View Full Version : How much ice?
It's been said that 18 inches of good ice will support an army tank, is this true?
eyedoktr
01-21-2002, 07:53 AM
I don't know about a tank, but I did have a friend drive his big rig truck (trailerless) onto 18" and then proceeded to drill holes to ice fish while sitting on it. The ice didn't even creak as he drove out.
12 inches of solid blue ice will support a truck. Ray
AquaMan
01-21-2002, 08:39 AM
My father-in-law plows a road out on Lake of the Woods. He has an old trail groomer, a pick up and 4 Duce and a halfs for this. The duces are 6 wheel army trucks with alot of the extra iron removed to lighten them up. I do not know the weight on those, but he won't do the lake with those untill there is at least 20-24". Before that he uses the little groomer and then the pickup. Part of that choice could be to get consistant ice over 18" Some areas of the lake open and close regularly. But he drives like a freak busting ridges and such. I went once and have since left the wild stuff to the big guy.
Don't know what a tank weights, but I would not get in one and drive out much beyond depth of the hight of the top porthole even on 24"....just in case. :-)
AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It all begins and ends at the water's edge...
Thanks for the responses. Will be taking a fifth wheel out this weekend and was just checking.
Chuck Pederson MN
01-21-2002, 12:31 PM
Tanks would be a little under the weight of a self propelled howitzer around 52,000 lbs but they have a tendency to spook fish by the noise they make when driven and when they are shot. An M113 personell carrier would be a better choice because they float. I'll stick to a suburban, much more comfortable.
Old artillary guy, close counts in handgrenades,howitzers and dancing.
I tend to agree Chuck. I'm an old tanker myself but never drove one on the ice. Although I did train on a Sheridan that we drove across a lake.
The Great Guide
01-21-2002, 03:22 PM
The nice thing about a tank is the ease that you can get holes in the ice.
TGG
hookem
01-21-2002, 06:38 PM
ever try trolling ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
hookem releasem