Best Way to Free Up Frozen Ice House

[duck2]

I have just started a painfully tedious job of chopping the ice away from the runners of my 7'X10' permanent ice house. Using a spud and a hatchet i have hardly made a dent in 45 minutes of hacking. Is there a better way to free up the house? The ice is about 5 inches up the side of my runners. I had an old timer tell me that a 30-06 rifle is the best way to bust up the ice. That doesn't sound too safe to me. Any other suggestions?

Thanks

[remington 300]

leave the gun at home, try cranking up the heat inside, add a second heater if you have one, and attempt to jack up one side at a time after thawing it for several hours, what are your runners made of? other than that start chopping!!!

good luck

mike.

[Northlander]

Best thing to do is keep it blocked up correctly during the season or you will pay the price at the end like you are now. Get a BIG breaker bar and some 4 by 4's. DO NOT listen to those who will tell you to shoot at the ice with your rifle!

[1DIRTBALL]

Take your cordless drill with a 1" bit and drill hole's all along your runner's. Then heat some water inside your fishouse until you have a good, rolling boil! Pour it in all the hole's you drilled. Voila'! You will probably pop free! Worked for me! 1DIRTBALL

[gurkster]

Here are a few things that I have done. Put salt around the runners to melt/soften the ice. Chop the ice below the runers on one end and run a cable around the house. Hook to the truck and pull the cable under the runners and out the other side, this can free up the house. All this works but how well depends on how stuck you are. Other tips to help are to heat the house up to help melt the ice, all this works better on a warmer sunny day too?!? A good farm jack and breaker bar can be a lot of help as well. A lot depends on house size, material it is made from, etc. on what is best. Good Luck. I know that some will give me a hard time for the salt trick. It will mix with the water, but this small amount of salt is nothing compared to what is brought on by winter car/truck traffic and run off, but it is adding to the issue.

Agree with all on don't use a gun.

[Ed Carlson]

Chip it out free as best as you can, add some all natural chemical free solar salt in the channels on all sides, and apply constant pressure up on it with a handyman jack.

Cranking up the heat and a fan forcing air down under the shack may speed things up too.

And for your sake...Skip anything that go's ...BOOM!

[motley man]

Crank up the heat and get that inside hot hot, big pry bar and block, chisel around outside, pry at corners and so on, so on, so on. That's what happens when we don't block up houses when the warm ups come. It can be a all day job so get the friends together and put out the tip-ups. You supply bait & refreshments for their labor.

[Bigtom]

I would try some salt ,no realy try salt water in a spray bottle.

Our you can get lots of beer and tell your friends to start chipping.

See if you can get a large eye screw lag bolt in one of the runners.

Atatch a chain to a hi-lift jack and the bolt and start jacking.

Good luck, a good lesson learned the hard way.

[DuckBlind]

My house froze in about 3 weeks ago, went out there w/ a maul, an axe and a hatchet. The axe worked great, it bust up in big chunks and eventually broke lose. Keep an eye on the side of your house, I hit mine w/ the axe and left a small hole.

Good luck.

[Wanderer]

During a lake clean up I found that a splitting maul worked wonders at getting anything out of the ice.

For those who have blocking out there, please take it home with you. Some of it might be wood and some might be concrete but it's all garbage.

[Tom7227]

I've never had to do it so keep that in mind.

I don't like the salt idea. I don't know if salt is less troublesome than the pellets of calcium chloride (i think that's what they are) and I hope someone can give some solid info on this part of it.

I bought a jobberdo and Northern that's a torch that hooks up to propane tanks. It's the one the roofers use, and I think it was around $30. I would think something like that would be much more effective than cranking up the heat in the house. In fact I can't see what the heat in the house does unless you think it's sort of like a hot air balloon.

[jwmiller33]

propane torch

[LightningBG]

propane torch

A BIG propane torch.

These can be had at HF Tools for $20. I have one, it works pretty good (but I haven't used it to free up a house.

Where is the house located???

[pureinsanity]

Why dont you guys install pencil heaters all the way around the runners? The day you move it off go fishing for a few hours turn the pencil heater on and in a few hours the ice will be gone or lose enough for you to jack it up

[LightningBG]

I didn't even know what a pencil heater was.

But that gives me another idea. You could you a roof heating cable and wrap it around everything. It will melt its way down nicely in a day or two max. But then you would need a generator out there to power it.

[McGurk]

A heavy spud bar with a GOOD sharp tip on it, not a rounded off blunt end. Take a grinder to it and put an edge on it, then maintian it as needed as you go. Skip the hatchet and 8 lb maul, but a splitting maul can work. I don't like the torch idea as I think you would get impatient and torch the house accidentally. I don't like the salt idea just on principle, but others can do it if they think it will work. I like the boiling water trick, but I would think it would take a lot of boiling water and holes to work. Good Luck!

[Ed Carlson]

I don't like the salt idea. I don't know if salt is less troublesome than the pellets of calcium chloride (i think that's what they are) and I hope someone can give some solid info on this part of it.

Solar Salt is all natural salt, no chemicals. We use it in fish tank containment bait systems to help balance HP Levels, fish actually need it for top health.

Road Salts and/or anything with rust inhibitors or chlorides in it should not be used.

Only pure Solar Salt, commonly used in chemical free water softener systems in granular form. Cost runs about $6 bag.

[tsande00]

I think a torch on a warm day would be ideal. Set some tip ups, open a case of beer and sit in a lawn chair with the roofing torch cranked as high as she'll go!

[SFC]

Forget the torch, I have torched footings with a inch or two of ice, it takes forever, plus you will burn your fishouse down. Get some friends & case of beer, bait tipups and a few chisels and chop chop.

[Hardyboy]

nobody steered you back to the 30-06 but i will. a few well placed shots around the house will break it free. the concussion in the ice will break your runners free. yes its safe , you will not break thru. think about it you drill holes in the ice inside and outside of your house that are much bigger. but if you want to chop for 3 days go ahead

[spearchucker]

I think a torch on a warm day would be ideal. Set some tip ups, open a case of beer and sit in a lawn chair with the roofing torch cranked as high as she'll go!

Might as well bring marshmallows to roast while it is burning down.

[chrismackmn]

a 30.06, that is funny.

[IamZombie]

Ice Chisel: http://www.fleetfarm.com/catalog/product...2-pc-ice-chisel

[Ron Vroom]

Not unless you've done it. It works!

[Grum]

Chainsaw? Make a cut next to the runners, would still have to chisel but might make it easier?