Frozen shack

[Marmot]

My knucklehead buddy didn't block his 8x8 quasi skid house high enough. With the weekend rain and now cold temps, it is permanently secured in place on the lake.

What is the preferred caliber for breaking a shack lose? What is the best angle to shoot the ice to get maximum explosion?

[jerkbait]

Chisels, Buddies and BEER!!

[thedeadsea]

I would go at it with a chisel and a pry bar vs trying to shoot it out. Just too much risk IMO.

[eyebjim]

I'm thinking 30-06 at about 45 degrees. Make sure you wear a flak jacket.

The best thing would really be to use the shack. Bank the sides real good and heat it up to 90 - 100 inside for a weekend. Do this then use the chizels for the rest. The heat inside should at least start the ice melting under it.

[fishkid]

few m-80s will do er

[buckx37x]

I think i would start chiseling,as said above maybe if banked good and weather warms a bit you could warm it up good for couple days. Depends how warm temps. get, but probably would help some. I learned that lesson yrs. ago block it enough,and if not sure block it more as rain or warm temps. move in. We dont take any chance after having one fall thru yrs. ago, can save a lot of work being a little careful,good luck.

[rcatcherman]

Best thing to block it with is Polystyrene. You get it at building supply store. Yellow by Diversifoam, Blue by Dow and pink by Owens Corning. They dont freeze in and can be used for years. If you would forget it after the ice melts it floats to shore unlike 4x4s or6x6's or 2x4's that become under water boat problems.

[jigginjim]

do you have any space under middle of house to the ice? Heat house up really hot place 12 volt fan going down into 1 hole. Bring heat up under the house.

Years back guys would use an 30-06, But the would drill 3/4" holes at a 45 degree angle 4" deep, under sides. some time in may take 2 boxes of shells.

I would rather fish in a hot house, while thawing it out, you can wear cut offs, sanna

[paceman]

Spread some salt around it, wait a day chisel it out. I tried the rifle trick when I was younger. Didn't do very much. Actually pretty scarey. Good luck..

[McGurk]

...If you would forget it after the ice melts it floats to shore...

How about you just don't forget it and pick up all of you blocking to begin with, so then it doesn't become someone else's job to pick up after you. If you've got a chisel to get you house out, use it to get your blocking out. Every time. Without question.

Get a heavy duty $20 chisel, make sure you've got a good edge on it, and armstrong that house out. Then not only will your house be free, but you'll have the chisel for the next time. It won't take as long as you think if you get a good edge on your chisel. I lent mine to some guys who were working pretty hard at getting a frozen house out. After using a 8 lb sledge and an axe for 15 minutes and not getting anywhere axcept angry, I walked it over to them for them to use. 15 minutes later it was free, and a very thankful guy returned it to me.

[bottom-bouncer]

Shooting it out is very dangerous! I would use dynamite much safer.

[trapperdirk]

There is no abbra cadabra system to bust out a froze in house . Your going to have to put a bit of sweat and grunt into her with a chisel . Your cussing vocabulary should improve too . LOL The perm I'm working on will have removeable skids so if by chance they freeze in I can just unbolt them from the inside of house and slide the house off them to make short work of chiselling .

Start chiseling and jacking lad and she will bust free . Just jack enough to keep some tension on . That shooting onto a hard surface with no back shield is a public safety issue .

TD

[zamboni]

Gas and matches!!

[jwmiller33]

a little elbow grease, a chisel, and a case of beer should do the job

[daylate]

Fish the spot until a decent thaw hits. trying to remove it now will only cause damage to house.

[tunrevir]

If it was blocked in the first place then take a chisel and work a small hole under one of the skids. Enought to fit a 2 ton hydraulic floor jack uner the skid and start jacking away. Should snap it loose pretty quick and might also get the other side with just one time jacking it up. If not just repeat on the other side. If the whole floor is frozen in then this would be a problem but if it is just the skids you should be fine with a chisel and a floor jack.

Tunrevir~

[jigginjim]

The ice thing would be really good. I forgot:( I use the large watersoftener pellets, thawed out my rain gutters and down spout. It took 2 days but the water flowes like summer.

Plus turn up the heat over night, 2- double sunspot heaters on 20lb tanks should melt the ice under it. Maybe bake a cake over night? Something to eat, if still frooze in while you chisel.

[jigginjim]

Other thing buy 8" cement blocks to block up shack. If they freeze in they will at least sink.

[Dozer]

Other thing buy 8" cement blocks to block up shack. If they freeze in they will at least sink.

Boy you are going to get some flack about that statement!

[vister]

yeah, i cant vouch for anyone leaving blocking behind, whether it safely floats to shore or sinks straight to the bottom. you know, either way is littering. pack it in, pack it out!!! the best way to remove the fishhouse is man up and start chiseling it out. there may be an easier way, but just chisel it out. this way nothing gets left behind other than sweat.

too many people are afraid of doing a little work. everyone wants an easy way out. it probably wont take longer than an hour or two to chisel it out, and by all means its going to be the safest.

i can honestly say cement blocks are going to be the worst thing to use for blocking, because of how porous they are and the gaps in them. if they freeze in, they are going to freeze in worse than anything you could use. unless they are intended to be left behind to sink. but until then, if left behind, they are pretty dangerous for snowmobilers.

[Snowking]

my buddy and myself had this problem last year. i used a air hammer. worked well went around the outside then made a hole for my jack and poped it out. took about 45 min. to do but was a lot better than manual labor. my buddy used a chain saw cut at a 45 degree angle around the outside and then used a jack. chad

[WARRIOR 2090]

strap some pontoon tubes to it what till spring float it home lol

good excersie chiseling it out

[duckhuntr21]

You got any kids? Seem to remember a few outings from my not too long ago that involved an ice chiesel and getting to use my parent's car for the weekend?

[no bait nate]

broke loose a very frozen shack on friday. chisel as much as you can take, at least a good hole around the four corners. then i use a Hi-Lift jack to pop it up and slide some blocks under it. the Hi-Lift is best if ya have one because it doesn't require a lot of area to be chiseled out for it to fit down there. They are only $60 at Fleet Farm so it's a great investment and time saver if you have a skid house. great to have around the garage too.

also picked up some nice blocks that two different shacks left for me when they moved....now the shack is sitting high n dry.

[Adam Wolf]

Spread some salt around it, wait a day chisel it out. I tried the rifle trick when I was younger. Didn't do very much. Actually pretty scarey. Good luck..

I think Chisels and long pry bars would be best, and a few buddies. Wait a week,the temps are supposed to be warmer. Please don't add salt or lead shot, it can be very bad for the lake.