best wheel house for the money?

Colonel Angus · Jan 12, 2016

My dad is getting up there in age and just bought a lake place. He wants to do some ice fishing, but there is no way he would be a portable guy. I have no experience what so ever with wheel houses and figured maybe some of you would. He would probably want a shack to fit 4 people, so maybe 8x14 or 16. Not sure about the budget, but biggest bang for the buck is probably what he would look for. Any big pitfalls for used vs. new?

Jigaman · Jan 12, 2016

So he lives on the lake he would primarily fish? In that case, I would be looking at a skid house like an alumalite http://www.soderbloom.com/Alumalitefishhouse.html

Here is another one that looks interesting but I dont think they have a website yet https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/sgd/5361122711.html

I know Mission (aluminum trailer company) also makes skid houses too. They sell them in EGF.

For wheel houses, ice castle are by far the most popular but the quality is lacking IMO. Check out Yeti

espringers · Jan 12, 2016

if you really want to fish, i would stay away from the ice castles too. and a few of the look alikes. get some kind of all aluminum shell on skids or wheels with spray foam and a non forced air furnace. you can then throw a things like bunks, shelves, cupboards, stove, etc... in in to fit your needs.

Colonel Angus · Jan 12, 2016

The lake he is on isn't that great for fishing, even though I'm sure he would give it a try. He is only a few miles from some pretty good lakes though. Also, I might have to borrow this shack to make sure it's working ok :;:exactly

nxtgeneration · Jan 12, 2016

Ridgeline also makes skid houses

MarbleEyez · Jan 12, 2016

espringers said:
if you really want to fish, i would stay away from the ice castles too. and a few of the look alikes. get some kind of all aluminum shell on skids or wheels with spray foam and a non forced air furnace. you can then throw a things like bunks, shelves, cupboards, stove, etc... in in to fit your needs.

Why? Out of pure curiosity?

I haven't personally fished in one, but people who have I haven't heard one bad thing from.

espringers · Jan 12, 2016

I can't stand fishing out of them. I don't think the layouts are fishing friendly at all unless it's no more than 2 people. The forced air furnace requires power at all times or it doesn't work. And they go thru propane faster than you would expect. They are also obviously way heavier than their aluminum counterparts. If fishing really is your goal, you can get something much better for your $.

Holmsvc · Jan 12, 2016

I would consider looking at a Dak Shack unless he is looking for something fancier. It'll be light and easy to move.
http://www.dakshack.com/

DirtyMike · Jan 12, 2016

How handy are you guys? You could build one, to your specs, for a fraction of the cost. Get a trailer from Miltona Blacksmiths, hardware at menards/lowes, and everything else that's ice house specific at fishhousesupply.com.

Colonel Angus · Jan 12, 2016

DirtyMike said:
How handy are you guys? You could build one, to your specs, for a fraction of the cost. Get a trailer from Miltona Blacksmiths, hardware at menards/lowes, and everything else that's ice house specific at fishhousesupply.com.

Pretty handy I suppose. I wouldn't want to build the frame, but all else would be just finding the time to do it.

MarbleEyez · Jan 12, 2016

Holmsvc said:
I would consider looking at a Dak Shack unless he is looking for something fancier. It'll be light and easy to move.
http://www.dakshack.com/

IMO those Dak-Shacks are EXTREMELY high priced. Mike Peluso bought out the rights from Zachmeier Manufacturing and changed the name. They are a spray foamed trailer with the patented drop-down axle system. They are a good little fishing shack, but for a 14 foot "Dak Shack" being $10K, I would rather spend the little extra and buy a used Ice Castle. The Zach Shacks use to be priced at about half of what it cost for a new Ice Castle, not the case anymore.

DirtyMike · Jan 12, 2016

Colonel Angus said:
Pretty handy I suppose. I wouldn't want to build the frame, but all else would be just finding the time to do it.

Only thing we did with the frame was pull it home. We built ours for around $4k.

johnr · Jan 12, 2016

Only reason to get a big permanent is so you can get wasted and spend the night...haha

Just bring a sober friend, or fish close to the resort.

