I’m about to build something to hang/ clean deer and hogs at my new home in Florida. I’m thinking of using two treated 6x6 posts with a beam across the top . Maybe a couple angle braces up top with a winch . What is an adequate height and width of posts ? I don’t want it any bigger than necessary but don’t want the deers feet dragging the ground either. Any pics would be helpful as well. Thanks

6’ wide x 8’ tall at minimum I’d say.

Wish i had one - no good location. Wish i had water at my lease

Stronger than you think you need?????? Wind block, lighting, drain, sloped (gravel-concrete), water hook up. Good luck as you build post pics. Hang ours from a tractor bucket.

6’ as a minimum width sounds good so you can work around the animal. 8’ high is probably ok but I might go 9’ or 10’ to make it more accessible when working on the shoulders. The HME hitch cleaning station deal has a couple of nice features. It has a groove at the top that the gambrel goes into to prevent the deer from rotating. I like that. The hand operated cable winch is nice too. Maybe incorporate those things

8 wide 10 tall. Water. Power for light cheap electric winch. Gamble. Shelf

Make it way taller than you think. Imagine working on skinning out the shoulder and neck region, then think how high the feet are, add gamble, add winch/hardware distance. You want to be working at a comfortable heigh, not hunched over. Maybe 12’ - 14’ high or so.

A method of chaining off one side of gamble so it doesn’t freaking rotate constantly

Ensure good drainage and rinse water access

Lights from at least two angles, or more

Make sure you can back up to or drive through it easily in the dark

Clean place to rest your tools and hang/set towels and such

If possible take a cold north wind into consideration when establishing against wind break

I'd build it taller than 8' in case you want to add a scale in between the pully and the single tree.

I really like M38scout's thoughts.

Yeah 8’ is nowhere near tall enough. Got to be over 12’ if you want to pick larger bucks off the ground. I built one that’s 10’ and my electric winch is at the very top. It’s not tall enough to get a big buck off the ground fully.

Mine at home is ten feet high and six wide. The rack we have at one club is 8'x8'. Another, it's 8' with about 4' arm.

The difference in height relates to the size containers you drop into. I like a full size garbage can with contractor bags. At the clubs it's a half barrel and no bag needed. The width may relate to whether you walk around or prefer to spin.

Skinning cradles and electric winches really help things along.

My place used to be a club camp so the skinning shed was built to accommodate multiple deer at one time. It’s roughly 10x12’ on a raised deck. 8’ ceiling under a tin roof. Deep two compartment sink with ample countertop and water hose from a faucet. 2 flood lights and two outdoor fluorescent bar lights front and back provide plenty of light. Electric winces to pulleys mounted under the roof on 4x4 beam. It’s wrapped on three sides with what I think is some sort of heavy felt. Faces ESE so wind isn’t a problem. The only thing I’d do differently is I’d rather the roof was two feet higher. A big buck will be touching toes on the roof and I’m still bent over working on the neck and shoulders.
I’ll add that we have a fire pit in front of and to the side of the skin shed. The covered area is handy for storing chairs, lighter, etc for the pit when not otherwise in use.

Yep. I got a harbor freight winch just waiting in the shed for my new spot

Our shed at the camp is 12’x24’. 12’x12’ is concrete and I added a 3bay deep compartment stainless steel sink with hot and cold water. 2 30” cutting surfaces on each side of the sink with poly cutting boards on each side. Also have a hot and cold water hose hook up. The wench is hooked to the peak of the roof and is 16’ to the pulley. Got 4 LED lights hooked up. I like to see. We have 2 other hand wenches hooked up also for when multiple deer are killed in a hunt. I mounted a magnetic strip to hold all the skinning and boning knives and a small shelf to keep soaps and dawn dish liquid on. Also have conduit clamps mounted on the edge of the processing table to hold the nozzle on the water hoses. I tried to set everything up to where everything is within arms reach of main winch to make cleaning a deer as easiest as possible. We also have the north and east sides of the shed blocked off with a heavy duty tarp. The far east part of the shed also doubles as the perfect parking spot for my 4wheeler. It’s a really nice set up. The slab part also holds the bbq pit and is our afternoon gathering place. It’s a multi use shed.

I got tired of deer swinging and rotating while cleaning, so went to a two winch setup. Winch mounted on each post with two pulleys two feet apart. No gamble, just a hook attached to each cable. It also makes it easier loading a full gut bucket in the back of a truck. Find an old rubber truck bed mat to put under the area so dem horns don’t get scratched up.

Mine is 12' high , built out of 3"x3" square tube . It's a built like a derrick crane , just an arm sticking out. It was built by a welder friend and is over built. It's tall enough to winch the biggest white tailed buck up, head first and get a gut bucket under it. Underneath it's a elevated, 8'X8' heavy steel grate bout knee high ( just under tail gate height) . You aren't slipping and sliding in blood and water . I have water and a hand winch. It's a great set up .

Here's a pic that shows height and grate .

I have two boat winches and two gambrels so I can clean two at a time. Heavy rollers so there’s no accidents while raising a heavy deer or hog. You’d be surprised what I’ve seen break. Could really get hurt.
Heavy large rock under it is a must if it’s not concreted. Large enough that your not getting grass, dirt and mud on everything when it gets wet.
I like to have at least 3 sides blocked in to stop the wind, rain, etc.
Stainless table to cut the meat on is a must imo.
I use mine to clean fish too.
If you’ve never cleaned a deer with hot water you’re missing out. I can clean my hands, knives, saws, everything with hot water. Cold won’t cut the tallow. Even if you have to run it from your hot water heater spigot with a long water hose. It’s worth it.
Multiple coolers, knife sharpeners, gloves, etc.
Good luck.
Mine is about 11’, that’s as high as I can go.

Definitely go at least 12ft high if you can. Mine is 12ft and on really long deer its not quite high enough with the scale added.

i-bolts 72" up on both sides to tie the gambrel off so the deer/hog doesn`t spin while you`re skinning.

The one Topcat has is very nice.