Steel tower box blind install

  • WishIwasWiser
    Posts: 166
    #2126057

    So my son and I have built two Muddy brand 10ft steel towers and when we have some additional man power we will get them into place and set.

    I feel like I want to put a 8-10” square brown treated ground contact 2-by under each “foot” before I pound the stakes to secure the legs. I cannot find any comments or any instructions that recommend this. We have a slope where the stands will be, so the top feet will need to be dug in to level the blind. We will make sure we clear around and provide drainage away from these feet, but I like the idea of the feet sitting on treated lumber instead of dirt.

    Am I over thinking this?

    TheFamousGrouse
    St. Paul, MN
    Posts: 11585
    #2126060

    I’m with you, I would want to do the same. Anything that keeps those steel feet higher and dryer would IMO be a good step to prevent rusting of the feet. It’s one thing to install a blind in Texas, but it’s a whole different deal here in the soggy northern tier.

    The only * here is that every stake or fastener used to attach the feet to the treated blocks will have to be double galvanized or otherwise coated and approved for treated lumber use to resist the acidity now present in treated lumber.

    The thing I’d look out for is presumably there are some stakes provided to secure the feet to the ground. Are those stakes coated such that they are suitable for treated lumber use?

    Otherwise, rather than treated, have you thought about Cedar lumber? Probably a little more expensive, but eliminates the issue with treated lumber and fasteners.

    buck-slayer
    Posts: 1499
    #2126082

    Might be way over board but could you use sonna tubes and bolt in feet to that.

    B-man
    Posts: 5787
    #2126130

    Definitely worth your time.

    I have a tripod in a swamp blocked up on chunks of 6×6″. The steel is high and dry. Anchors are useless in the bog where it’s at, so it’s lagged to the blocking and tied off to black spruces with trucker hitches.

    I expect to get years and years out of that stand by keeping the feet dry.

    Killed a big buck in it last fall, and hope to do the same in the future waytogo

    Attachments:
    1. PXL_20211120_150152420.PORTRAIT-scaled.jpg

    super_do
    St Michael, MN
    Posts: 1085
    #2126178

    Some type of concrete block?

    WishIwasWiser
    Posts: 166
    #2126544

    Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I am going with ground contact treated 2×8 12” long with a 2” hole drilled in the center. I will pound in a pvc jointer to barrier the steel spikes from the treating chemicals. I’ll let post how it held up in 10 years.

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