New ice box to carry all of my gear

[mrfish1991]

A few weeks ago I got to thinking about a new storage system for hauling around my rods, tackle box, bait puck, flasher, and other odds and ends. This started when I found out that South Dakota does actually have fish under the ice of roadside ponds. I needed to figure out how to get a good chunk of my gear back, keep it safe, not take up too much room, and do it on a budget.

I started figuring and calculating in my head and sketching things out (now this is very dangerous for me lol) and came up with a box that would fill all of my requirements. Thankfully I have a very nice neighbor who has a complete wood shop in his basement and loves doing simple projects like these.

And this is it:

It measures out at 31 inches long, 11.5 inches tall, and 11.5 inches deep. It was made out of a 4'x4'x1/2" sheet of plywood with almost no scrap. Its not the lightest storage system in the world, but I built it more to be pulled around on a sled than carried.

Inside includes a 4 place rod holder, and wells to hold my gear

One thing that I am going to add is about a 1" strip of wood along the ends so that the rod butts have something to rest on to take away the bending of the rods caused by the weight of the reels. The box will also be painted in the near future, probably going to go with a cobalt blue or a blaze orange. The box cost about $30 to build, not including the paint, and I coulda probably found the plywood for cheaper. But its well worth the money for the amount of gear its hauling/protecting.

[Toba]

The ice box looks great. Would something like that fit on the back of a wheeler?

[mrfish1991]

Im sure something could be figured out to mount it on the back of a wheeler, but thats not a big concern to me, seeing as I don't have one lol. Its going to sit in my portable until break is over and I head back to college. Then it will be sitting in my room until its time to fish.

Probably just throw it in a sled and pull it around.

[IamZombie]

Looks nice, but how much does it weigh?

[mrfish1991]

Looks nice, but how much does it weigh?

It's not the lightest rod box in the world, I don't have a scale in the house so I can't be exact. Its still carryable though. But I will sacrifice lightness to have something that will protect the investments I have inside it.

[MJ1657]

Looks good.

I built boxes like that for my lantern, flasher, and honda generator. Like you said they are not real light but they sure do protect those items when they are in the back of the truck etc.

[OnIce]

Looks nice, but how much does it weigh?

A full sheet of 1/2" plywood weighs close to 50 lbs, so if he used a half sheet for this about 25 lbs plus hardware & gear.

[CaptainMusky]

Looks real good. I see you realized something to support reels is important. That would have been a suggestion of mine. You could have used 1/4 plywood and not sacrificed much in strength but much lighter. You have the design down now some time for tweaking as you use it. Nice work.

[Jmeyers]

Looks nice! Now you have to decal it up or gve that bad boy a custom paint job, or at least some nice stain to seal it up.

[amateurfishing]

nice job, i basically did same thing but a bit largerer for 2 seats on top modded into my sled, only thing i would add is if u have high end items you want well protected (like flasher) maybe do foam or some other softener agent around the edge of that compartment for extra padding & safety

[mrfish1991]

Its going to get some sealer of some kind, probably paint and it will collect decals along the way.

Its sturdy enough to be a seat when I'm out fishing without a house too.

I'm also going to put one of those measuring tape stickers on the top when I can find one, would make life a lot easier than fumbling with a tape every time I catch something.

[simple1]

You should look at the Frabill recon shuttle. I looked at them yesterday. It weighs 31 pounds and may be exactly what your looking for at $119.00. I was excited to get one, but decided they were not for me as I could not fish 2 people the way I wanted to. But it's light and pretty cheap so I still may go in that direction.

[mrfish1991]

Ive got a portable house that I usually drag behind me and that is just fine for my needs. And I have some cheap plastic snow sleds that will be just fine when the box isn't in my house.

But Ive looked at those sleds too just to check them out. They do look like they are very handy and would fit a lot of peoples needs, just not mine.

[Jim Uran]

Nice job, it's good to have everything secured and ready to go! Plus making it yourself!! That is awesome.

[Nozzlejocky]

Very nice looking box, it should serve you well. I have been thinking of doing something like that, but mainly just for my rods was my initial thought. Even if you only use it for storage and transport to/from the lake it will keep your stuff in tip-top shape.

[Dave]

Looks nice. Just an observation. What if you mounted the rod holders into the lid part? So, when you open the top, you have instant access to all your gear without taking out the rods. I suspect you'd have to add some type of strap to hold the rods in the holder(s). You could maybe add some foam along the top of those partitions (where the holders currently are) and the foam would help support the rods in more than two places. Maybe once you get to your spot, the rods are out anyway. Just throwing out a different way that might work.

[mrfish1991]

I thought about doing the rod holder in the lid, But the grip that the holders provide isn't super strong so I would worry about them falling out during transportation.

Also when the lid is open I worry about the rods twisting. This box is mainly for storage and transport, 99% of the time my rods will all come out of the box and sit next to me. That way I can just grab one and fish and be able to switch quickly.

[leech~~]

Find some old X-country skis cut them down screw to the bottom, add an auger holder on top put on a pull rope and your ready to go. Throw on a popup house and you have it all.

[mrfish1991]

Well here is the finished, painted product.

And no, I am not a Broncos fan, I've just always liked the blue/orange color scheme and wanted something that would be very visible.

[dan z]

looks great, wish I would have thought of building my own rod locker/ storage case. I ended up getting the (hardsided) Ice Armour case and it does work great for rods. but the DYI cases n such have your exacct needs and wants

GREAT JOB!

[randallt]

Nice work!

[gurkster]

Great job!!

[Ryan_S]

Just a thought on the rod holders--You could easily build a lift out "tray" if you mounted them onto a 1/4 piece of plywood that is cut to the inside dimensions of the box. This piece would rest on top of those two dividers. A thin strip of wood on the bottom of each end would keep the piece centered. You could also mount support rails for the rod handles at each end of the plywood. Drill a hole in each of the four corners and make a pair of rope handles. With that, you would be able to lift out the rods and set them on to the lid but still have them organized in the holders.

[Eckie]

+1 on Ryan's rod holder tray idea - it also allows you set the tray aside with all the rods in their holders while you dig out other gear --

I've built boxes for some of my stuff as well -- such as Big Buddy heater and the Marcum -- but like your finished product.

WELL DONE!!

[walleye44]

Nice job on the box!