Forget the intricacies of this years Vikings team. What Minnesotans really want to know is the best way to build the best ice-fishing house. And if you want the best, you’ve got to be thinking about building a wheeled fish house.
Are you the type of person who is constantly thinking the best way to construct the next one? Like many – maybe most – fish houses on Minnesota ice, your perfect house is on wheels.
That way you can fish, say, Gull Lake one day and run up to Leech the next and Lake of the Woods the next, much like using the comforts of your boat for walleyes and panfish. Or Deer hunting, duck hunting or, dare I say, the family camper.
Retail, a wheeled house might go for about $6,000 to $50,000 – less, perhaps, if bought in the off season. With a few carpentry skills and the help of an ice fishing forum topic on building a wheeled fish house you can make one for $3,000 to $25,000.
You can begin your fish house project by purchasing a tubular steel frame with a solid axle and crank-up system, which allows the house to be lowered onto the ice for fishing, or raised for traveling. Onto this, using 2x2s, frame it up with an inside ceiling height of around 6’8″. Subsequently wire it, with power provided by a portable generator, and stored in on-board deep-cycle batteries.
Install a thermostatically controlled camper-style forced-air furnace with ducting to provide even heat throughout. And incorporate bunks for overnight sleeping and fishing. If you have a few people along on a trip, you can use a cot if you want to sleep more than you have bunks.
Commercial wheel shacks frequently are sided with aluminum. If you’re on a budget you can use steel or plastic – steel is slightly heavier and both are cheaper and easier to work with than aluminum.
As a rock guard, use plated aluminum around the foundation of the shack, and on the outside use the diamond pattern for looks and strength.
End result: your wheeled fish house is practical, terrific-looking and comfortable.
And it can be enhanced.
Maybe the next one you build will be wider or longer, maybe higher. Oh the dreams of improvement
Yeah, a wider house would be more comfortable.