First ice castle

[DakotaGreg]

Ive never used one before and ordered some small improvments. Is there studs in the thin walls to mount an auger holder too the wall? A small shelf too? The new ion auger is 17 lbs and bracket is metal. How small of screws would work if possible?

Also will the factory tv mount arm support a 30 inch tv? Id like to buy a smaller tv but most smart tvs with wireless screen sharing from an android phone are 30 inches min. Maybe a smart monitor will work. Id like to stream my movies off my phone. I could also get a dongle and plug phone into tv with a cord. I want to watch 80s movies and play xbox on the lake.

 

[NG3067]

Go to the Facebook page “Ice Castle Owners Group”. They talk about anything and everything Ice Castle.

 

[HammsRMK]

I have a 32" tv mounted, the only thing I would recommend is getting some kind of hooks and running a bungie cord or something around it to hold it to the wall when traveling. I have seen bigger tv's in some of them online.

 

[MicLee]

Ive never used one before and ordered some small improvments. Is there studs in the thin walls to mount an auger holder too the wall? A small shelf too? The new ion auger is 17 lbs and bracket is metal. How small of screws would work if possible?

Also will the factory tv mount arm support a 30 inch tv? Id like to buy a smaller tv but most smart tvs with wireless screen sharing from an android phone are 30 inches min. Maybe a smart monitor will work. Id like to stream my movies off my phone. I could also get a dongle and plug phone into tv with a cord. I want to watch 80s movies and play xbox on the lake.

They have studs, yes. You should be able to mount those things pretty easily.
I'm not sure if wireless screen sharing works without internet. I either use the dongle, or use my phone as a hot spot with a smart tv. If you use your phone as a hot spot make sure to turn any tv service you use to SD, or you will use up your hot spot in a handful of hours. You only get so many each month.

 

[Kentucky Windage]

They make RV TV mounts that lock tight against the wall instead of running ghetto looking eye bolts and tarp straps around the screen to secure them during transportation. I can’t believe people haven’t figured that out yet.

If it’s tongue and grove pine, you’ll easily see where the studs are. Just look for Brad nailer holes on the walls for the studs

 

[DakotaGreg]

Thanks, Ill go ahead and mount things.
Wireless screen sharing does not work with apple phone but Android phones have a button called "Smart View" that connects the phone without a dongle.

 

[johnr]

Never owned one, however a question I have is when you set the house down and leave it for a couple weeks in a spot, do you put some 2x4s down then set the house on that, or how do you sleep at night knowing your house isn't going to freeze to the lake.
Someday when I am finally done raising kids, and college costs, there will be one sitting out on Skunk bay, until then its my flip over and Ice cold Busch Lights...

 

[Slappy]

A fan is nice to circulate heat better.

Hole sleeves cut to the right length are a must to keep holes from freezing.

"Bunking in" with snow/ice shavings around the frame is also a must.

Dedicated rods, tackle, pliers, rags, etc that stay in the house limit trips between pickup/house and reduce likelihood of forgetting things.

A generator with a fuel pump and auxiliary tank is a must. If you go Honda, get the breather heater installed since those f*cking c*ocksuckers don't include it from the factory.

Get an extra leaf spring pin and winch handle to keep on hand just in case.

The smithlift table stand is really nice for switching from table to bed. It's a royal pain otherwise.

Slush bucket is a must to avoid a mess.

Baitfeeder reels on rods in rod holders are way better than rattle reels.

An extra CO2/propane monitor plugged into the wall gives extra peace of mind redundant to hard wired unit. Those units are to be replaced every 5 years too.

Keep the foam packaging pieces to secure the rotating table in the microwave. Loose items get thrashed on rough terrain.

The EZ UP drill adapter is a must for leaf spring winches.

A 30A female to 20A male adapter and a 50-75 ft lead cord is much easier to deal with than heavy RV power cord of the same length to reach the generator in the pickup box. This is fine for typical ice fishing loads, but I wouldn't run AC like that in summer.

Keeping a jump pack is nice if pickup won't start after extremely cold night.

Auger extension becomes necessary sooner than you might think when the frame/floor thickness and slush bucket is added to the ice thickness.

 

[AR-15]

Johnr, when I had one I put 2x6 pieces under each corner and one half way down on each side, didn't have any trouble lifting it up.

 

[Kentucky Windage]

I always block up my fish house

 

[Slappy]

I never put blocks under but also never leave it on the ice between trips. Too many problems leaving it compared to the hassle of towing back and forth.

If it ever got stuck down, crank the furnace and remove the hole sleeves. Could also hook up to safety chains and give it a light bump.

 

[ndrivrrat]

I welded nuts onto the low gear shaft on my winches and made an adapter with a socket on it to put on my ION head. Makes raising the ice house quick.

A fan to circulate the heat back down to the floor. I run an electric space heater with the fan right above it most of the time instead of the propane furnace.

A slush bucket and a good broom for cleaning up after you drill your holes.

Comfy shoes/slippers.

Good food, a good book or movie if you are staying on the ice.

 

[wslayer]

Never owned one, however a question I have is when you set the house down and leave it for a couple weeks in a spot, do you put some 2x4s down then set the house on that, or how do you sleep at night knowing your house isn't going to freeze to the lake.
Someday when I am finally done raising kids, and college costs, there will be one sitting out on Skunk bay, until then its my flip over and Ice cold Busch Lights...

They should be right around $95-100k by then instead of $50k

 

[1lessdog]

I know of a few houses right now that had to be moved off the ice. As there is so much snow on the lakes the water is coming out of the holes and into the houses.

 

[Slappy]

I know of a few houses right now that had to be moved off the ice. As there is so much snow on the lakes the water is coming out of the holes and into the houses.

Only a moron would have left a house on the ice given the advanced forecast for this storm.

 

[ndrivrrat]

I know of a few houses right now that had to be moved off the ice. As there is so much snow on the lakes the water is coming out of the holes and into the houses.

What lake was this on. I was really hoping that this snow wasnt going to f up ice fishing for the rest of the year. With the cold temps next week it will build ice but is going to take a lot of ice to hold up all the snow we are getting.

 

[johnr]

Access is more so what I am concerned with, as I have professed for years that out west we don't need tracks on our Rangers to get on the lake... I hate being wrong.

 

[1lessdog]

It's going to take a lot of cold weather to freeze the slush under the snow. When there is 8 to 10 inches of snow.

 

[Bacon]

Might be breaking out the Tundra and the portable. This is why I got rid of my ice castle. Get years like this and you can’t get on and off.

 

[riverview]

i was really hoping to get good thick ice before we got much snow. It doesn't look that way the ice is sinking as we speak.