Building a 8 x 16 perm what to use for runners?

[DRH1175]

I am gonna build a house for mille lacs. Question is what to use for runners? Steel, treated pine, oak? What works the best?

[Great Outdoors]

The smartest idea I ever saw for runners were at the Ice Fishing Show in Mpls, but never saw them again.

They were made from stainless steel exhaust pipe. Both ends were bent up, almost like a letter C, and left open (uncapped).

They were bolted to the house with brackets welded to the pipe.

The neatest thing about them was the fact that you could take a flexible "Y," hook it to the exhaust of your vehicle while it idled, and to one end of each runner.

They both acted like an extention of your exhaust system, and it melted the ice around the runners if they had frozen in, and you could then tow your house.

[DRH1175]

That is neat. But I will just block it up and use the car jacks to break loose. I want to use something that will last. And something that will pull easy on the lake so I can move on my own with my full size 4x4. The resort will pull in and out, just want it moveable. I have looked at wheel houses. But I only fish 1 lake that I want a house on, Mille Lacs so it will stay there. I have a camper for hunting.

[LightningBG]

Treated pine is probably the most common. Could put hyfax on them to make them slide better.

[lungdeflator]

If you go with wood runners I would def look into somthing to help it slide. If you run into some slush or something or ice builds up on the bottem they get hard to move

[Great Outdoors]

Runners made from 2"or 2 1/2" stainless steel exhaust tubing will be the easiest sliding, and will outlast your fish house.

In fact, you will be able to remove them from an old fish house, and use on another if you so desire.

[DRH1175]

What is the best way to attach the ss runners?

[Great Outdoors]

They had two brackets made from the same SS pipe the runners were made of, welded on top of each runner with a two plates welded on top of them. Each plate resembled an exhaust manifold flange, and had two 1/2 inch holes drilled in them, one on each end. You ran bolts through the holes in these plates into your fish house floor.

Give me a call at 218-365-4744 from about 9-2 daily, and I can give a much better description.

They were one of the best ideas I had ever seen.

[Wimbie]

I was told by a couple resorts not to use treated because it is to soft and can split apart. They told me to use white oak.

[Fishjet]

Resorts use to only pull white oak runners, anything softer and the chains would pull out. Seen a sign across from Portside advertising white oak runners for sale.

[DRH1175]

Sounds like Oak is the only way to go. I guess that is the way I will go than. Anyone know how much a 20' runner costs and which lumber yard that is that sells them by mille Lacs?

[randerson]

Isle Discount lumber has them. Also you could use 4x6 steel tubing there is a couple places that I seen had them advertised to maybe even IDL