New Ice Castle questions

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

It seems like it would be a lot easier to just drop the house halfway, drill the holes, kick the slush under the house, and drop the rest of the way?

[Whopper Stopper]

That's how I do it. I drop the house down halfway, drill the holes out. When the auger breaks through I pump it up and down a couple of times scattering all the slush under the house. When I am done I drop the house down. The slush helps seal the house from any wind. In most cases when finished I don't even need to do any extra scooping. Pretty simple.

WS

[MuleShack]

+1 Here also.

When the ice isn't that thick, I will drill before even dropping house at all. Then drop it fully.

It does shift a little to the front when I do this but the holes are still fish able.

[BLACKJACK]

fishinblood,

I bought an Ice Castle last year and so far I'm happy with it. Quality isn't bad for the price, for the guys that bad mouth them, how about coughing up another 3-4 grand so that we could buy one of the fancier houses?? Looked at the Yetti's but too spendy. The way I look at it,its kind of like a boat, get the first one and then some day upgrade when you can afford it. This one gets me out on some overnight trips.

Think about the kind of fishing you're going to do, how long will your trips be, just overnights, or multi-day trips, that will help you priortize. If you're doing just overnight trips, you can live with a good two battery setup. I don't have generator yet and I've gotten by just fine.

On-board charger is nice!!! When you get home, just plug it in.

I bought an electric auger, its ok but doesn't drill very many holes, if you're also going to drill some outside, or move the house a few times, better have another battery with. Check into the propane auger if you can afford it.

Something that no one else has mentioned, get a dual automatic LP regulator, my Ice Castle came with just a single regulator, I'll be darned if I was going to get up in the middle of the night and change tanks.

Was not impressed with the radio in the Ice Castle, I just bring a boom box with.

Underwater camera is fun but not a neccessity. Never had one before because most of my ice fishing was at dawn or dusk but when I started spending all day it was fun to watch the fish. Will be rigging it up this year with a second screen so everyone can watch it.

Good luck!!!

[bak2MN]

If they haven't changed the paint on the frames, I would repaint it as soon as you buy it with something better before winter and salt. The paint used to be carp.

[Fishnblood]

Thanks for all the reply's. I am going to Milaca unclaimed on Wed to purchase one. My wife is more interested in the RV edition now that she has seen that it comes with the full water package. Any idea how much the onboard charger's go for? I like the idea. Also, this might sound a bit dumb but the dual LP regulator is that just so if you run out of propane it just automatically switches to the other tank? Anything else guys?

[mmartin]

Actually the dual tank regulator drains both tanks equally. So when its empty, they both go empty. I went with the dual regular with the manual switch as I didn't want both tanks empty at the same time.

[hawkeye43]

You need the dual regulator with the auto-switch over. That way as long as both valves are open, when one runs out it switches to the full one.

[BLACKJACK]

You need the dual regulator with the auto-switch over. That way as long as both valves are open, when one runs out it switches to the full one.

Thats the way mine works, open both tank valves, it will use out of the tank that the 'switch' is pointed to, when that tank is empty, it automatically starts using out of the second tank, the 'indicator' shows red, point the switch at the other tank and it turns to green, shows you that you better fill the first tank.

On board chargers run $2-300, depending on how many banks it has, I got the three bank charger, my house only uses two batteries, one for the furnace and one for the lights, and then I also have a spare battery in the compartment, just in case. Works slick, get back from fishing, plug in the house, charges batteries, no dicking with a battery charger.

[Fishnblood]

Well fellas, thanks for all the replies. I ended up buying a 2013 RV Edition Ice Castle from Milaca Un Claimed Freight yesterday afternoon. Both Brian and Dave were great to work with. I saw the slush bucket they get 40 bucks for and said to myself 4 bucks for a rubbermaid tote cut a hole in the bottom of it and glue the top half of a buck inside the rubbermaid tote and BAM you have yourself a slush bucket for your auger. I picked up a couple of the hole sleeves, marine battery, 2 30 GAL propane tanks for now. Now I just need to get better at trailering haha. I was psyched for the ice season before but now I am ready to go! Bring on the ICE!

[BLACKJACK]

Congrats!!! Milaca was where I bought mine too. Also drove away with the two LP tanks, they had a good price.

What kind of regulator did the house come with??

What size is the house?

[Fishnblood]

I ended up sticking with the regular regulator that came installed on the house (manually switch to the reserve tank when out)i might swap it out before winter comes.

it is the 8x17 RV Edition. My wife wanted the 5th wheel.....then I told her the price and she changed her mind

hooked it up to the generator today just to get used to everything I have to admit I am impressed with the AC unit that is installed gets cold fast.

[Bulldoggr]

I ended up buying the spray paint cans of the Bedliner Material. I wire wheeled the frame and sprayed that on. This will be the first winter out trying it.

I hope it holds out for the season.

Here is a great Video on how the Ice Castles are made

Click Here for Video