The ice castle ups and downs??

[ALL_IN]

I purchased an ice castle late in the season last year and never got it on the ice. But when I bought it, the people showed me the right way to raise and lower it to the ice... pretty simple, but they showed me the "ups and downs"

Had it on Winnie this weekend for the maiden voyage and left it on the hitch hooked to the truck. Went back and lowered the front winch first to lower the front to the ice. Then dad and I went to both sides and lowered the wheels at the same time. House down all is well time to fish!

Then when it came time to leave followed the directions and raised the wheels first, put the pins in and then went to the front and started to winch the front of the house up and SNAP! The cable on the front winch busted the loop that the cable attaches to on the frame of the house. Here we are... sitting on Winnie and no way to get the house off the ice with the winch. We did manage to lift it up with some muscle and such... off and running!

But my question is... to all that have an ice castle... what do you do when you get to the ice... whats first and second. When it is time to leave, then whats first, second and such.

I thought about it on the drive home and it seems wrong to do the front winch last because you are lifting alot of weight when it is hooked to the truck and the wheels are up on the house. you have created a "V" in the front tounge of the hitch and that seems like a lot of tourque on that house to life it up. Am I wrong??

Thanks for the help!!!

ALL IN

[vman11]

Tongue first then wheels on the way down.

Wheels first then tounge last on the way up.

Tongue is always first and last.

If you try it the other way you'll see why it doesn't work. Puts a lot more stress on the wheel cables. When the house is on its wheels the tongue is just a pivot point and the stress is way less than it would be if you raised the toungue without raising the wheels.

One can only guess it was a weak loop/faulty cable from the mfg. Another thing to note - make sure to back off all tension on all cables after the pins are in place. If you leave tension on each winch you will damage the cable on every bump you hit down the road and on the ice.

[ALL_IN]

vman

Thanks for the response... just wanted to make sure I was doing it right and that it was not user error!!

ALL-IN

[FIRECAT]

YUP vman is right on, front first then wheels. To Raise, wheels first then front and away u go!

[Rockin Randy]

I always throw in a 'HANDYMAN JACK' when I go on the ice.

[ALL_IN]

I always throw in a 'HANDYMAN JACK' when I go on the ice.

Yeah not a bad idea... its quick to throw in and it could save some time if it ever happened again. you never know what is going to happen at -45 degrees below zero and 100mph winds.

[Eric_Kruger]

I would say you did it right as well....I would just give them a friendly call and tell them what happened, just to be safe. Never know maybe you can get a free replacement cable or something just in case...

[stealth3350]

When u lower the toung make sure the jack is wound intoo. I left the jack extened after geting of the reciver. I failed to lower itcloser to the ice.. So when I lowerd the toung

e the jack kicks out at an angle. And u guessed it jack bent.. Luckily I carry a floor jack at zll times sure paid off. Lesson learned

[Hoey]

I too had problems with my Ice Castle cable/winch system. It might be important, the sequence of lowering and lifting, but more important is to frequently inspect the condition of the cables as they deteriate quickly being exposed to road salt and moisture.

I highly recommend inspecting prior to each trip, bring spare cable and clamps along, so if you can find (or bring) a handyman jack, you are in a better position to repair.

The first couple of years were no issues, then it sat for a year or two without use, then next trip up, one cable broke, then another, it was -20 and we were lucky to borrow a jack from the resort and have some wood blocks along.