Jump to content

  • GUESTS

    If you want access to members only forums on HSO, you will gain access only when you Sign-in or Sign-Up .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member. ?

An honest talk about wheel houses....

Kanos

By Kanos
in Ice Fishing

 Share

Recommended Posts

Kanos Rookie

Kanos

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I couldn't agree more. I do take into consideration that the interior can be completely redone. The frame though is the foundation and the number one consideration when considering longevity of the ice house. This is the reason I went all aluminum with a house from Sodderblooms. To be honest, Yetti just took what Jay was doing well and ran with it. Sodderblooms did not have the time to dedicate to ice houses and Yetti saw an opportunity, hats off to them for maximizing their opportunity!

Agreed, I would just rather have it all done right the first time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kanos Rookie

Kanos

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I think fishhouses are like other items in life like boats, tractors, even houses, you buy what you can afford and whats going to get the job done, then some day, when you have more money, you upgrade to something bigger, better, nicer, roomier.

My first tractor was a 25 HP Ford, now I've worked my way up to a 95 HP John Deere with a cab. My first boat was a 12 foot Lund with a 6 HP motor, now I've got a 16 foot Alumicraft with a 60 HP motor on it. Someday I'll probably upgrade both.

I don't own a four wheeler yet, when I start talking to people about them, right away they start pushing you toward a quad, but theres a lot of difference between 6 grand and 11 grand. I'll probably start with a 4-wheeler and work my way up.

I built my first wheel house, a 6x8, had lots of fun with it, but it didn't take long to realize that it should have been bigger, now this fall I bought myself a 6.5 x 14 Ice Castle. Will it be my last wheel house?? Probably not. But this house will get me out on the ice, sleeping overnite, and hopefully even catching a few fish.

My point is, if you buy stuff at the right price (that you can afford), you can use if for a few years, sell it, and then get something bigger and better. We'd all like to start out with top of the line but our budget doen't allow that.

Agreed to a certain extent. The problem is taking a loss on the sale. That's why I would prefer to buy a quality unit the first time and have it for the whole life of the house. By that point it retains so much sentimental value I would rather see it destroyed than passed on to another. By that point hopefully I've saved enough to buy another quality unit and make some more memories.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
minnbowhunter Rising Star

minnbowhunter

Posted
Posted

Like alot of post above I will say that you get what you pay for. I bought my Ice Castle for $3200.00 many years ago. I had to put my own bunks but other than that it was ready to fish. It is not fancy but, it does everything I need it to. It is warmer than my brothers Ultra-Shack that cost him twice what I paid. My son has a house from Performance Engineering, very well built in my opinion, and the customer service is great. I have thought about upgrading and really like the Salem models alot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rube Explorer

Rube

Posted
Posted

I too built my own wheeler, 6 1/2 by 12 from the ground up. It was a big project, wanted to keep it light but kind of had to go with a steel frame, something that I could fabricate and weld. Used aluminum sheets glued to 1 1/2" styrofome core for the walls and roof. Double doors for 4-wheeler and oak cabinets, bunk - bed. With all the supplies, wiring 12 volt & 120 lights, heater, bunk pads, gas tanks - regultor, thermal windows, etc. total materials with tax and licence came to over $2500.00 . Weighed it, and it came in at 1,930 lb's (without my fishing gear or 4-wheeler in it).

If I would have paid myself $5.00 an hour for the labor- I don't think I could have afforded it!!

It was fun- (kind of), now we need more ice to enjoy using it.

Aluminum frame-Yetti-seems like a great way to go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
EJ Collaborator

EJ

Posted
Posted

Kanos,

I think your research is right on. I am also looking for a house that is all aluminum framed. I have been to Custom Cottages mfg. site and met with them. Eric builds, from what I have seen, the best quality house out there. I don't know if anything is close. I do like the Yeti as well, but then need to handle the finishing.

For what they get for some of the other top line houses is a joke in my opinion for the quality of construction.

I am not sure of the intent, but must agree on the "bait and switch" you mentioned in your original post. I originally went to the Custom Cottages site through &&&&&((*(*&houses&&*sale.^%^ and also saw the $15,500 fishhouse. It was much more when we discussed building one. After looking at them it may well be worth it, but I was not happy with the price adjustment.

I really appreciate this thread, as you are in the same boat as I. I want a top quality aluminum house that a guy does not get taken over the coals for.

EJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kanos Rookie

Kanos

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Kanos,

I think your research is right on. I am also looking for a house that is all aluminum framed. I have been to Custom Cottages mfg. site and met with them. Eric builds, from what I have seen, the best quality house out there. I don't know if anything is close. I do like the Yeti as well, but then need to handle the finishing.

For what they get for some of the other top line houses is a joke in my opinion for the quality of construction.

I am not sure of the intent, but must agree on the "bait and switch" you mentioned in your original post. I originally went to the Custom Cottages site through &&&&&((*(*&houses&&*sale.^%^ and also saw the $15,500 fishhouse. It was much more when we discussed building one. After looking at them it may well be worth it, but I was not happy with the price adjustment.

I really appreciate this thread, as you are in the same boat as I. I want a top quality aluminum house that a guy does not get taken over the coals for.

EJ

Take a look at the Yetti's finished by Fish N Style, the salesman we talked to was very straight forward. He seemed confident in his crews finishing skills, and said they got countless good comments at the ice show.

A little more price friendly than Custom Cottages, still aluminum, gets rid of some of the extra "frills" and price.

