Couple of questions for all the permanant spearhouse guys

[BigRoy]

I am kicking the idea of building a permanant house over the summer and have a couple of questions.

How much ice do you guys have to remove from your spearhole if it sits for a week? I was thinking of putting some 4" pink board over the hole to lessen the ice forming to much. It would be nice to have a house to go to that is comfy and you dont have to go through the whole process of removing a new block. I drew out a 5x7 with a 2x4 spearhole in the middle so two people could watch the hole from opposite sides.

[merkman]

I really like the 4 ft wide hole.

I would think about making the hole 30" deep though (not any more than that though)

The ice thickness varies depending on the outside temp.

I have left my northlander portable out for a week and had no ice in the holes (it is black canvas and the sun warms it up pretty good.

But other times I will have 4" to 8" of ice on the hole after a week.

The trick would be to find a cheep small heater (that someone wouldn't steal) and keep the inside (either the entire inside of the house or just an enclosed area above the hole) at 40 Deg or so.

I know of some people who keep their shacks heated all winter but they are out there every other day to check on them too. For the most part you can’t get by with that in the city but there are still many places outstate that people still respect your stuff on the ice.

-Merk

[Jameson]

...How much ice do you guys have to remove from your spearhole if it sits for a week? I was thinking of putting some 4" pink board over the hole to lessen the ice forming to much....

The ice needing to remove varies greatly by what the temp is during the week. Yesterday I removed 5 days worth of ice....half an inch. Other weeks it could be six inches, arghh! I have my hole in the corner and have noticed that the sides of the hole that are closest to the walls will freeze in more than the others sides closest to my floorspace. So, if possible I suggest putting the hole in the middle of the house away from the outer walls. Putting an insulated lid on the hole would likely help, too. I have been kicking around the idea of building a downward facing computer fan into my lid and seeing if just the breeze would prevent ice making.

[fisherking01]

got a 6x10 2 hole 2x3 each, leave heat on all the time and never clean ice. Nice to go to a warm house!

[BehindtheHead]

i have found that just a plywood hole cover helps alot. the ice that does freeze over is usally soft ice too

[motley man]

Same as above, keep it heated with small propane heater. 20 lb. tank lasted 3 days with my small heater.

[Gordie]

If you leave it for a week with out heat you will be cuting a new hole no matter what.

I have left mine uncovered with the decoy swimming in the hole not any farther down than the thickness of the ice and have hardly had any ice to about an inch to chisel thru. Ther sucker swims around and stays lively and keeps the hole open in return.

I have coverd the hole with insulation and had about the same results

I have also cut a slot in the insul and left the sucker swim under the insul in the hole and that is typically what I do now the combination of these two seem to keep the hole open longer.

You also have to have your house banked up really good and with the snow this year it shouldnt be a problem

A few years ago there was a guy in Big Lake that had made a hole heaters for augered holes I'm thinking of trying one or two of those in the spear hole if he is still making them.

[MJ1657]

I found a real small ice tongs that worked good for re opening the hole. I used my chisel to break up the ice block and could pick them out with it.

[jigginjim]

I had thought of a bubbler unit hooked to a deep cycle battery. Maybe a solar charger to help charge battery during the day. I guess trying anything can't hurt. I remenber an uncle that had a small gasoline heater, that he would leave on. Had a small enclosed drip pan, hooked up to 6gal can, the vent pipe would go across the hole closect ot the wall before going up. It also had had spitter system hooked to it. Seems like a alot of work but it hardly ever froze over, if it did only about an inch or two covered the hole,(days when below zero temps run days and was not able to get to the shack for a few days.)

[BigRoy]

The bubblier sounds cool, I had though about a small dc fan motor with an impeller to keep the water moving under a pink 2" insulated cover. I would think it would run the motor for a week with no problem off of a small gel battery. I wonder if a hole cover with reflex type insulation would work better for the hole? I do like the idea of a 30" x 48" hole. I got the graph paper out last night and drew up a 6x9 with the back wall having an opening that is four feet wide and folds down to become a ramp to drive my 4 wheeler into. I could put the house on the trailer and then drive the wheeler into the spearhouse.

[merkman]

The bubblier sounds cool.