New Ice Castle questions

[Fishnblood]

Hey guys, couple of quick questions regarding a new Ice Castle I am going to be purchasing coming up this next month.

Do you recommend I purchase anything additional for the house right off the bat that I would need? Aside from Hydraulics which is not an option hehe

A generator? I have all of the fishing necessities just curious about the Fish house?

Thanks

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Electric auger.

Good batteries.

Battery charger.

TV.

Underwater Camera.

Cable to connect underwater camera to tv.

Hole sleeves.

[dougger222]

Do some research before you pull the trigger on the ice "castle".

My wifes step dad paid $10,800 for one a few years ago and quickly after picking up the custom made unit he and his wife realized the quality was very very poor.

The house was easy to crank up and down but they got ripped off on the price for quality for sure. Less than 3 years after buying it they had a hard time getting $5,000 for it.

[fowldreams]

Absolutely the hole sleeves. Also, as stated earlier, the quality of the ice castle isn't the greatest. My cabinet doors were off 3/4" on some. Soft spots in the floor. Some minor issues but when you spend that kind of money those aren't things you should have to deal with.

[MJ1657]

I think their quality has got better recently

[dewey1980]

the quality is not the best,but u pay a lot more for the other houses,and im on my second one{old one burned down]i have the trophey hunter and love it,if i had time i would have bought a yetti and finished it myself,to me thats the way to go,no touching up of the frame every year

[Fishnblood]

Thanks for the feedback guys, from what I have read on the Ice Castles its similar to the conversation of Polaris vs Yamaha etc...Some love em and some hate em. Me personally I have looked at the Yetti's and I agree them are nice looking houses but for the price they are a bit more than what I want to spend. Dewey when you say touch up the frame. What do you mean touch up? I think I will for sure pick up the hole sleeves I have heard that from quite a few folks on here now. Great idea on the cable to hook it up to the TV (I didn't even think of that!). I'm getting more and more psyched for this ice season! Any recommendations in regards to other wheel houses you guys would recommend I take a look at?

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

What size are you looking for?

[SleeperOz]

Build your own. Make it exactly to your specific wants and needs. Very gratifing to construct and fish out of something you built. I finished one (8x14 plus 3v) last fall and enjoyed every second of the process.In a word......QUALITY.

[gamberc]

for sure a generator, propane auger (nice to have so your not choked out), extension for your auger and keep it in the house, TV (must for slow days) if it dosent already come with it a radio. That stuff i would say is must right off the bat. I would highly recommened getting setup with a crankup sat dish as well. I highly recommend a honda 2000 generator cant go wrong with a good generator.

[Fishnblood]

Looking at getting the 8x16 Lake of the Woods. I would totally build my own house but I am not handy in any sense plus I don't have the time. When I retire (several years from now) I plan to build one. Thanks for reminding me of the extension for the auger I totally forgot about that. propane auger....Hmmm who makes em? Can't say I've ever heard of a propane auger before. Thanks again guys for the reply's. I appreciate all the info and ideas.

[gamberc]

Jiffy makes a propane auger there a bit on the salty side but definetly worth every penny.

[JSK76]

Rattle wheels and a slush inhaler and carbon monoxide detector.

[JSK76]

One more I just thought of, a slush mate or auger mate thing to catch the ice chip when drilling the hole.

[dewey1980]

touch up the paint on the frame,have to do it every year.Propane auger is great no smell,used to have a electric one but its a pain to have to carry battery along,i have a regular gas one to,this way i only have to have one auger

[alumacraft3]

What product do you use to re paint your frame? I've owned my ice castle for 2 years and it needs touched up. Is there any other general maintance I should be doing?

[Fishnblood]

^^^^I also am curious as to what type of maintenance I will need to look into doing. Slush inhaler I will definately be picking one of them up.

[FIRECAT]

I guess Im a little to fussy, I always mark the holes pull ahead drill then back over them. No smell and no water damage.

[dewey1980]

how do u line them up so they are on ???

[Fishnblood]

I like the idea of drilling the holes first and then repositioning back over them but I can see myself not being able to line back up with them. I guess a guy could have someone in the house with the covers off directing over the holes so they are spot on?

One item down a few to go. I picked up a 4000 watt Champion Generator from Cab elas yesterday, it was in the bargain cave for 385 bucks originally 600! Brought it home and it fired right up, push button and remote start! A bit loud but should do the trick! Now I just need to buy the house, a flat screen tv (small one to start with), some tools, etc...! Lol.

[MuleShack]

I picked up a 4000 watt Champion Generator from Cab elas yesterday, it was in the bargain cave for 385 bucks originally 600! Brought it home and it fired right up, push button and remote start! A bit loud but should do the trick!

Make sure you dont park very close to anyone on the lake!

Or put a freezer upside down over the top of the generator to muffle the noise.

Or find some way to put a muffler on the generator.

[sunniewally]

good way to keep people away from setting up right next to you!!

[MuleShack]

And the fish too!!

[FIRECAT]

It helps to have someone in the house, Just make sure your pickup and house are straight before u you mark the holes. Check out the new Walleye Tracker from Ice Castle, I just got one and I sure do like the layout. Also get a Aux Cable to plug from your radio to your TV. It will play your TV out of all 4 speakers.

[Fishnblood]

Yea I definately did not realize how loud that generator was! Now I realize why people drop the extra change for one of the smaller units, oh and the fact that they don't weigh 130 pounds! Oh well not too worried, maybe I'll look at picking up a topper for the pickup to keep the sound down a bit.

Firecat I have been eye'ing the Walleye Tracker as well. I like the skylight they put in, that's gotta be nice.

I apologize in advance if y'all are on the same lake as I am!