# Ice house ideas



## bjertness07

A buddy of mine and I are putting together a 7x12 ice house this winter. Right now we have metal for the trailer and a pickup camper shell for the body...but may scrap that idea. Any ideas, suggestions, or pics of what works best? We're newcomers to permament houses...Thanks


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## such24

you can give me a call we build them for a living and may have some things cheaper than you can get yourself, or a least you can pick our brains for free ideas visit allterrainfishhouses.com we also have a link on this website or call me at 701-306-3575


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## bjertness07

such24-
thanks for the offer. it may just come in handy down the road. we're sitting pretty good right now, we've got the camper shell, 2 inch insulation, metal for a trailer coming, and the stove/oven/heater. looking at your site, it was ironic because this buddy an i were just driving through fargo and saw that one and said "jeesh, it'd be nice if ours turned out like that." my questions are:

1) What's the best way to make an axle to lay it down on the ground?
2) We're gonna use pole barn tin to cover the outside-how do we seal it well?
3) What kind of wiring and power source should we put in?
4) Are bunks worth the space?

Thanks- any info is appreciated


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## bjertness07

bump


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## shootnmiss09

Cant help you too much casue I don;t know that much about ice houses, but I would say bunks are definitley worth the space. Make the top one so it folds ups against the wall. Then you can also use the bottom one as a bench while fishing.


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## dblkluk

The best piece of advice is, keep the house light as possible, and most importantly, over build your trailer. 
If you think, "that should be strong enough", beef it up even more. Traveling across the lake is very hard on trailers. I'd bet 80-90% of all the fishouses out there have bent frames, tongues etc. or have bent axles and the tires are about to rub on the side of the house. 
Build the trailer right the first time and you'll save yourself a ton of headaches down the road.
For trailer ideas, google fish house trailer and you'll see alot of different designs.


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## MOB

Make sure to install a propane wall light. I put one in my shack as a backup to the 12v electric lights in case the batteries went dead, but use the propane light all the time. I use the 12v lights as needed for extra light. The propane light has a glow that is easier on the eyes and saves your battery power.
As said before, make sure to build your shack heavy duty. I used 1/4" lag bolts to attach the floor joists to the frame, which worked for 3 years and then they started to pull out. It isn't good to look in your mirror at 60 mph and see the icehouse bouncing up and down on the front of the frame. It stayed on, but it was alot more work to correct. I would recommend 1/2" bolts though the frame, floor joists and secured on top of the walls bottom plate.
Good luck and have fun building it.


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## bjertness07

Yep, I think the trailer may be taken care of. We had an engineer (a friend) look at the plans and draw some of his own up for us. We got some 2 1/4"x 1/8 old high-pressure heating pipe out of water-heated schools, and we used that for the sides of the trailer and the back. We also used that in the front but spliced it in half to accomodate a 2 1/4" x 1/4" pipe running from the back all they way up to our ball. From there we're going to brace the tongue with angle brackets, both going forward and back (2 sets). I have made a root pass on all joints, which are perfectley square, and will run another around the joints also. From there, I have cut out triangles out of 1/8" steel with a PlasmaCam and will weld those on the joints, both sides. That trailer should be beefy enough...hopefully? We have yet to figure out a strong, convenient axle system. I think we'll go with a 12V light system and add in a latern.


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## bjertness07

So we've just about got the whole frame welded up...that thing is solid. We're just about to start on the axles. Any suggestions on what type? I've got old rearend hubs off a Grand Caravan in my shop right now. We're thinking of the crank down-winch type. Where's the cheapest place to buy the coupler, jack, winches, lights...etc??? We're trying to keep this as cheap as we can. Would Harbor Freight be a good place? Thanks.


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## bjertness07

bump


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## shedhrnhntr

A few places in F-M area to check:

1. Northern Tool/ Equipment
2. Pioneer Rim/ Wheel- I bought my hubs and spindles there.
3. Fleet Farm- Leaf springs came from there.
4. Salvage yard west and south of Kindred- tires and rims
5. Macs- good selection of winches/ jacks

Good luck with your project-it's fun isn't it?!!

