Diesel truck owners

[sage123]

For those of you who have a diesel truck, how much ice does there have to be before you feel comfortable driving on the ice?  I just purchased a ford one ton crew cab and have a 16 foot lake of the woods ice castle and I am not sure what is considered ok to drive on. 

[1lessdog]

I had a F350 Superduty diesel with a topper and pulling a 14 ft fish house. And was driving on 14 inch all the time. I do know a guy that had the same truck and was on 12 inchs all the time. Not me

[Ufatz]

Sage:   find a scale and determine the total weight of your combination.  Then go from there, always erring on the side of safety.

[sage123]

The total weight  fully loaded is about 12000 lbs. where do I find a scale to determine the safe ice?

[SwivelDigger]

I have a 1 ton crew cab dually long box and a 16' plus the V  and I usually feel pretty safe o 16 inches of good ice.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

There are two main charts out there:  1) DNR, and 2) the Army Corps of Engineers.  Their recommendations are drastically different, but check those out.  

15" of good clear new ice is a good number to shoot for, IMO.  I've seen a diesel truck on 10" on Mille Lacs pulling a huge skid house, and 12" on a different lake pulling a 20' wheel house.  My diesel truck won't see 10" or 12", empty.  

[fishinfan]

I don't have a diesel, but I had my crew cab ram 1500 and 28' tandem wheel house out on 14"up at Red a few years back. Total weight was about 15000 lbs. I would prefer a minimum of 16" from now on though. Just remember you can still go down on 20"+. Ice is NEVER safe, and common sense goes a long way!

[slurpie]

One thing to remember about this year is the ice varies a lot.  I would almost bet there is not one lake in the state that has a solid 12" plus across the whole lake. It would take a lifetime of fish to cover the expense of dropping a truck and fish house in the lake.  If it don't happen I would be surprised. I sold my diesel because I wanted to drive on lakes so I got a half tonner gas job.  

[sage123]

Thanks for the replies.  We went out on Red Lake this past weekend on about 14-15" of ice with no problems.

[Gus]

On 1/15/2016 at 9:16 PM, slurpie said:

One thing to remember about this year is the ice varies a lot.  I would almost bet there is not one lake in the state that has a solid 12" plus across the whole lake. It would take a lifetime of fish to cover the expense of dropping a truck and fish house in the lake.  If it don't happen I would be surprised. I sold my diesel because I wanted to drive on lakes so I got a half tonner gas job.  

This!

Now, I saw your update, and I'm glad you had a good safe trip.

Last weekend I was also out in the Grand Rapids area and on a lake where I normally find pretty decent Ice, I found anywhere from 10" to 14".

ICE is varying a LOT this year.