Wheel house suggestions

[MuleShack]

Hello all,

I'm not sure if this is the right market for this post, but here goes.

I'm looking at getting a wheel house for next season and being i will have it up at the big pond, i thought i'd see what some of you folks had to offer.

Looking for any pros and cons on different types of houses. what things to stay away from and what kinds of features that a person should NOT go with out. are hand cranks the way to go, or is hydraulic worth the money? 6.5' vs 8' wide...any issues with 8'wide? What if any issues do some of you have with your house that one should look out for when building.

I would also plan to park it at a resort up there in the summer for a make shift cabin.

any feed back or insight would be appreciated. I would probably be pulling it around the ice with a Kawasaki Mule. With the cold weather this last weekend and the frigid temps this coming weekend, it makes working out of a portable X2 rather cold.(...hence the name) Not to mention trying to get the better half to join me. Again, thanks in advance for any info provided.

[BendnSend]

Well from my experience with my wheel house along with friends who use them on the lake is that your gunna wanna look for something that has skids! Some of the heaves can get real tricky earlier in the year until the resorts have the bridges out. Also your gunna wanna look for one that the wheels will stay in the locked up position for when you do have to skid it across a heave. Personally I would suggest the 8ft wide route. Alot more room inside, that way ur not constantly stepping around someone when you need to get around inside the house! I have a 6.5 rite now, and can tell you I will be stepping up to a 8 ft. next year. Sure u can make a 6.5 wide work aslong as you enjoy fishing with yourself and not ever having any buddies tag along. The guys I know that us the hydralics, are constantly complaing that there batteries really ever have enuf power to lift the house unless they are 100% completly charged. So I would suggest the hand crank models, they all crank up with very little effort. On a side note, if your for sure that your shack is gunna be staying at a resort and used as a cabin in the summer, there is nothing wrong with having a house built on wood skids without wheels. That way you can avoid the 8ft rule if you wanted to build a bigger house. But that again is personal choice! Hope this information helps ur decision!

[Amber Guimont]

I would advise a 8' wide wheel house.If you are looking for a wheel house friendly resort i would recomend Wilderness Warmth on the south west side, the person to ask for is Jay or Amber they are a great bunch!!! hope this helps and good luck

[MuleShack]

Thanks for the info!!

[Wormdirt]

I also recommend a 8' wide. And definatly go with wheels because then your four wheeler can pull it out early.

I was able to put my 8x12 out on 12-8 on 10'' of ice. Something I did on mine, I built a loft instead of bunks, this opens up more floor space, and an out of the way place to store clothing and food during the day. The best part about a loft is you gain alot SQ FT of without much additional weight. And no, it does not get to hot up there, in fact I had to cut in addtional holes in the ceiling to let more heat up there. My Honda 350 pulls it around no problem.

Good luck and have fun.

[Stan7600]

If you go with a smaller, 14' house you will have less problems getting stuck when there's lots of snow. I have the charging system that charges the fish house batteries from the car while driving down the road. It's one of the features I like the best about my wheeled house. Stan C.

[wall_eye_assasin]

worm, Do you have any pictures of your ice house. Not trying to be nosey just checking out how u made it. Thanks

[Mike #1]

I can give you the cons of a wheel house based on my experience; they are not as well insulated as a well constructed fish shack since these are intended to be towed on the road. They have to sacrifice weight so you can bring the 4 wheelers and other toys along inside of them, therefore, it seems like the furnace is running almost all the time, and this brings up another issue, the furnaces in the shacks that I have rented all have forced air, nothing wrong with forced air it keeps you nice and toasty however, you need both a generator and battery backup to keep this running. I prefer the standard wall heater that does not require battery or electricity and so far all of the wheel houses I have either rented or seen at the sport shows do not use this kind. Maybe it is an option although I’m not sure. Some have the big door in the back so you can drive in your toys and these seem to have a lot of daylight coming through them. Also, if you’re using these as a fish shack I think you need propane lights for backup. Always a must in a fish shack. To me I would not want to depend on a generator or batteries. Remember, Murphy’s Law always applies when you’re at Mille Lacs. This past weekend the wheel house I rented had no battery, just a generator running 24/7 so when the generator ran out (every 6 hours) you had no heat and no lights, a PIA as far as I’m concerned. It also ran out of gas completely at 4:00 a.m. I had to pack up the family and leave since we had no gas. In the last 2 years I have rented 4 wheel houses and each and every time we either ran out of propane or electricity or battery. This has been at different resorts also. I think wheel houses are great if you are using it as a multi purpose trailer, 4 wheeling, hunting and occasionally ice fishing. If I was going to have a permanent house on Mille Lacs it would be a well made wood shack.

[blue_healer_guy]

Your still gonna have all the same problems you just listed with a wood shack!

[ron57]

Sorry first time on this. Still getting the hang of this. I ended up starting a new topic. I would recommend a WH. I had a perm for year and I love it. You can go anywhere at anytime. No need to wait for the resort to move you. I can set up in about the same time as a portable. The thing I miss is the storage and having things all set up like the perm. Buy a good one in that it will be money well spent. I find them just as warm as the perm.

[Stan7600]

I agree about the furnace with fan. We rented one on Red one time and the fan was constantly on & off all night. They had a generator hooked up to 3 or 4 houses so batteries didn't go dead. In our wheeled house we use the good deep-cycles from the boat and with 2 in parallel they last easily 24-36 hrs. For an extended stay just start the car and charge them up in about 1/2 hr. Also we put in a 12 volt plug in receptacle to charge cell phone if needed. My phone really chews the battery if I'm on roaming so it's a nice feature rather than putting the phone in the car to charge. Also agree a good wheeled house will be nice and warm. Stan C.

[Biggerfish]

Muleshack,

I will have to third the forced fan heater. They are constantly going on and off, but I have also fished in the non forced air houses also. Now I have the forced air type in my house. I also have a boat that required 4 batteries that I use in the winter for my house. I can go easy 3-4 days with out a charge on the ice. The pros of forced air are: Always a dry floor, evenly heat house(Temp same at top and the bottom or close), and I also found that on very cold nights will keep the holes from freezing over. The cons: Battery issue, and the fan going off and on.

Personally I can live with the fan as I am a heavy sleeper. My kids do not seem to have any problems either and as for the battery issue it was not a issue for me as I sated above.

So bottom line both types of heat do work well and the most important this is to also insulate the floor. this will help tremendously.

As for the comments as "Wheel housess are not as warm as permenant houses". I would agree to a certain point, But I have seen many perminant house that would not even come close to mine as far as insulation. I have been out on a few -10 to -15 nights and had not problems staying nice and cozy at night.

Hope this helps.