Building an ice house.. Any Suggestions

[fire29]

Drawing up some plans for a house Im gonna build this spring and summer. Does any one have any suggestions for the frame? How thick of tubing, how far back should the axle be? Any thing you have learned in the past that may help me and anyone else in the future. It is also gonna double as a camper for hunting trips. Im going 7 x 16 or as wide as I can go without having the recessed tires, I want as much room as possible for cots and kids. I would like the inside to be Nice but basic, forced air, oven-stove, bench-table-bed, bunk. Especially tips on the axle I really need it to travel nice. Thanks for your in put, when I start I will post some pictures of progress.

[randerson]

I would go with all LED lighting to save on the batteries a little more $$$ up front but in the long run I think it will be better for both interior and trailering as far as the axle goes I think it will all depend on how heavy the house will be for the perfect balance of towing and tongue weight I'm sure with some research on all of the boards you will find some good info Good luck

[svonasek]

The axle placement is going to depend on how you locate stuff in the house.

I built mine 8x16 plus a 3 foot vee (19 foot over all length). I put the center line of the wheels at 7'10 from the far back. It worked out fine for me. I have almost exactly what I wanted for tongue weight.

I tried to balance things out. The furnace and the stove are in the front so I put the batteries in the back.

There are some guidelines on tongue weight. I believe it was 8-12% tongue weight. I tried to guess as close as I could and then started moving stuff around in the house to get the tongue weight I wanted.

[forcedtowork]

Not to hijack your thread, but I am doing the same thing this summer, but only in a 7 x 12, I was wondering if leaf springs are necessary? it will be a homemade fram and the front will lift in the air to raise the wheels. Hard to explain, but thoughts on leaf springs would be appreciated.

[LightningBG]

Not to hijack your thread, but I am doing the same thing this summer, but only in a 7 x 12, I was wondering if leaf springs are necessary? it will be a homemade fram and the front will lift in the air to raise the wheels. Hard to explain, but thoughts on leaf springs would be appreciated.

I know exactly what your talking about. not totally need, but it will help keep it from shaking apart, especially if its going to travel on the road much. For the slight extra cost, I would put them in.

[dukhntr]

Forced: You will want some suspension if you are going to tow it any distance. Leaf springs are not required. If you are using the A-Frame type frame, you could use the torsion axles that Zack Shack uses.

Hope this helps

dukhntr

[forcedtowork]

Thanks for the info, I have a friend of the family doing the welding so I will see if he can do it for me. It will travel a decent distance so I would perfer to have them.