Ice castles

[Rack chaser]

Just curious of the pros and cons of castles compared to other houses on the market today. After fishing with my boss this weekend in his I can honestly say I don't think I will ever buy one. Don't get me wrong the luxuies are nice, but is the haste getting them on and off the ice worth it same with the price of one and the possibility of loosing it?

 

[FishSticks]

I like mine a lot so far, only bought it this fall though. Have had no issues putting it on or getting it off the ice. The big test will be this weekend bringing it to Devils, we will see how she holds up.

I used to have a custom built POS I bought off Craigslist that was a nightmare. That one blew apart on I-29 coming back from Devils which was neat.

 

[Rack chaser]

I was up on stump lake on Friday. We did really good. I'm hoping next fall the wife gives me the ok to buy a house...as of right now I'm leaning towards the zac shack. There a little cheaper, way lighter and u can put a wheeler in them and pull them around with it

 

[Kurtr]

I like mine a lot so far, only bought it this fall though. Have had no issues putting it on or getting it off the ice. The big test will be this weekend bringing it to Devils, we will see how she holds up.

I used to have a custom built POS I bought off Craigslist that was a nightmare. That one blew apart on I-29 coming back from Devils which was neat.

Did you just keep driving i would have and probably went fast getting more pissed off as i go

 

[ElkHunter]

I've only had mine for this winter, but so far I love it. I have the 6.5'x14' stinger. I can set it up as fast as my portable and leaving the ice is a breeze. I did the rubber floor and spray foam insulation in it. It's no problem keeping it 70 degrees in there. The real test will be to see how it holds up over time. My brother bought a Yetti 6.5'x16', that is really nice also. The extra 2 feet on it makes it seem quite a bit larger inside.
Also what do you mean by losing it?

 

[Rack chaser]

Dropping through the ice...lot of money to loose...the one I was in this weekend weighs about 2800 pounds. We got stuck twice trying to get off a couple different lakes...the one I was in is nice it's all wood finished on the inside It is 3 years old and a couple things I noticed was the carpet was starting to bubble in the entry way and around where the holes where and u could see where moisture built up around the window seals the ledges where starting to bow, then the cabinets and counter tops where all made out of particle board. I just feel for 20 grand you should be getting a better quality product...not trying to affenpinscher anyone that has them this is just what I noticed about them and it did turn me off on them

 

[jer79]

2800 lbs, meh. I've held off for some years on one because you can't use them everywhere. People try though. I've been stuck in line waiting for someone to get unstuck with a permanent, pulled a pickup out attached to one so I could leave.. I've also had to shovel and push out a dodge stratus one time blocking the road...sounds like your boss should invest in a 20 $ fan.

 

[dirtybirds14]

2,800 is lite, my 8'X17 RV edition is around 5,200lb's dry. I love my house, but they definitely have there advantages and disadvantages. I still use my pop-up with lakes where accessibility is a problem. Any permanent is going to cost money it's basically a camper for the ice. The thing with a Zac shack is that to me for 5-6k your're not really getting much. It's a spray-foam shell that has 4-6 holes nothing else really. With that price it's a pretty spendy trailer to haul the four-wheeler.

 

[Fisherman25]

2,800 is lite, my 8'X17 RV edition is around 5,200lb's dry. I love my house, but they definitely have there advantages and disadvantages. I still use my pop-up with lakes where accessibility is a problem. Any permanent is going to cost money it's basically a camper for the ice. The thing with a Zac shack is that to me for 5-6k your're not really getting much. It's a spray-foam shell that has 4-6 holes nothing else really. With that price it's a pretty spendy trailer to haul the four-wheeler.

With a Zach shack you can fish in almost any conditions and it moves basically as fast as a portable. Oh and you can put it on 6" of ice easy. I enjoy my big shacks, but if I'm going to fish hard, I use the Zach.

 

[savage270]

We love our Ice Castle, but it all depends on what you want to do with it. If its strictly a fish house, its probably not the best value but we use ours just as much for camping/hunting as we do for ice fishing. Another thing we like to do is haul it to a lake that has a good evening/night walleye bite for the weekend and good access. We use it as a base camp, throw the portable in the back of the truck and fish other lakes in the area during the day.