Building a blind, worried about weight

[Abaird24]

Been surfing this forum a while and decided to join tonight to look for some advice. I needed a project so I decided to start building a deer blind. It's 7x7 and will have a peaked roof. It's built pretty solid with 2x6 floor and 3/4" osb for the floor. The floor is insulated and has 7/16" osb on the bottom. I'm going to us pro rib steel paneling for siding and roof and plan on insulating the walls and roof as well. I'm planning on using the 4x4 elevators that are pictured with some 10' posts to hold it up.
I'm starting to get a little concerned that it may be too heavy for the elevators and 4x4 posts but I'm not sure. Any advice or thoughts on the issue are appreciated. Thanks

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[Semisane]

Yeah, that's going to be one heavy sucker. I would think the 4x4 posts will easily support it so long and you have good strong cross bracing of the legs. Your problem is going to be standing it up. Trying to push it up so it pivots on the legs is going to put a LOT of pressure on those legs. I suspect you will need equipment that lifts the box so the lifting sling supports the weight of the box.

 

[Abaird24]

Thanks for the response. That is reassuring. They will certainly be cross braced so hopefully they will be sturdy enough. Luckily I have access to a telehandler to lift it and assemble the legs and then set it down right where it needs to be so standing it up won't be an issue.


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[Semisane]

It's common for builders to use 4x4 posts to support carport roofs and porch roofs during the building process, and replace them with a decorative column at the end of the project. That's a lot more weight than your box will be - and you will have four legs.

 

[wbpdeer]

I have a shooting house that is on ten foot 4 by 4s. As long as you select good 4 by 4 pressure treated post you will be find. The elevators are super strong. Your weakest point is the wood the 4 by 4 post is bolted to.

Do a great job of bracing the legs before you raise it. We had a hunter in our group that trims trees. He used his lift to raise ours in the air.

So guys use a front end loader on a tractor to raise theirs or to get it 2/3 raised.

I have been impressed at how steady that house remains in the wind. One thing that has occurred is that is has settled over time where the ground has froze and thawed. I do wish we had put strong stones in the ground for the legs to rest on.

We did pour a concrete box in the ground under the center with an eyebolt in the center of it. I have cables going to the four corners of the house with two turnbuckles. This is how we know it has settled over time.

You have a nice shooting house with great looking windows. Best of luck getting it located and raised.

 

[wbpdeer]

A photo of how ours look in the field.



Those braces are pressure treated 2 by 4s.

 

[Abaird24]

Looks good. That's what I had in mind for the bracing. I never thought about placing the 4x4s on a solid base but I can see that being a good idea. I wasn't sure what I was going to do for windows but my wife knew of some that her dad had buried in the back of his machine shed that were basically new. They were out of a trailer house along the Missouri River that flooded out. He told me just to take them if I had a use for them and you can't beat free...
My plan today is to get it drug out of my shop and start on the roof before we gotta take off for thanksgiving activities.



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[Brokenbear]

for peace of mind and to stave off rot/decay (true ground contact timber is rare) we dug oversize holes ...placed solid half concrete blocks in the bottom ...set in the house n legs into holes (3' and filled with bagged quickcrete ...after hole full of quickcrete we lifted an inch or two and whacked each leg a few times get the wood fully encapsuled in concrete ...made sure we had level when lift relaxed ...and never looked back ...make sure you mound up the quickcrete above the ground level so water runs off ...you now have an anchored shooting house whose legs will not sink and will not rot ....the quickcrete poured into a hole as described will draw moisture and set in less than a week

Happy Thanksgiving
Bear

 

[Doe Shooter]

From my experience pitched roof is not necessary. Water will find it's own way off. Insulation is a home for mice. Out of the wind and a little sunshine you'll stay plenty warm. We always built our boxes modular So they could be hauled in flat and assembled on site with few tools. Used 2X2's 3/8" osb to hold down weight. I have done 8 this way.It looks very, very sturdy and heavy.You might want haul the window in separately.

 

[willy]

It will be heavy but if you have something to stand it up you will be just fine. Those posts will be able to take it expecially if crosstimbered. That's going to be a bigun, you'll be able to sleep in there the night before and wake up at legal

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Abaird24]

Thanks for the input guys! I was going to go 6x6 but I think it will work to bow hunt out of so I wanted it plenty big to draw back. I got the roof on and most of the moisture barrier on when my stapler quit working so I guess that's it for today. I've been looking into spray foam insulation to finish what I have left in my shop and then use the left over to do as much of the blind as I can. That way it will be sealed up tight from bugs and mice. But that stuff isn't cheap. I also saw a YouTube video of a guy using those pink insulation panels and great stuff foam around the edges to form a complete seal. Might do that too. Need to get the tin on first though.



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[Buck268]

If you check out some of my pictures on this thread "My little Condos", mine are similar in weight and with good cross bracing like others have said your okay. You can break out the 2x6 where it connects to the elevator bracket if you don't brace well. I've used 2x4's and 2x2's and prefer 2x4's even for the little additional weight just to get better quality lumber over the 2x2's.

 

[Abaird24]

Those look good. I never thought I'd need to worry about the 2x6s breaking. But it will be cross braced and I'll cable anchor it down to keep it from moving. Nothing worse than a stand that rocks in the wind when trying to make a shot.


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[Buck268]

Those look good. I never thought I'd need to worry about the 2x6s breaking. But it will be cross braced and I'll cable anchor it down to keep it from moving. Nothing worse than a stand that rocks in the wind when trying to make a shot.


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If you think of the elevator bracket as a can opener, with out bracing it would do the same thing going side ways. We had ours laying down while installing the legs and had to put some pressure on a leg to make an adjustment before putting the bracing on and I heard a crack and thats when the can opener affect hit me.

 

[CTM1]

Did you check the rating on the elevators. I think the Shadow Hunter ones are rated for 1,000 or 1,100 lbs.

Curious what windows did you use?

 

[Abaird24]

I think they are rated for 1000 pounds. That's why I was getting concerned. They look like they should handle more than that though. Two guys and all their gear would be half of that already which wouldn't leave a lot of room for the blind. I don't think I'll go as high with it as I was originally planning. I'll probably go with 10' 4x4s and that will be high enough.

They are just some sliding windows that can be bought from any home improvement store like lowes or menards. These particular windows were in a trailer house that belonged to my wife's grandparents that was along the Missouri River that flooded out a few years back so I got them for free, which was nice. I think if you wait til these stores have sales going on you can purchase them pretty reasonable.


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