Seats for my Eskimo

[Waterbeater]

I recieved an Eskimo Quick flip II for Xmas. I've never owned a portable but it seems to work real well( took it out on the ice today). It came without any seats and there in lies my problem. I used buckets with covers for seating but I think that I want better seats. Does this hamper the amount of equipment you can bring in the sled to the point that it's detramental to add the seats? And furthermore, if the seats are alot nicer to have where do you suggest to buy them or have some of you built your own. I've got a pretty good shop so with some plans and your advice could probably whip them out myself. Thanks for any input.

[Uncle Grump]

Waterbeater

I've got a QF3 - it came w/ seats as part of the packeage. On mine, there are two steel
rails (sq tubing) that run the length of the sled - does yours come w/ those? If so - you could probally order the seats from Eskimo.

If not - consider the fold up lawn chairs - that or those newer types of chairs that collapse to the center and come w/ a stuff sack.

I don't know if the Eskimo sled would stand up to building something like T-Bones "butt bridge" - some thing he came up with for the Otter sleds. Do a search in this forum for butt bridge and you'll find it - there are some pics too.

As far as the seats that mine came with - they are comforatable enough - and seem to store out of the way. My gripe w/ the OF3 is the length of the poles that go by the door - they don't collapse or seperate - so you end up storing then diagonally across the sled and that limits your storage a bit.

Overall - not a bad shelter though.

Hope this helps

UG

PS There are some other guys here who bought Eskimos - I think Mankato Iceman is one....
maybe they will chime in w/ an opinion or idea for you.

[Ferny]

Hey Water Beater, I have the same shack.
I thought the new ones QFII's had seats for 2 years now?? Mine doesn't and thats fine with me. I use a bucket with a seat on it. That keeps the weight down and I can slide it under my truck bed cover. I don't think I'd use a bag chair in mine since the plastic is kind of whimpy...that's what I wanted though light weight! I looked at the new ones and thought the seat system was a little hoky.

Good Luck,

Ferny.

[Waterbeater]

I want to thank you guys for taking time to help.
Uncle Grump, no my sled didn't come with the tubing rails like you discribed but I will do a search for the "butt bridge". About the pole problem you're having, can't help you much, mine calapse down to a pretty compact size. I suppose a person could cut your poles and put an oversize tube with a set screw at the sled end but a guy hates cutting on something that should have come with a little better system in the first place. Thanks again.
Ferny, my wife bought it at Scheels and seats weren't even an option. Sounds like I'd better stick with my bucket then. Thanks for your input.
This is why this forum is so great. You don't have to shell out your cash for equipment that you know absolutly nothing about. Thanks again.
Waterbeater

[This message has been edited by Waterbeater (edited 12-27-2002).]

[Ferny]

Waterbeater I just checked their website. They are made by Ardisam. They don't even list the QFII anymore just a QFII deluxe with seats and a zipper front door it weighs in at 83 pounds...ouch! Mine is wuite a bit lighter...thank goodness! FYI I paid $199 three years ago for mine.

Ferny.

[Mankato-Ice-Man]

I did get the QFII.
I have not had it out yet.
The sled is so shallow that I am not sure what is available as far as nicer seats that are a permanant part of the package. I plan on using a standard old fold out lawn chair, putting the back legs in the sled in one of the grooves and the front legs on the ice and an old truck floor mat under my feet.
I know there a several seats that fit on top of a bucket that are pretty comfy also if you want to keep to that road.
The buttbridge is cool but you will need to modify it a bit for the hight? maybe?

[Stiff]

I can't find any info on the "butt bridge", but I'm very curious what other people have done for solving the seat problems in the Otters...

Any help would be great.

[Guest]

I got the same shelter for Christmas. I just got it together and the front bar does not seam to make it all the way to the ground. Has anyone else had this problem?

[This message has been edited by Herkey (edited 12-29-2002).]

[Waterbeater]

Herkey,
I had the same problem. The bar just above it is a little too long. I just drilled another hole 2" down from the other hole that the latch clicks into on both ends. This shortens the bar and gives just enough canvas that the bottom bar just touches the ice. I hope this isn't to confusing. I'm having a hard time explaining it. It's very simple to do and takes 1 min. to do. Hope this helps you out.
Thanks again everybody for your input.

[This message has been edited by Waterbeater (edited 12-29-2002).]