  :lol:


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## duckslayer

MOB said:


> Make sure to install a propane wall light. I put one in my shack as a backup to the 12v electric lights in case the batteries went dead, but use the propane light all the time. I use the 12v lights as needed for extra light. The propane light has a glow that is easier on the eyes and saves your battery power.
> As said before, make sure to build your shack heavy duty. I used 1/4" lag bolts to attach the floor joists to the frame, which worked for 3 years and then they started to pull out. It isn't good to look in your mirror at 60 mph and see the icehouse bouncing up and down on the front of the frame. It stayed on, but it was alot more work to correct. I would recommend 1/2" bolts though the frame, floor joists and secured on top of the walls bottom plate.
> Good luck and have fun building it.


http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/s ... o=&fpart=1

Be careful.


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## MOB

I suppose with any propane fixture you can always have a chance for a leak and a fire. I won't hesitate to put one in a new ice shack.


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## bjertness07

shedhrnhntr-
this project has been a hell of a time, i just wish i could get it done so we can use it. we've got the rims and tires and hubs. one of my best friends is the guy that owns that salvage yard out by kindred. it's hopewells. i think we're going tonite to get the jack, winches, coupler, etc. i think we'll try fleet farm and harbor freight first, then mac's.


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## shedhrnhntr

bjertness

I can relate to your frustration, although I did enjoy the whole process immensely. I have a few suggestions on the carpentry part:

1. I built my house first and my trailer next. Even though this was practical for me, it was a mistake because I had to frame up a green treated 2x4 floor to erect the walls on top of. Not only did this add alot of weight, but it added an additional 3 1/2" of height on top of the ice. You have to darn near straddle the hole to see your bobber below you.

2. Frame up the walls with 2x2's on 16" centers. You can then buy extruded polystyrene insulation in pre-cut lengths to fit between the studs-this will save you alot of time. If I were to do it over again, I would spend the additional money and hire somebody to spray the insulation on-this is a much superior method.

3. I bought (3) garden shed gable trusses from Menards. I cut as much as I could off the rafter tails, but I still ended up with about a 12" overhang on both sides. This makes for a great shelf all the way around to set items such as beer, but it added alot to the width of the house and made extra work cutting out the OSB for the soffit. It looks good, but it's not very practical. I bought these so I can have bunks up in the peak.

Hope these ideas help you out- I have many more ideas, but I don't want to bore you with too many details at once. Good luck!!

:beer:


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## bjertness07

Yep. As of right now, I'm between a rock and a hard place. We have almost everything we need... tin, insulation, plywood, camper shell, trailer, hubs, leaf springs, tires and rims, and 1" round tubing for the studs, along with angle iron. However, my dad and grandpa and I got to talking last night and we figured since we have the camper shell with doors and windows, and all the other stuff, we should make a new one completely. Just use the doors, windows, and tubing for an all new ice house. This would add to the value, and be stronger, plus we could modify it a little, but is it worth the extra time, effort, and wasting the metal? I was hoping to use this thing this year but would sacrifice that oppurtunity to have a nicer one. Haha, I know my trailer is strong enough...when my grandpa saw it he asked it I was using for fishing or hauling a John Deere 4020. (Retired Farmer and "equipment jockey" lol.)
-thanks


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## pishka777

Does anyone have any close up pictures or drawings of the system to lower the house down. Believe it or not no one around here has one and I would love to build one, any help is appreciated

Thanks
Stephen
Winnipeg


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## bjertness07

does anyone know how stringent north dakota is with trailer width and what's all this with having to have trailers licensed now???


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## MOB

You can be 102" wide maximum on US highways without a wide load permit. 
Some ice fishermen in my area build 8' x 16' shacks with the wheels on the outside and are over the 102" limit. In SD you can legally (I believe)tow them on state and county highways, but not on US highways. Most of them pull them down the US highways anyway for short distances (40 -50 miles). Most highway patrolmen aren't too worried about a seasonal iceshack unless it's way too wide.
How far are you going to be towing it? On what type of roads? I hope this helps.


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