Finished Building a Tree Stand

[Mare Miller]

Okay, read my name first. . . . . Do we have to sterilize the branches somehow before letting the birds on them? Is there any way that bugs or something could be in there? I thought I had read that we had to put fresh wood in the oven to kill bugs . . . . . Again, I know NOTHING about birds-just the volumes of magazines & articles that I've read since adopting 6 months ago.

Would dearly LOVE to create a gym for my guys.

I wash my wood with a light vinegar and water solution. It's totally recommended to clean the wood. Amigo is in every bush and tree in the neighborhood and so far, no bugs or diseases. I'm dreading the day he lands in the poison oak, I'm VERY allergic, don't know about him, I guess we'll see!

 

[Violet]

What kind of wood is that? Beautiful!

 

[SunnyGirl]

I love it :35: I want to make something like this too, but I still have a few questions:
- is hazel wood ok? (can't find the info on net)
- if you're supposed to 'bake' it in an oven, how do you do that with such long sticks?
- it's best to take the bark of the branches, isn't it?
- why vingar? does it really clean that good?

 

[IcyWolf]

My suggestion is to do what I did and go cut down your own limbs off of some saplings like poplar,oak, or maple and screw them together. We built the tree in front of Erin so she wasn't scared of it in the end.

So what is the deal with oak? I went and cut and gathered about 15 pieces of oak the other day thinking it was safe and then found all of this conflicting info on it. It seems like the only part that is in question is the bark(of the actual branch itself anyway), and untreated oak lumber seems to be okay, so by that logic, wouldn't it be safe if it had the bark removed and was disinfected?

Be careful with maple, certain kinds are toxic to birds and if you're like me and can't identify what kind of maple trees you have, it's best just to avoid it all together.

 

[KatherineI]

VERY awesome! You guys did a fantastic job with it.

I'd totally line up for one if I didn't live so darn far away

 

[PortaPerch]

There seem to be too many generalities about safe woods. There is Red Oak, White Oak, Black Oak, Live Oak, etc., and each is unique. I think I have a good link hidden somewhere in this confuser. Will report back.

 

[IcyWolf]

There seem to be too many generalities about safe woods. There is Red Oak, White Oak, Black Oak, Live Oak, etc., and each is unique. I think I have a good link hidden somewhere in this confuser. Will report back.

That would be great, it looks like we have about 6 different kinds of oak trees native to pa, I'm not exactly sure what kind I collected although I'm sure I could figure it out with some research. It's a shame because we went through the woods carefully selecting all of these cool branches only to then realize that it may not be usable. So for now they are sitting in a box in another part of the house. I figured until I know if it's safe or not I'm not going to waste my time stripping the bark and mounting the hardware. Also, does anyone know of any common trees that I could use and keep the bark on? I really like the looks of perches with bark on them

Just wanted to add, I'm not trying to hijack your thread, I love your stand, I especially like the ladder I have all kinds of things I want to make I've just been getting a bit frustrated with all of the conflicting info regarding what is safe and what is potentially deadly.

 

[PortaPerch]

Go here: Characteristics | USDA PLANTS

For some reason, it has white oak, but not the others I tried. Look for TOXICITY. For white oak, it says NONE.

Do you have hickory? Shagbark is non-toxic, really easy to recognize, and REALLY tough. Ford made approximately a billion wheel spokes from it in the 20 year production run of the Model T.

We use New Zealand farm grown Monterey Pine on the PortaPerch.

 

[IcyWolf]

It looks like we do have shagbark hickory here, whether or not we have any on our property I'm not sure, I'll have to go scour the woods and see if I can find any.

I think we have some birch trees, and if not, I know a friend who has some on their property, has anyone ever used that? How does it hold up?

Unfortunately I'm allergic to pine so I try to keep that out of the house if at all possible.