Lesson Learned the Hard Way

[woodman]

Well I had Buck take my crank down out to where we have been getting some fish today when I was at work. He called me and said that one side of the house would not go down! Well, being a nice guy he drove back home and got a pry bar and got it down with lots of grunt work! Thanks Buck.

Now for the lesson's learned today. My fault totally! I normally crank it up and down in the summer a few times and grease it all up and spray the cable down and all the other moving parts. Well this summer I neglected to do this and now am faced with a rusted pivot point and a broken cable to replace and fix before my URL trip next week. I am mad and worried since it is so close to my trip and REALLY need this trip to relax and have a good time.

Wish me luck, I know I won't get much sleep until I get it fixed and hopefully the weather will be good on Thursday so I can see what I can do when it is on the lake!

[silverbulletguy]

OUCH! ! ! Good luck. With both the fix and URL.

[ZEEK1223]

At least you live in Bemidji. Most of my problems happen when I hook up in the cities heading north.......do trailer lights ever work?........lol

[wplatehunter]

We had the same problem this year with a rusted pivot point. Some WD40 and new grease took care of the problem. At least I hope it did. The house is on the lake, so we will see the next time we move it.

[minnbowhunter]

same problem here, last year my house would not drop. There were no grease fittings on the axle tubes, so I drilled and tapped holes for fittings. Now I gease it and drop the house and grease it again. Works fine.

[Up North]

Woodman, like I said out in the shack, don't worry about it. We'll get it up and running for your trip. However I'm surprised that cable didn't snap last year, that was in pretty tough shape. We'll get a new one on that side and when things warm up a little we'll get a new one on the other side too. As for the pivot point we'll lube the heck out of it and that should free it up just fine. Then I'd grease it before you put into storage and again when you take it back out for the new season. See ya on the ice tomorrow.

Buck

[Hd Wtr Hillbilly]

I had the very same problem a few years back and both my cables snapped as well.

Best thing is what minnbowhunter said, drill a hole in each side and install grease zerks, I shoot them full once before the season starts and then once before storing it for the summer and also drop the shack once or twice mid summer as well.

Switching out your cables for straps is a personal opinion but I like going that route, the straps don't rust and if they break you can tie them together temporarily to get the shack moved.

[Jmnhunter]

Hey Woody, i know the feeling when you have something on your mind that needs to be done, thats all you think about! i hope you and or matt fixed the one black crankdown house's winch, the gears on the one side were getting worn and with any pressure on it it would slip!

[larryz]

I know that you didn't ask for advice but I have found that if you have grease zerks and you block up the rear of the house taking the weight off the wheels the zerks take grease a lot better. Good luck!!

[woodman]

I always except advise and will look at it either today or on Friday. I have to replace all the cranks on mine this summer and will replace all moving objects that I can. Thanks for the info, I will keep you posted.

[JumpStart73]

for the cables keep them lubed with a silicone type spray, and also keep your winches covered (waterproof camping bags)

[woodman]

got all my supplies yesterday to wake up to -17 with -42 wind chill, it will have to wait until it warms up a little to go work on it on the lake. THanks for all your support and suggestions.