How many inches before the wheelhouse goes on

[Eelpout08]

just wondering when everyone puts their wheelhouse on the lake. 10"?

[broken_line]

i ususally go oout on 11 to 12.. im kinda chicken when it comes to big stuff on the lake.

[rcatcherman]

I'll do 10 inches with clear hard crystal ice. Or up to 18 or so with frozen snow on top that refroze as slush. A great rule of thumb is to check with a local resort if at all possible. The 10 bucks or so a person pays for a launch pass could save your equipment yet alone your life. All the people that complain every year about paying to get on the lake when they usually have no idea what it takes to put those roads out, stake the trail all the while putting bridges out to cross cracks and Ice heaves. These are the ones pulling a 18,000 dollar House plus 40,000 thousand dollar Truck and who knows what they have in Gear Etc. I hear them complain every year. I think this is the year to step up to the Plate and tip them Resort Owners for all the hard work they do to keep us safe while we play all the while they are putting there life in jepordy for us. Well those are my two cents worth and will see you on the ICE SOON Rick from Rockford, Mn.

[EJ]

6-7 inches of good ice with the wheeler.

[hawkeye43]

How much ice do you feel you need for your house?? You must know what it weights. I put a house that weighed 2700# on 4" of ice. I cheched the ice for 900' with a bar and auger, it was 7" all the way then I thought I would move over another 30', never check the last 30' because I got lazy and thought it was all the same. After We set the house down and drilled the first hole, my heart almost stopped, I was a dam fool for not checking the ice, I got lucky the whole thing didn't go down.

If you have ever pulled a house across a lake with a wheeler on clear ice, and part way across the ice starts cracking in a front of you, it scrares the he!! out of you. That day yhere was 10" of clear ice. All I can say is do what you feel is right, anyone can say what they want. But after your house goes down, your are the fool!!

[Eelpout08]

i figure the house weighs about 3000-3200 lbs. weighed it last year at 2950 but have added some stuff- another battery, cabinet with cooking stuff, etc. im thinking no less than 10". dont want ot see 2+ months of work bubbling at the bottom!

[eyebjim]

well i'm sitting in my wheel house right now on 8" of ice. I have gone out on 6-7 but prefer 8. pulled it out here with the 4 wheeler. I'm in a 6.5 x 12' king crow. There is a guy out

here with a 20' lodge he said weighed 3800lbs.

[rcatcherman]

Like I said earlier today it's what you can afford to lose if you don't check it yourself. The Ice that is.

[EJ]

On clear ice you see it cracking even if you have 2 feet. Cracking and instability are two entirely different things.

[Glockwinger]

I only have a truck to pull mine out with. My house weighs about 4000 lbs, so truck and house I need about 14" of ice.

[Eric Wettschreck]

i figure the house weighs about 3000-3200 lbs. weighed it last year at 2950 but have added some stuff- another battery, cabinet with cooking stuff, etc. im thinking no less than 10". dont want ot see 2+ months of work bubbling at the bottom!

That's roughly (key word roughly) the weight of a lot of pickups. If you don't feel safe driving your pickup on it I wouldn't put the wheelhouse on it.

My perm shack is all aluminum and not heavy at all. I bring mine out with the wheeler on 6 inches and I'm fine. Mine's a lot lighter than yours, tho.

[Fishapalooza]

I will drag my 8x12 skid shack out on 5 to 6 inches with my atv. I won't go out if I'm using my 1/2 ton truck unless I have a consistent 10 to 12 inches.

[Dahitman44]

depends on what your house weighs - -mine is about 700 pounds and the house wheeler and me went out on 7 inches yesterday.

[wheelerboy920]

had mine out on 5-6" last year