Not to be left out, here is what I did.

I too have limited wood working skills and limited power tools (all limited to the hand held versions...ie no table saw or router table) I was concerned the 'straight 2x4' strong back would sag and I didn't feel I could build a good box beam as in nick's book. As I said, no table router which would have been needed fot the box seams. So I compromised, I made a 2x4 by laminating 3 thickness of 5/8 plywood. I cut six 4 inch wide strips from the sheet using a circular saw with a rip guide (a little T shaped thing that attaches to the saw with screws). One of the strips was cut in half, leaving five 8ft strips andtwo 4ft strips. These where glued, clamped and screwed together, alternating the seams. I only needed a 15ft beam...this allowed me to stager the ends of the two outside layers, causing the middle seam to me offset.

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I leaned most of my 195 pounds on the beam while on horses and had no deflection. It does have a little side to side flex but, very little.... this lateral flexis not an issue once in the stands.

- chris