Ice house on wheels!

[dewyg]

Anyone with info on such a creature, I'm also looking for a shack on wheels, does anyone know where to find one for a decent price.

[doug SS]

These guys will build them however you want.

http://www.ice-shack.com/

[tly]

The Ice Fishing show in St Paul had many vendors, with all sorts of sizes, floor plans and prices. A few years ago they also were poushing selling frames/lifts with you doping the house. Vendors said they still will do that. Try googling for the topics.

It would seem important to have some basic requirements such as sleep over, how many holes, cooking facilities, and the big one I feel is portability, both on ice and enroute. Prices ranged from $6k to $25k of those I looked at. Upper end of course you need a good generator to run microwave, satellite TV etc.

My choice would be an 8x?? single axle with side door as well as ramp. Load ATV at home, get to lake, drop ATV, park truck & use ATV to locate onto lake. Especially good when chasing migrating perch I would think. Aware that snow/ice conditions may limit use of ATV (too little snow, no traction, too much = stuck).

[skeeter]

www.FishHouseForSale.com


Use the WALLEYE CENTRAL BUSINESS DIRECTORY "Skeeters Stuff" under marine supplies (boat cleaning supplies), it really does work.

http://www.walleyecentral.com/wcdirectory/yellowresult.php?goal=Detail&ckey=29&primaryField=description&category=Boat%2FMari

[Dacotah Eye]

>The Ice Fishing show in St Paul had many vendors, with all
>sorts of sizes, floor plans and prices. A few years ago they
>also were poushing selling frames/lifts with you doping the
>house. Vendors said they still will do that. Try googling for
>the topics.
>
>It would seem important to have some basic requirements such
>as sleep over, how many holes, cooking facilities, and the big
>one I feel is portability, both on ice and enroute. Prices
>ranged from $6k to $25k of those I looked at. Upper end of
>course you need a good generator to run microwave, satellite
>TV etc.
>
>My choice would be an 8x?? single axle with side door as well
>as ramp. Load ATV at home, get to lake, drop ATV, park truck &
>use ATV to locate onto lake. Especially good when chasing
>migrating perch I would think. Aware that snow/ice conditions
>may limit use of ATV (too little snow, no traction, too much =
>stuck).
>
>
I will be buying a 6 1/2'x10' dropdown in the spring. V front with a door in the front and a door for my ATV in the back. I think it weighs about 1,200 lbs and should be pretty easy to pull with my ATV.

[tly]

Sounds like good choice. 6 1/2' makes more sense than 8' for towing both on/off ice. It will also generally track in your vehicle (not ATV) tracks, making movement much easier.
At 6' you need to be sure there is clearance at the wheel wells and aslo any benches etc should be hinged to lift up. One further thing is to have tie down eyes installed so you rely on more than the brake on the ATV. Even if brake locked, any snow or ice will allow it to go where it wants otherwise. 2x2 framing is not the strongest.

[Dacotah Eye]

>Sounds like good choice. 6 1/2' makes more sense than 8' for
>towing both on/off ice. It will also generally track in your
>vehicle (not ATV) tracks, making movement much easier.
>At 6' you need to be sure there is clearance at the wheel
>wells and aslo any benches etc should be hinged to lift up.
>One further thing is to have tie down eyes installed so you
>rely on more than the brake on the ATV. Even if brake locked,
>any snow or ice will allow it to go where it wants otherwise.
>2x2 framing is not the strongest.
A friend builds a new one every year in the state where he lives and brings it here and fishes for the winter. When he goes back home in the spring he sells the used one and goes home and builds another one. The trailer frame is 3" channel iron and most people on these forums recommend square tubing for trailer frames. The walls are 1" square steel tubing and so is the framing for the roof. It is insulated with high density foam in the walls and ceiling. The frame isn't insulated I'm not sure what type of siding he used as I haven't seen it and have only talked to him. The roof is a solid sheet of aluminum which is rolled over the edges to prevent leaks. It has a 10k btu heater, no 12V wiring, and no bunks. Interior is 1/4" paneling primed on both sides and painted on the inside. He says it weighs ablut 1,200 lbs. You seem to know somethjing about this. What is your opinion? Price is $3,500.00. Also , it has 1,000 miles on it by the time he gets here so any defects should have shown up.

[Toby1]

check this out zackshack.com

[Dacotah Eye]

>check this out zackshack.com
I have looked at them. They are light and well insulated and pretty much bare bones units. I looked at a 6 1/2x10 with a couple of canvas bunks in the front. $5,400.00 for that one which I consider to be pretty spendy for what you get and that was two years ago. Makes the one made by my friend look like a real good deal. :cheers:

[dewyg]

I cannot believe the prices that they are asking for these units. I'm wondering if they are selling many of these.

[Dacotah Eye]

Last year Soderbloom In MN started building some dropdown ice houses with an aluminum frame trailer and aluminum wall and roof studs. It also had the foam insulation and was selling for less than $4,000.00. I wanted to get one and I looked this year and the same thing is about $5,600.00. Too much for me. There is a camper dealer in a small town close to here that was selling Zach Shack the year before last and that is where I looked at the one for $5,400.00. They sold it for $4,100.00 so the manufacturer didn't have to take it back. The one my friend made looks better and better all the time. He says he has over $3,000.00 in material in it and wants $3,500.00 for it. There is an RV dealer in this town and he is selling Ice Castles and none of the units that he has in stock has the ATV door in the back and that is one thing that I require.:cheers:

[or on pontoons]

I checked out some of those constructed ones and I can't believe the money for them. Most guys I know have an older snowmobile trailer and odds and ends on lumber, put in a new furnace, take out old furniture in the old camper that the neighbor wants to get rid of and have fun building it yourself for less?? I built mine on my neighbors smaller old pontoon boat that was collectin pine needles on the side of their garage. I ripped off the top portion and built it permanently to the aluminum pontoons and it's pretty light. It's excellent for early ice when most guys can't get their heavy shacks on the lake. I don't worry about breaking through, since the pontoons should hold up my 4-wheeler that I use to pull/slide it. I even kept the front deck on it, where I keep my gas grill!

[Dacotah Eye]

The one I have now was built from an old Palomino popup camper and works well for me. The hitch weight is too much for my ATV and I want to get one that I can haul my ATV inside of. The way it is now, when the ice isn't good I pull the ice shack and my buddy pulls the ATV to where we are going to fish. We use the ice house for a base to fish out of with the ATV and portable shack. When I get the dropdown, I plan on pulling the lights, cabinets, bunks, computer fans and batteries out of it and build them into the new one. I have been looking at the Ice Castles at the local RV dealer and he even has one with a bay window in it. As long as we keep wanting this type of thing, the price will keep going up. I can stay in a motel for a long time for the price of some of these new ice houses. :cheers: