Longer Hole Sleeve Ideas?

[Getanet]

I have a 14 foot camper that's been converted into an ice fishing house. We bought hole covers, but we're having a problem finding hole sleeves that are long enough.

We've tried cutting the bottom out of 5-gallon buckets, but they're about 6 inches too short. The guy at one of the big hardware stores told me to get some thin walled 12 inch PVC pipe from a Heating & AC store. That sounded like a good idea until we learned it's more than $100 for a small section of that.

Does anyone else have a problem with being too high off the ice for a standard 5-gallon bucket or the black hole sleeves they sell? Any good ideas for a cheap solution?

[Rodrunner]

I used a six gallon bucket. I ground the lips off around where the handle attached to the bucket. That left a small lip on the very top of the bucket that now seats on the floor of my converted camper. Fits perfect. Ithink they alos make a 7 gallon bucket that is even deeper. Good luck.

[Getanet]

Thanks Rodrunner. Where did you find 6-gallon buckets?

I can get my hands on plenty of 5 or 3 gallon buckets, but I didn't know larger sizes were even an option.

[JimBuck]

Getanet, have you had your house on the ice yet? I only ask because once you factor in snowpack and ice from drilling your holes you could probably get away with something less tall since you are snugly placing the sleeve in the hole directly after drilling. Then once the ice freezes around the sleeve, you should have a fairly snug fit. Just something to think about.

[Getanet]

Yep, we had it on the ice last winter. Found out quite a few things we needed to work on before ice this year.

What's you're saying makes sense, we did try to use some of the ice from cutting the holes but it was still short.

[JimBuck]

Cool, just wanted to make sure. I am in the process of converting a utility trailer to a fish house so all of this is stuff I am interested in as well. Did you insulate your floor at all? When looking for the proper size hole sleeve, do you pretty much plan on measuring from the base of the floor down to the ice? The question sounds a bit basic, but I'm new to the permanent shacks and am curious how others approached the task.

[mntim]

Have you thought about making a skirt for the camper instead? I saw a guy that had bought some canvas tarps, cut them up and attached them to the side of his camper. Looked slick but I assume it would take a little work to cut them evenly and sew up the ends.

[McGurk]

Cut the bottom 1/2" off the bottom of one bucket. Then cut both the top ridged part and the bottom off of another bucket. Place the second one inside the first one for a little extension, or vice versa for more length. Silicone and rivet them together if you'd rather have a fixed length that you need.

BTW, I got a free 10' length of that 12" PVC, cut it into 6 pieces, and it works slick!

[Getanet]

JimBuck, you'll probably be OK if you're using a flat trailer. Each end of our camper is elevated, and we didn't account for that. We just figured 5 gallon buckets would be fine and found out otherwise.

We did think about making a skirt using an old roll of carpet that was being thrown out, but we thought that may freeze to the ice and be a pain to deal with.

McGurk, we might have to try your idea of gluing two buckets together.

[cold one sd]

I used 10" thick walled PVC on my camper conversion, but I got the pipe at midnight pipe supply. I would think that you could get some type of thin foam board and glue it to the inside of the bucket to extend it as far as you need to.

[walleyeslayr]

Make a cylinder with reflectex and tape to the bottom of your buckets or tubes. This also helps keep the hole open. I also wrap it around the entire length of my tubes to keep them open.

[croixflats]

Menards carries 12"x 20'single wall plastic culvert for $80 still spendy.

But if you have plenty of 5 gallon stick 2 together with electric/duck tape on the one that goes inside for friction. this way you have an adjustable sleeve.

[moparmarv]

I was at the local plumer and saw the tubes used under hog and cow fountains not sure if they would work they are around 10" in dia. and around 3' long and insulated they look like they would work real well for the use you are talking about i am sure you could cut it to the length you would need they are made with plastic I don't know how much they cost

[Ron Vroom]

My sleeves need to be 22". My holes in the trailer are 10" but I will be using an 8" auger so there will be an extra inch around the hole. I am using a 10" pipe duct which is not fastened on the seam so I can coil the duct a little to slip in thru the 10" floor hole and then it expands to make a tight fit. I will remove the sleeve each time I leave the house and re-install after opening the holes. My trailer which is an Airstream will also be skirted.

[cold one sd]

I used a ten inch PVC in a twelve inch hole and an eight inch auger. Plenty of room to drill and I made a foam seal for sealing the floor to keep drafts out.

[Getanet]

Yesterday, after learning they make 6 and 7 gallon buckets (I honestly had no idea) I found out that Home Brew Stores might be the place to go.

I contact a store in St. Louis Park and they have a 6.5 gallon buckets they sell for $10. I still have to stop into the store to see if they are the same circumference as 5-gallon buckets, but hopefully this will do the trick for me.

I'll report back, but if anyone else is looking for longer buckets relatively cheap you might want to try the Brew stores.

[Str3tch]

Waking an old thread, but we solved this issue by putting smaller tires on the trailer

[leech~~]

33 minutes ago, Str3tch said:

Waking an old thread, but we solved this issue by putting smaller tires on the trailer

 

So to save a few inch's on the end of a sleeve or bucket, you would rather chance getting stuck in deeper snow with the house?

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I would have thought the 6gallon bucket would have solved the issue with ease

[Getanet]

It's funny because when I saw this thread pop-up I thought, "whoever this guy is, if you're that high up off the ice you'll have problems" and then I looked and saw the original question was actually posed by me. Long story short we got rid of that camper years ago. We did find some scrap PVC-type tubing that my buddy's brother-in-law got at a construction site he was working on back then. We were able to cut them to length and they worked for blocking the wind and keeping the holes open. However, that's a long way up to pull a fish out of a hole and anything with any size usually broke the line or spit the hook.  Anyway, my experience was trying to convert an old camper into a permanent style fish house wasn't great. They weren't designed for ice fishing so you had to put the holes were you could - not necessarily where you'd want them to be. The one we had was also pretty drafty - we tried to seal it as best we could be it still got colder than you'd hope for.

 

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by Getanet

[leech~~]

I'll have to say that I hate fishing with hole sleeves! Especially deep ones. To see the hole and to make sure your getting the fish in the hole your always looking straighten down the tube.  If you jig a lot with spoons like I do and they let go when you lose one at the hole. The spoon and hooks come flying up straight at your head likes it's being shot out of a cannon!