Portable Mods

[hanson]

Airjer-

I have a very similar modification to both Paul's & Kylersk's. Essentially, the only weight that was added to mine was 1 sheet of 1/2" Plywood. I didn't even use the entire sheet so it may be less than that.

My opinion is the extra weight is worth the convenience, usefulness, and fishability.

[crappace]

Kylersk

How will you secure your auger to the top of the sled while you are in motion??

[hanson]

crappace-

I'll jump back in on that one. I laid my auger on top of the sled behind the seat area. I have an Otter Lodge like the one shown. When you fold the shack down, my Strikemaster with extension will fit in the area formed by the 'U' shape of the collapsed poles. Perfect. The Lodge's travel cover fits perfectly over 2 seats as well as the auger.

I did this many times last winter and never had a problem. The one thing to pay attention to is to not put the auger in the shack with a hot muffler on it. It will melt & burn stuff. Learned that lesson the hard way with my Otter Den.

I was considering putting a few eyebolts through the top of the plywood modification so I could bungee cord the auger down. I'm not sure if you need to do this but it wouldn't hurt.

[Jim Hudson]

Nice mods guys... Last year on my Fish Trap Voyager I did a similar mod, the only thing is that I did not have a "cap" on top of the frame like your guys. I will pull the bad boy out here shortly and take some pics.

The one thing I did, to cut down on weight is to make my frame out of cedar. The total frame and cut outs for holding my auger, 5 gallon bucket, 11lb propane tank, lantern, etc etc weighed 10lbs. The way it was made, my auger was securly stored to the rear of the shack during transport. This year I will not need this add on as I will have an auger mount on my snowmobile so my mods will be a bit different in style.

Just an idea if you are worried about extra weight. This year, a buddy and I are experimenting with a plastic insert into my traps.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I've seen your modification last year, in fact i just looked at the web page you and matt (I think its you and matt) have posted. Lots of great ideas to pick over. I was curious to see what others have chosen for the decking and it seems that a min. of 1/2" plywood is the way to go. Any thicker would be added weight, any thinner would be a loss of strength.

The other idea i'm stilling debateing is whether or not to secure the "cabinet style mod." to the sled, using the sled as part of the structural support (like yourself or kylersk), or make the modification a drop in self supporting unit and just have a few places where it is actually attached to the sled to keep it from bouncing or flying out. I'm thinking that the less metal fastners / hardware, the less the weight. I realize that we are only talking a couple ouces here and a couple there but all ounces add up to pounds.

I get the cast off 5 1/2 weeks and then I get to start the mods on the lodge. I took chris's advice and started making templates about 5 weeks ago. I can't wait to get started!!

[Kylersk]

Quote:

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Kylersk

How will you secure your auger to the top of the sled while you are in motion??

---

At first, my thought was I always carry my auger either on my ATV or in the back of my truck and thought I had no need for a spot for my auger. Then the other night, I realized that if I pull my house out (during thinner ice) by hand, that I really didnt have a spot for my auger. But, I only did that once last year.. So.. I guess If I have to.. I'll set it behind the seats on top of the carpet.

[gvg_uwec]

you guys have me so pumped to try and modify mine now that its driving me nuts that i left it home when i went back to college. I did look at it last week when i was home and in the frabil tubs, the sides of the sled have a molded in bracket to hold a 2x6 in the front and back. I never thought i would get my shack fancied up but what the hey..why not i guess. Its hard to get back to studying for 2 chem tests and an organic test when all i can think of is ice fishing..thanks a lot guys

[crappace]

I have my shack set up in the basement and am ready too get started on the mods!!

Kylersk -

When you mount the seats directly to the deck of the sled...are they high enough so you are comfortable??

[zebco4040]

Bump TTT... Finished it up this weekend (minus the Lights). Decided on rope through the covers to the compartments so I can set them a side if need be.

Trying to decide if we are going to put the original Clam sliding seats back on or attach boat seats.

I will dig up pictures when I get a chance.

[Paul Waldowski]

So how did everyones turn out??? I just finished up modifying Rick's new otter and I will be posting the pictures tomorrow. His really turned out sweet as I didn't have to worry about a place for the auger as this year we will have Auger Racks on the snowmobiles

[hanson]

Paul- still working on my Lodge mods. Should be finished this weekend and then I have to carpet the thing. Stay tuned.

[Paul Waldowski]

Chris,

Did the carpet thing and also wired up the LED lighting today. I'm gonna be jealous and will have to redo my current castle

[wolfman-k]

Paul, what kind of LED lighting did you use? I installed the new one from Clam today, but it's hard to tell if it will be enough light. I have a Otter double-wide, insulated.

I think I may check out some more lights for the other side if I can find some that are a little less expensive.

[Nordern]

I also went with a similar mod. I didn't put in any seats yet as I am always leaning forward toward the holes. I will try using a hot-seat to see how it goes.

[Paul Waldowski]

Finished Rick's Otter today. All told it took about 6 hours of work and approx $225.00 for everything. Some of the features:

Eyehooks to Bungee stuff down

12 volt power outlet

LED lighting

2 Rod Holders

Eyebolt on the back to tow an extra sled

Napping Platform - By Request of the owner

The extra wire allows that set of lights to be moved to any one of several positions.

[Matt Johnson]

Sweet mods Nordern! You'll have to bring your portable to one of the FishingMN Get Togethers or I.C.E. Series events for everyone to check out! Or else I might even make a trip out to Centerville or Peltier to chase down a few pannies this winter...

[Matt Johnson]

Awesome mods Paul! Rick has to be happy with his "new" portable!

[Bruce Mosher]

Paul, Looks Great!!!!!!!!! Nice job. It takes time to configure everything doesn't it. Nice Rod Holders! Good Placement of them. Another place you can put two holes for the Rod Rocker 2 is on the very outside lip of the Swivel Seats. That way when no one is sitting on the other seat you can pop in a Rod Rocker 2 and the seat will swivel enough left or right to perfectly line up your rod tip above the hole. Great job!, Bruce Mosher

[tomfromblaine]

Paul, I've a couple of questions about those photos, are those the super brite LED's and what kind of attaching clip is that holding them on, and are those Otter seats ?

[Paul Waldowski]

Tom,

Yep, those are the Otter seats. The lights that are ganged together are the Super Bright LED's. They have clips on there HSOforum that I just attached velcro to in order to have the flexibility to move them as the situation dictates. The other lights came from (Contact US Regarding This Word). They are attached permanently with small screws.

[tomfromblaine]

Thanks Paul

[Mark Christianson]

These are just outstanding.

I dont know which way to go with the mods now.

They are all too good.

Nice job everyone!

[Uncle Grump]

A question for all of those who have modified their portables - which is - how do you haul them to/from the ice?

I've got an Eskimo QF3 w/ the bucket seats - also hifax and

tow bar on it. When I put my stuff in it, and then try

to get it in my pickup - its quite a load, espec. when

I'm alone. The mods you guys are posting look great, and

I've thought about tweaking mine, but adding even more weight doesn't appeal to me.

FYI - I have a trailer - but its a single place unit, and the snowmobile has to ride there.

Thanks

UG

[FishPiCkLeS]

I have the worst luck hauling my portable on my 2 place with my 4x4. Seems like no matter what I try put on the cover of my Voyager, it wants to catch the wind and blow off... I wish I could find a better alternative. I guess enclosing the trailer would be an idea, but not really worth it...

[Rick]

Here it is Dakota Iceman