Any ideas?

[CaptSpike]

I have a friend that is wheelchair bound (within the last two yrs). He loves fishing. We are thinking about converting his flip over to a different base that his wheelchair can ride out on the lake on. I was wondering if anyone else had any ideas about transporting wheelchair bound anglers on the ice in all conditions. Goal is not to have to pick up or transfer if possible.

Spike

[Get'n Jiggy]

If you got with a fabricator with a little imagination, you could build a tub/sled with an open or flip down side you can attach his flipover to. I've seen some pretty neat sleds built from aluminum diamond tread.

[McGurk]

Is his wheelchair going out on the ice, too? Would he be dressed for outdoor travel or is the intent to keep it enclosed for the trip? You might needa second sled for gear if he is going to ride in the house-sled. I would say an Otter sled would be the sturdiest, and probably the most mod-friendly as far as an access panel/door for him to roll into. Put a flat floor in the bottom of it and he's golden! Some things are rolling around in my head (no pun intended!), but I guess I'd like to hear some more wants/desires out of the finished product. Canvas Craft may be able to work with you to come up with a solution, too. Keep us in the loop if a build is underway!

[Get'n Jiggy]

Now the gears are grinding! How about making an aluminum square tube frame

that attaches to the open side of the tub and cutting out/ opening up that side so his chair could be rolled in. Attach some 1/2 inch plywood in the bottom and you're set.

[CaptSpike]

Yeah we got a ton of ideas. We were wondering if anyone had any first hand experience, or ideas. Obviously the Wilcraft or tank chair would be nice, but the price tag is a little high for the amount of time we get to ice fish here, in my opinion. He does also love to hunt so maybe they would work out for him in the long run.

We are experienced ice fishermen dressing for the cold isn't an issue. He bought a frabil flip over the season before his accident. We are thinking of mounting it to a base we build ourselves. He could wheel into it in the parking area and then not have to leave the platform until we get back. Design on that is wide open from flat bottom to ski style. A modified tub could be an option as well but if it doesn't work.....$$$$$.

Thanks for any ideas and keep them coming. We'll likely start work in a couple weeks.

Spike

[Ryan_V]

I have a friend in a chair as well. I used to just put him on the seat of the fish house and pull him out with the wheeler. Not sure if you have a wheeler or not. Otherwise when we drove out he just wheeled from the truck to the shack and transferred himself. I can be done pretty easily.

[Ed Carlson]

The WilCraft and the Canvas Craft Northlander are two platforms I believe would be most wheelchair friendly, and worth a look.

The Canvas Craft Northlander would have easy dive on access with a convent flat floor to maneuver on with the chair.

Another option would be to buy a Otter skin and frame kit, and build a custom sled base that a chair can more easily access and be secured into. This has possibility's but would be a ground up custom build fitted specifically for the application.

[Gunflint Guy]

Have you contacted the Courage Center? It is a Minnesota organization that could possibly help you get your friend on the ice. They'll have experience with custom product development such as the project you are talking about. I have an inkling they could even help you out the with the $$$.

http://www.couragecenter.org/

Just a thought.

[herefish101]

Build a platform base on ski's, mount the frabill on top of it, cut out the side of the sled that the flipover is on, easy on and off and you can make it wide enough so as not to flip him over while towing. This could be what you allready explained but I did not fully understand that post. Good luck and I hope you get it done, heck if what you build is good enough there may be a market out there for your product, I'm pretty sure there is nobody out there making anything to make the ice more friendly to out chair bound friends. Good luck and please post some pictures of your creation, I'd like to see it.

[UKCM]

Another place to check out is Outdoors without limits http://outdoorswithoutlimits.net

If that and the Courage Center do not solve the problem then I have the following suggestion.

Figure out what you want to do. Follow the Dave Genz mantra "If it is not simple you will not do it." Make sure your design is easy to use. Figure out what you can afford. Post what you want to do and the amount of money you are short. Give your fellow FMers the chance to help out.

I doubt that I am the only one willing to donate to this. You and your friends are investing time and effort for this. Donating a little money is easy compared to that.

[CaptSpike]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll let you know how it goes as we progress.

Spike

[CaptSpike]

Got out yesterday with my buddy for the first trip. Much later than we had hoped. We got stuck in the slush and it took us over three hours to get to our spot.

Well conditions would limit most modes of transport and we had some issues but did get out eventually. I posted pics of the "sled" here: http://mermaidchartersfishing.com/Gallery/12911?page=1.

On a day with better conditions I will post better more detail pics of features of the design.

Naturally there are revisions to be made.

Spike

[Hardyboy]

That is awesome captspike !! looks like he had some fun and im sure he loved it.im guessing you had as much fun just being able to give him that opportunity.