The rest of my family, (brother and father) are going to look at the Yetti's tomorrow. If they like what they see then we are buying. Were gonna give a price limit of fifteen thousand. Hopefully he will bargain down to that price with everything we want. Its still priced far above an ice castle of the same style so I feel he should be willing to barter.

I will let you know how it goes. It would be a Bronze shelled one (looks really sharp) and would be ready by two weeks into January. Not to bad, still some time to fish.

I will upload the floor plan were planning if anyone would like to see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BLACKJACK Grand Master

BLACKJACK

Posted
Posted

Agreed to a certain extent. The problem is taking a loss on the sale. That's why I would prefer to buy a quality unit the first time and have it for the whole life of the house. By that point it retains so much sentimental value I would rather see it destroyed than passed on to another. By that point hopefully I've saved enough to buy another quality unit and make some more memories.

I understand about the sentiment part, when my grey tractor and my first green tractor went down the road on a flatbed, I had regrets - but then I started driving the bigger, newer tractor and the other one was long forgotten. Plus I couldn't afford the new AND keep the old one.

As far as taking a loss on the sale, you can't expect to get back what you have in it, especially if you buy it new. If you buy something at the right (market) price, use it a few years, and sell it for the right (market) price, thats the price of your use.

BTW, I did look at the Yetti's before I bought my ice castle. Nice house but by the time I added on the estimate for finishing it, I couldn't afford it. My ice castle will get me out on the ice in a sleeper, still mobile, if we like that style of fishing, I can upgrade in a few years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now ↓↓↓ or ask your question and then register. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Wanderer
      Just Food and Drink

      By Wanderer · Posted

      It’s done automatically.  You might need an actual person to clear that log in stuff up.   Trash your laptop history if you haven’t tried that already.
    • smurfy
      Just Food and Drink

      By smurfy · Posted

      😂 yea pretty amazing how b o o b i e s gets flagged, but they can't respond or tell me why I  can't get logged in here on my laptop but I can on my cellular  😪
    • Mike89
      Just Food and Drink

      By Mike89 · Posted

      I grilled some brats yesterday, maybe next weekend will the next round...  
    • Wanderer
      Just Food and Drink

      By Wanderer · Posted

      You got word censored cuz you said        B o o b ies….. haha.   Yeah, no… grilling is on hiatus for a bit.
    • smurfy
      Just Food and Drink

      By smurfy · Posted

      Chicken mine,  melded in Mccormick poultry seasoning for 24 hours.  Grill will get a break till the frigid temps go away!
    • Mike89
      Problems with Yetti

      By Mike89 · Posted

      good luck!!!   
    • rundrave
      Problems with Yetti

      By rundrave · Posted

      we had some nice weather yesterday and this conundrum was driving me crazy  so I drove up to the house to take another look. I got a bunch of goodies via ups yesterday (cables,  winch ratchet parts, handles, leaf springs etc).   I wanted to make sure the new leaf springs I got fit. I got everything laid out and ready to go. Will be busy this weekend with kids stuff and too cold to fish anyway, but I will try to get back up there again next weekend and get it done. I don't think it will be bad once I get it lifted up.    For anyone in the google verse, the leaf springs are 4 leafs and measure 25 1/4" eye  to eye per Yetti. I didnt want to pay their markup so just got something else comparable rated for the same weight.   I am a first time wheel house owner, this is all new to me. My house didn't come with any handles for the rear cables? I was told this week by someone in the industry that cordless drills do not have enough brake to lower it slow enough and it can damage the cables and the ratchets in the winches.  I put on a handle last night and it is 100% better than using a drill, unfortatenly I found out the hard way lol and will only use the ICNutz to raise the house now.
    • Wanderer
      Problems with Yetti

      By Wanderer · Posted

      I haven’t done any leaf springs for a long time and I can’t completely see the connections in your pics BUT I I’d be rounding up: PB Blaster, torch, 3 lb hammer, chisel, cut off tool, breaker bar, Jack stands or blocks.   This kind of stuff usually isn’t the easiest.   I would think you would be able to get at what you need by keeping the house up with Jack stands and getting the pressure off that suspension, then attack the hardware.  But again, I don’t feel like I can see everything going on there.
    • rundrave
      Problems with Yetti

      By rundrave · Posted

      reviving an old thread due to running into the same issue with the same year of house. not expecting anything from yetti and I already have replacement parts ordered and on the way.   I am looking for some input or feedback on how to replace the leaf springs themselves.    If I jack the house up and remove the tire, is it possible to pivot the axel assembly low enough to get to the other end of the leaf spring and remove that one bolt?   Or do I have to remove the entire pivot arm to get to it? Then I also have to factor in brake wire as well then. What a mess   My house is currently an hour away from my home at a relatives, going to go back up and look it over again and try to figure out a game plan.           Above pic is with house lowered on ice, the other end of that leaf is what I need to get to.   above pic is side that middle bolt broke and bottom 2 leafs fell out here is other side that didnt break but you can see bottom half of leaf already did but atleast bolt is still in there here is hub assembly in my garage with house lowered and tires off when I put new tires on it a couple months ago. hopefully I can raise house high enough that it can drop down far enough and not snap brake cable there so I can get to that other end of the leaf spring.
    • smurfy
      Just Food and Drink

      By smurfy · Posted

      Chef boyardee pizza from the box!

  • Topics

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

  I accept