the ground and then start standing it up, sliding the sitting area up the trunk as you go, the bottom legs of the ladder dig in and help hold it so you can readjust. I use the third person on an extension ladder and have them push the sitting area out away from the trunk when the stand catches against the trunk on a knot or limb that you didn't trim as close as you thought you did, while the other two slide it up the tree. The instructions that came with mine (yes, I'm embarrassed to admit I read them) actually suggested that we orient it with the bottom of the ladder about 6' out from the tree and start at the sitting platform and walk it up to vertical and then let it lean over to the tree. 3 of us put it up that way the first time, I don't recommend it. They are so top heavy, along with the poor leverage, it's a miracle we didn't lose control and have it crash to the ground. It was close a couple times to that. Mikey's idea of a pulley/snatch block and rope is a good one. Must have for only one person, and still would be easiest with two people. I just moved mine a couple of weeks ago, had three of us. This time we pulled the very bottom section of the ladder off (mine has three sections), walked the platform and two ladder sections up the tree, and then two of us pushed the stand up the tree and held it while the third lined up the 3rd, bottom ladder section. Without a rope/pulley set up that was the easiest time we've had moving it.