How many nights does a nonretired guy actually spend overnight on the ice. I could see if you are retired, and have a bunch of time on your hands.

NodakBuckeye · Jan 12, 2016

Sat in an ice castle yesterday and fished, fine for rattle reels and rods on stands/holders but not to sit and jig, unless ya brought a chair and sat in everyone's way. Fished in a Yeti before xmas, much fisherman friendly, comfortable too and still had a stove, fridge, microwave. It was a 17' and the guy pulled it out with his quad.

raider · Jan 12, 2016

my .02...

i've had a 8x16 ice castle and a 6x10 zack shack, along with 3 others i've built...

the zack was great for fishing, not so much for entertaining... it set up easy enough for 1 person to move daily, but was not fancy...

the ice castle was great for entertaining and fishing, but not for moving...

the 3 home made ones were b4 wheel house frames were available, and were built with pull out axles, and moving was dangerous at best...

if i was you, and was close enough to help him move it when it had to b moved (think 30" storm coming), i would probably push for something nice like an ice castle, new or used that he likes... if i wasn't able to get there to help within 24 hours if needed, light and manageable would be my recommendation... we had to burn 1 off cuz i couldn't get back to help move it b4 a storm... was a really sick and defeating feeling...

don't wait would be my biggest recommendation... we had looked at the ice castles years... when we finally bought 1, he fished in it 2 short days b4 dying of cancer... never waste a day...

good luck...

Lostlunker · Jan 12, 2016

DirtyMike said:
Get a trailer from Miltona Blacksmiths

Damn those aren't as expensive as I thought they would be.

Rowdie · Jan 13, 2016

DirtyMike said:
Only thing we did with the frame was pull it home. We built ours for around $4k.

That thing should be parked on the North side of boot hill for the last two weeks!!!!

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One thing I don't like about the pre-built frames is if you want them 8' wide they will put the wheels on the inset to be legal. Well I'm not concerned with the legality, since I'll only be pulling it a few miles on the west side of Oahe between Mobridge and Yates.

DirtyMike · Jan 13, 2016

Rowdie said:
That thing should be parked on the North side of boot hill for the last two weeks!!!!

- - - Updated - - -

One thing I don't like about the pre-built frames is if you want them 8' wide they will put the wheels on the inset to be legal. Well I'm not concerned with the legality, since I'll only be pulling it a few miles on the west side of Oahe between Mobridge and Yates.

I don't know what boot hill is so maybe next week you can school me in landmarks on oahe.

Buckshot- · Jan 13, 2016

espringers said:
if you really want to fish, i would stay away from the ice castles too. and a few of the look alikes. get some kind of all aluminum shell on skids or wheels with spray foam and a non forced air furnace. you can then throw a things like bunks, shelves, cupboards, stove, etc... in in to fit your needs.

This is what we mainly fish out of and in my opinion has one of the best layouts ive seen. We added two holes but it is perfect and wide open. I think it is the best "fish" house they make, the other models suck to fish out of.

http://icecastlefh.com/#/special/4576637046 No bathroom

Jigaman · Jan 13, 2016

Rowdie said:
That thing should be parked on the North side of boot hill for the last two weeks!!!!

- - - Updated - - -

One thing I don't like about the pre-built frames is if you want them 8' wide they will put the wheels on the inset to be legal. Well I'm not concerned with the legality, since I'll only be pulling it a few miles on the west side of Oahe between Mobridge and Yates.

Rowdie, we had Miltona build a frame for our old skid house we fixed up and he will build to any dimensions you want. Ours was 8x12 with the wheels on the outside so we are not legal but only pull it about 10 miles down gravel to get to the lake we fish back home. Don from Miltona is very good to work with and reasonable on price. If you look at some other fishing sites you will find that alot of people get their frames from him and he has an excellent reputation.

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If doing it again, I would use that roll-on bedliner stuff on the frame instead of painting it. People say it help prevent rust better.

best wheel house for the money?

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