New wheel house ideas? mods?

[travlingypsy]

I am building a new wheel house this spring and was looking for some input and ideas.. If anyone has photos of their house that would be great!

Any info would be great!

[MuleShack]

Put a recliner in it!!

[gigidy]

one thing i did that works great is put pedistal type boat seats staggerd in the house,it works great you can swivel on them ,and when you want more room just pull them out and you have a clear floor!also i made a 8 hole wall mounted rod holder,all my ice poles stay in the house and they have never fell down ,just an ocasional reel falls off the pole if its a loose mount,1 inch by 4 inch pine boards,made into a box with 2 inch holes on top and holes partially on bottom and a diamond plate back,any type back will do,works excellent. on the boat seats use the "flat plate"with a peg style ,then there is nothing to trip on when removed

[Freedom1]

one thing i did that works great is put pedistal type boat seats staggerd in the house,it works great you can swivel on them ,and when you want more room just pull them out and you have a clear floor!also i made a 8 hole wall mounted rod holder,all my ice poles stay in the house and they have never fell down ,just an ocasional reel falls off the pole if its a loose mount,1 inch by 4 inch pine boards,made into a box with 2 inch holes on top and holes partially on bottom and a diamond plate back,any type back will do,works excellent. on the boat seats use the "flat plate"with a peg style ,then there is nothing to trip on when removed

Got any pictures of the rod holder? I was actually planning on making something like that this weekend to mount to the garage wall for my ice rods. I had basically the same idea, but would love to see a picture of the final product.

[Bryce]

Put a recliner in it!!

Does a couch count?

[LightningBG]

I'd like to see someone come up with a way to run hot water through the frame, so if it ever got frozen to the ice, it could melt itself off the surface.

[Hardyboy]

I'd like to see someone come up with a way to run hot water through the frame, so if it ever got frozen to the ice, it could melt itself off the surface.

its kinda redneck but a buddy of mine had it froze in once and about 5 30-06 rounds into the ice around the house and it was free. the concussion of the bullet in the ice bounces off the frame thus breaking it free. Not the best option but it works. Might be touchy on a metro lake LOL

[MuleShack]

quote=MuleShack]Put a recliner in it!![/quote

Does a couch count?

That would be a nice option.

At night when the fishing gets slow, I kick back and watch TV but the bunks are not that great to view the tube. There has been many times I wished I had my recliner in the wheel house to not only jig from but kick back and watch the TV too.

I do have the pedestool seats set up in mine and they are nice to fish from but not relax.

[Grainbelt]

Bryce, where is your furnace located?

[Bryce]

Under the couch. You can see 2 of the vents in the photo. Also has fireplace to the right of the couch that we use a our main heat source.

[WollMan]

Does a couch count?

[Bryce]

Nah. Got 2 queen sized beds for that.

[Grainbelt]

Iv'e got the front just about done. Went with LED lighting throughout.

[LightningBG]

I like the 2-tone wood. Very nice touch.

[Icy]

Computer fans work really well for circulating the air w/o usin much power

When your putting your holes in, Think about your auger. Make sure you have enough room for drillin holes

If you dont want your house to freeze to the ice throw some 4*4 blocks underneath

[Eelpout08]

i will second the LED lights, it is amazing how fast the regular rv ceiling lights draw down the batteries, its well worth the extra cost for leds.

[09ultra]

So are you better off going with 12 volt or 110 led lights or do they even make such a thing?

[icecastle]

12v can get from some shack dealers just added some led lights @ the holes found them at a local WM store in the boating dep.110v dont matter would be runnin the gen. anyway to recharge the bats LED's take roughly 1/10th the power as normal bulb not sure about flouesent. just my just helped my nephew build a 8by16

[Grainbelt]

I have just one 26 watt cfl bulb in my house now, I used to use 4ft shop lights.I thought it was just too bright in there for fishing. With the 12v leds I really don't need AC lights. When I have all the leds on, it is as bright as daylight and drawing 20 watts. I only need to use a couple of the hole lights at a time drawing just a couple watts. It's bright enough to see all the holes - I have four. I can be running the DC led lights and the battery charger at the same time and there is no problem catching up and fully charging the battery.

They do make replacement led bulbs for the tailight bulbs that I used to use in my old fixtures. They are a bit pricey but nice that you can use your existing fixtures w/switch.

[heat checker]

I just use a 100w incandecent run off a dimmer switch.

[wally1981]

Travilingypsy,

Out of curiosity what frame/shell are you looking at? The wife is sold on a fish house/Camper and may build one this spring.

Thanks

[travlingypsy]

I have made 2 houses in the past three years which have all turned out excellent. But this time I am having Performance Engineering from Glencoe, MN build the shell. I have many friends who have his houses and nothing but good about the house and frames. I will post a bunch of photos in a new post this spring.

Keep posting ideas!

[gvt]

This is my 3rd year with my wheel house. One of my main concerns is that a steel frame might rust out in 10 yrs (or less). I had the frame powder-coated, but it's already rusting quite a bit. I don't think there are any trailer manufacturers that still make steel frame snowmobile trailers, I assume because they don't last. At this point that leaves aluminum, but I don't know if anyone sells only an aluminum frame, you would maybe have to go with a shell.

I'm surprised that no one offers a galvanized frame. If it is built correctly a galvanized frame would be coated on the inside and outside. I believe there is a facility in Minnesota that has the capability to do large trailers. Just a thought!

[LightningBG]

I think most of the snowmobile trailers are aluminum to cut down on weight, but not rusting is an added bonus.

The thickness of aluminum would have to be quite a bit more than steel. And if it ever got stuck down on the ice, i would be more worried about prying and torching the aluminum.

IMO its best to just keep a good coat of paint on the steel to inhibit as much rust as possible.

[sneakydevil]

This is my 3rd year with my wheel house. One of my main concerns is that a steel frame might rust out in 10 yrs (or less). I had the frame powder-coated, but it's already rusting quite a bit. I don't think there are any trailer manufacturers that still make steel frame snowmobile trailers, I assume because they don't last. At this point that leaves aluminum, but I don't know if anyone sells only an aluminum frame, you would maybe have to go with a shell.

I'm surprised that no one offers a galvanized frame. If it is built correctly a galvanized frame would be coated on the inside and outside. I believe there is a facility in Minnesota that has the capability to do large trailers. Just a thought!

Zinc coating the frame is where it's at.