There are guys that platform climb using a 2 or 3 step aider attached to the platform. There is also 2TC or 2 tether climbing. It works well also. What I am going to be doing is a single rope climb but does not require a throw ball or a limb crotch like SRT.Yea, I was considering at the very least going to amsteel daisy chains on the sticks to get rid of the metal buckles and maybe adding an aider or two. A friend just ordered everything to one-stick so I'll probably try that out and see if I like it before spending anything.
I assume you're effectively "one-stepping" but just with your platform instead of a dedicated stick? It's always seemed to me that this method would be slower and more physical than just running up the tree with sticks. Obviously there's trade offs with everything but have you found that to be the case?