RUNNERS FOR SKID FISH HOUSE

[Cheers]

Any suggestions for how to protect the runners on my fish house ? They are rough 2x8s . I towed it off the lake yesterday about 2 miles and the rough ice chewed the dump out of them .

[JSK76]

It's not a cheep idea but I was at Menards the other day and saw 4x8 by about 1/4 thick sheets of black plastic for around 50.00. It's very similar to hyfax material. I'm thinking of using it on the bottom of my otter because I don't want the extra hight of the stock hyfax because it needs to fit under my tonneau cover. If you have a table saw you could have a life time supply for you and your buddy's or use the extra for a fish cleaning table.

[dirt292lv]

Steel bar stock I would think would work good

[dirt292lv]

Also off the lake yesterday where you fishing

[Cheers]

Finished fishing for the year ,walleye season closed Apr 15 but all other species still open . Ice house comes off lake when conditions allow , we don't have a deadline to remove them.

I was wondering about flat bar or round stock ? Or angle iron on each side

[Cheers]

What do they use on Lake of the Woods ? I know there are many commercial skid houses that take the same abuse as mine.

[centralmnguy]

Garage door trim made of pvc from menards...it has 1/4" deep grooves or ribs & is flexible & easy to cut to size. I use if for runners to load my sled on trailer works great! Comes in 10 ft. X 6" sections I believe.

[centralmnguy]

angle iron will just rust after paint gets rubbed off.

[dirt292lv]

I would use flat bar probably weld tabs on the sides to use leg bolts it would be easier to bend then angle all steel will rust but it should last as long as most shacks will but I would think it would handle more weight when being drug on the ground from wear

[Surface Tension]

A 2x8 on edge will be prone to spitting and warping.

Its start getting chewed up at the rake. Flat bar, angle iron, or HDPE will protect that edge.

Depending on the size and weight of the house you could widen the skid of flotation.

I'm guessing you choose 2x8 for height and just carve the snow.

Oak 4x4 4x6 and 6x6 have been used for years as skids.

You could use treated instead of oak if you use one of the mentioned ways to protect it.

[Hawg]

We used 5x6 rough sawn white oak for skids and flat steel about 2 or 3 inches wide on the bottom and countersink the screws into it so they didn't dig in while pulling it on ice. They would get rusty over the summer so we would drag the house a block or so down the street on tar and when you got home they were right back to shiney and smooth. 2 by anything boards on edge don't work as was stated on a house of any size. They split when they hit ice or sharp snow even when you pull them early in the year. I replaced lots of boards even on a smal 6x8 house.

[Cheers]

I don't have oak available but can get pine . Will pine work ?

[Hawg]

Pine will probably last many years, we just had it available because of a friend with a sawmill and they are the best.

[Gordie]

It's not a cheep idea but I was at Menards the other day and saw 4x8 by about 1/4 thick sheets of black plastic for around 50.00. It's very similar to hyfax material. I'm thinking of using it on the bottom of my otter because I don't want the extra hight of the stock hyfax because it needs to fit under my tonneau cover. If you have a table saw you could have a life time supply for you and your buddy's or use the extra for a fish cleaning table.

I did something similar to this when I had my 8x16 on Mille lacs it was easy to move, but it had its disadvantages too. It didn't stop after you did, and typically ran into the back of the truck, When lifting up to put blocks under it, it typically slid away from the jack and causing the top of jack to hit the house hard, didn't pull straight at all ,it would go where ever it want to when pulling. These are just a few of the problems.

Not much you can do to protect the skid from wear ,friction will take its toll on them, and even steel skids will wear pulling, but they tend to last a bit longer. I did have a friend that I built steel skids for, and he pulled the house almost 3.5 mile down the shoulder of the tar road and about a 1/4 mile onto the ice the driver side skid collapsed as all the steel was wore off the bottom of the tube.. He had that one on the tar way to long.

[jerkbait]

Pine won't last very long either on jagged ice. Do you have access to tamarack?