Plans for ice shanty

[JustLookN]

Does anyone have some plans for a permanent ice shanty or a website where I can get some,winters coming fast.Appreciate any help with this one.Bob

[minneman]

Im a home builder here in Mn. and have built several fish houses if you like Email me i may be of some help, You should however have some sort of idea as to how big, how many people will be with you most of the time, will you trailer it ordo you need wheels on it? etc. Ted

[REW]

Based on the resortes houses in the lake of the woods area - where the winters are long and the snow can be deep.
Two things to remember.

Build light.
Build strong.

Although these two variables tend to be at odds, they can be accomodated by using steel or aluminum channels for the base - easy to jerk around and or bust out of the ice if required, then use a lot of foam for the upper structure. Very light and very warm. Also, think about the principle that aircraft use for construction -- i.e. stressed skin construction. If you use something like two inch foam and glue on 1/8 or 3/16" paneling of fiberglass or similar material -- you have an extremely strong wall that is very very light.

Remember, it is nice to have a nice tight house to cut your heating cost, but make sure that you have a very well ventilated heater - that uses outside air for combustion air, and also, has a good vent to the outside. We don't want to read about you as a statistic, because of carbon dioxide -- Carbon dioxide gives rise to very very very long sleep times. Like forever.


Another thing that the lake of the woods resorter shacks do that works very very well.

They tend to leave a trough on each side of the house. This way - they can pop about 2-4 holes on each side of the house, separated by the appropriate distance - then 2-4 holes for the other side. Then simply pull the house over the series of holes and start fishing. You don't have to worry about an exact alignment of holes with respect to holes in the house. This works very well, when you tend to move your house a lot to follow the fish.

If you have a blade on the front of your 4X4 and chains on all 4 - wheels, you can simply go where you want -- blade out an area, pop a half dozen holes, and be fishing in a few minutes.

Take care

REW

[JustLookN]

Thanks for the input,needed that reminder about the heater,use to fishing in portable that vents itself real well.Happy Thanksgiving...Bob

[Tough Guy]

Ice Shantys? Sounds like something I wear under my bloomers. Real men fish outside with the wind and cold. Sometimes my fingers dont work very well though. Is this cuz I dont have a ice shanty?

[FREETRADE]

I agree. I also don't believe that real men should use an outboard. It is just not right!!!!

[biglaker]

REW, I am planning on building a shelter this year and I too want to build it light and strong, can you explain the plans for the foam uppers in more detail? Do you still create 2x4 stud walls and then apply the foam covered panels to them? What kind of foam do you use and where do you get it? Will regular plywood paneling work? I would appreciate as much detail as your willing to provide. Ice is beginning to form on our lake so I'm anxious to get started on this. Feel free to email me directly: kjanda@csc.com. Thanks

[REW]

No,
Basically, you build a steel platform,
By this I mean - you make a structure - that is welded up - with steel channels and a few cross braces to withstand the rigors of towing, loading unloading etc.

This means that you have a base that can be jacked out of the ice if necessary -- without relying on wood or other things that might be ripped off during transport etc.

Depending on the size of the structure -- you simply make your foam walls of 2 inch thick foam -- readily available at any lumber yard -- to which you laminate 1/4 inch plywood or some type of paneling on both sides,

By doing this - you eliminate the weight of the 2/4's -- and you rely on the walls themselves to make the structure.

Some folks will basically make a solid joint on the corner - by capping the end of each wall with a 2X4 or 4X4 -- simply to be able to bolt the walls together.

Then the roof is tied on to the 4 corners - and by running a 2X 4 plate across the top of the wall.

Cut in windows and or other openings as required and frame up each opening. Use a good adhesive to insure that the framing is solidly glued to the foam and skin.

In most instances -- this type of construction can lead to a 30-50% reduction in weight -- as well as a 20-50% in heat loss compared to a stick and frame construction.

Remember -- with a continuous foam wall - there is no wood to wick heat to the out of doors.

That is another reason to minimize windows. Each window -- even a thermopane -- is a very large source of heat loss.

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Another way that works very well -- and is commonly used by the lake of the woods resorters is to simply make the steel base as outlined above -- then making a "mold" for the balance of the house. This mold can be either an internal mold -- or an external mold. Because appearance is not much concern for an ice shanty - most of the resorters use an internal mold. i.e. - they basically make a house out of very very light framing and 1/8 inch paneling. This framing is the finished interior of the house with very little structural rigidity.

Then they use a foaming technique -- to basically build the house of foam. i.e. they simply spray on multiple layers of expanded foam -- until they have a house with walls that are about 8 inches thick. This thickness gives the house tremendous rigidity and strength with very little weight gain. The 8 inches of foam also gives an r factor of about 40 as far as insulating values are concerned.

When the wind blows strong -- the the cold runs deep -- the heavy duty insulation is a real saver of propane for a resort that might be running 20 or more houses.
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Good luck and build strong and light.

REW

[ufda]

Or a rod and reel instead of handlining? ;-)

[AquaMan]

Some plans on icefishing.com.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

--- "It all begins and ends at the water's edge"