Ice house question

[Fishin Fun]

Purchased a new Ice Castle fish house this year and I really like it. The issue I'm having is that I've been sitting the house directly on the ice, which I like, but when I drill out the holes I seem to pull a lot of water up and it goes all over the floor inside the house. This doesn't happen when I initally drill the hole, but it happens a lot when I come back out the day after and the hole isn't completely frozen. Do you guys put a 4x4 piece of wood under the house to keep it up off the ice therefore giving more room between the ice and the house? I liked the fact that this house sits right on the ice because we don't have any snow to bank the house this year. But I don't like the fact that when I'm done drilling the 5 holes, the floor is flooded. If I put the 4x4 wood under the house, my holes will freeze when I'm fishing. Unless I buy some tube inserts for each hole. Just looking for some ideas. Thanks!

[stinkycat]

We always put a 2x4 or 4x4 under the house just to make sure the house does not freeze down to the ice.... that can be kind of a bugger when you want to pop it loose. When we are re-drilling an old hole we drill down and then let off the gas and pull up the auger. Almost all the water stays in the hole but you have to dip out all the ice.

[Fishin Fun]

I think our best bet is to put a 4x4 under the house to keep it off the ice. Thanks.

[stinkycat]

If you have any snow at all, a 4 wheeler with a plow will bank up snow real easy. with only 1" of snow you can bank up the house in just a couple of minutes. Also, if your lake starts to flood the 4x4 will keep it out of the slush. Good Luck.

[Auggie264]

If you don't want to put the house up you could try this http://www.thornebros.com/winter/shelters/accessories/slush_bucket.html. They look like a pretty nifty tool.

[ice guy]

If your house has the round covers for the hole a 5 gallon bucket with the bottom cut out work very well for me. As far as setting the house down on the ice I put a 1x2 about 6 inches long under each coner to help keep it from freezing to the lake. Hope this helps.

[Dacotah Eye]

I use a one inch board under each corner and when I drill I use a Slush Bucket to catch the messy stuff.

[Sark 2]

I has an icegator and after I am through the ice it run the motorbackwards to push down the slush and keep the rushing water out.

[Dacotah Eye]

I has an icegator and after I am through the ice it run the motorbackwards to push down the slush and keep the rushing water out.

Does that method keep the ice chips from piling up on the floor when drilling through 30" of ice?

[sark 2]

I put the big rectangular box over the hole (I think a previous poster posted a link.). I do not go backwards until I am through the ice.

[Dacotah Eye]

I use a slush bucket when I drill, but the idea of being able to reverse an auger would be a good idea. Not enough to get me to spend the money for an electric auger though.