Metal thickness question.

[Buck Verde]

Looking at building a 5-6 foot tower to put a stand on . Like the idea of 1.5" square tubing for the legs and 3/4 inch for the bracing (all welded). Question is what is the minimum guage y'all would recommend. Also let me know if you think this is overkill/ under kill.

Thanks,

Matt

[JDALEX]

i have 2 bases that I have built for pop up blinds both are made from 1-1/2" square tube 11 ga. wall. both are fine. been using them for about 8 years now.

[Ironman]

If braced properly, 11 gauge would work.

FYI, 11ga=1/8"(+/-)

[txfireguy2003]

I've seen entire buildings built out of C-purling that is MUCH thinner than 11ga, probably on the order of 16ga if I had to guess. Now, granted, these buildings are cross braced, quite large in comparison to a deer stand tower, and have the added stability of the wall skins. That being said, a decent sized tower, built of 11ga (remember, that's 1/8" thick) sqaure tubing, is going to plenty strong, but probably plenty heavy too! I think you could easily get away with 16ga tubing if you designed it with the right angles (base wider than top) and sufficient cross bracing. The thickness of the steel needed will be effected by the height of the stand, with taller requiring heavier steel, but at 5-6 foot, you won't need much thickness at all. What's the average commercially built tripod made of? I'm thinking 14-16ga if it's steel, definitely NOT 11ga.

[Ramball36]

14 gauge on that short of a tower is more than enough. If you were going 10' plus I would go 11 gauge on the legs and the rest 14 gauge

[Buck Verde]

Thanks for the input guys. 14 guage on the legs and 16 on the bracing is the rout I'm looking at.

[txfireguy2003]

Thinner stuff is a lot cheaper too.

[Kevin Smith]

Ramball knows steel.

[9toes]

I use 16ga on mine up to 10'. 5-6 ft no problem!

[BolilloLoco]

I have a 16ft tower with 16ga square tubing for legs. HEAVY octagon blind on top built out of 2x4s and sheet metal. It's been flying high for 15 years and been moved 3 times. Just brace it good.

[Dale Moser]

14ga is plenty, but X brace it. X Braces are the key...

[gusman]

Had blinds 20 ft.at the bottom using 2" square 14 gauge with x bracing...
now I use 2 1/2 schedule 40 pipe and no x bracing but 10 ft.tall

[JP Weld]

I am definitely an "overbuilder" and argue with my buddies constantly as they are just looking for the cheaper end but I look beyond what will work and pay attention to what is awesome and will last forever without question or concern. I would not go under 1/8" for the legs but that is just me. Their is a match made in heaven when you use 2X2X3/16 sleeves with 1.5X1.5X1/8 legs.

[txfireguy2003]

I am definitely an "overbuilder" and argue with my buddies constantly as they are just looking for the cheaper end but I look beyond what will work and pay attention to what is awesome and will last forever without question or concern. I would not go under 1/8" for the legs but that is just me. Their is a match made in heaven when you use 2X2X3/16 sleeves with 1.5X1.5X1/8 legs.

Most welders, or at least all the farm shop welders i know are habitual overbuilders, myself included. That being said, the trend in all building trades now is engineered members that are lighter, cheaper and adequately strong....sometimes stronger than the old way. I'm learning, slowly but surely, that overbuilding is not always the way to go, it's always more expensive, always heavier, and frequently harder to build, then once built, harder to put to use. Like in this case, a 6 foot stand built out of 16ga tubing would likely only weight 40-50 pounds, maybe a bit more. Build the same stand out of 1/8" wall tubing and it suddenly weighs a hundred fifty or more and takes 3 men and a mule to place. Build it out of drill stem and heavy angle iron and your great great grandkids can use it, as long as they want to use it exactly where you left it! :-D Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, they might be able to move it with a tractor and 5 or 10 strong buddies.

[Ramball36]

^ Spot on from what I have seen. I'm what you might call a rookie, two years ago I bought my first welder. Seems like every old school guy that stops by the shop says they would go bigger on my stuff, but I do plenty of research before I build to make sure the materials I use will hold up.