Clam XL 4000T Hub house

[OnAFly]

That's the spirit!

[Nigel]

Was able to pick one up at the st. paul expo this year, overall im happy with it. The first time I was able to take it out on the ice it was raining, then switched over to snow. Didn't notice any major leaks through the thermal. Like it was mentioned before, it probably wasn't meant for rain, but if it happens, you don't need to really worry about it. It does really well at cutting down the chill that comes along with the strong breezes during the winter. Plenty of room inside, Setup is easy enough. Teardown could be a bit easier if there were some kind of straps to hold the hub in place while trying to put it back in the oversized bag. From the aspect of one person out on the ice by themselves. It can be done in under 3 mins. Its just a little thing that would make life a little easier.

I've used my 4000T about 6 times this year. The only issues ive had with mine are the hubs that hold the poles in place, where the pop-out handle/straps are located, are starting to crack. And one of the zipper handles on the oversized bag broke the other week. Clam customer service IS good. But you wouldn't need good customer service if you focused on the little things that need to work, instead of fish batter. ;P Sorry had to say it.

Really though, I wouldn't return mine. Overall it was a good addition to my ice fishing arsenal. If you are able too, step inside one on the ice. Its a different feel then being on a show room floor.

[govikes211]

I got the replacement organizers, which i do like, but due to the odd shape of the hub (bubble), I wish i had the ceiling mesh. if you hang a coat off these organizers, you cut off a large chunk of your fishing area. I still don't have a practical way to stash stuff off the wet ice. I think I'll stare into a beer can or nine this weekend and see what I can come up with...

Try using those small metal stakes from a tent and stick it in the top corner of the hub. I haven't tried it before but its basically the same concept of clams hub shelter hooks

[BeenACrappieDay]

I took pics, but a little too lazy to post, and besides, i think you can get the idea. here is my personal solution to the small trap organizers:

I had a couple closet dowels, the long sturdy wood ones you hang your clothes on, drilled a hole one inch in from both sides, and tied with twine (a better option exists, i'm sure) to the poles coming down from the upper corners of a non door side of the hub. because they are going towards the middle, the dowel cannot slide down the poles and just hangs. the organizers are at a height high enough to not block the window, and hanging my FXR jacket from one of the hooks on the organizers about 6 inches off the ground. it's low enough on the wall to be more towards the outside, not taking up square footage in the house. and the dowel is heavy duty so it doesn't sag with a coat hanging off it. pretty proud, only took 3 beers to figure out. i just packed the dowels and organizers in the bag with the hub (plenty of room) and there you have it.

[BeenACrappieDay]

Still drank the other six while I admired it though. Showed the wife and she says "And why do I care about this?"

And she wonders why I fish...

[BeenACrappieDay]

OK, had some coffee, got unlazy.

[deerminator]

Nice work. I just attach mine directly to the hubs poles in the corners and that seems to work as well.

[BeenACrappieDay]

Yep, a good call. I only did the dowel to prevent a major sag and pull on the poles when hanging a jacket, which I know I will.

Like I said, there are a lot of solutions out there, choose what fits the need.

[Walleyeman22]

Well......a while back I posted about some confusion regarding the ceiling mesh in some of the Bigfoot XL 4000T shelters and not in others. I had not really received a reason as to why this was happening other than "it was a bad batch"....or...."for some reason there were some shelters that did not receive the mesh sewn in overhead".

I was able to find a shelter with the ceiling mesh and asked the salesman from a local sporting goods store if he knew anything about the "ceiling mesh controversy". He stated that he had heard that there had been a mix-up and they had basically made the quilted Bigfoot XL4000 on an XL2000 frame, and that the XL2000's were never intended to have ceiling mesh.

Well, I set up my Bigfoot XL4000T next to my friend's (same house) that did not have the ceiling mesh storage.....and we were both surprised to find that his house was not the same size as mine, even though they both were sold as Bigfoot XL4000T's. In fact, his house dimensions were in fact consistent with the XL2000 model.

There were many differences between the two houses. Some of which were the overall width of the shack (mine was about 7 inches wider on each side), the color of the fabric (I understand that it could simply be a different dye lot), the eye bolts on the side hubs were at different heights, and the skirts were 4" different (mine has a 12" skirt and his has an 8" skirt).

Needless to say he is not happy and is contacting Clam right away. If this was an issue known and ignored by Clam that is very disappointing.....to advertise and sell a product as a certain model/size and in fact it is not even close! I will be curious to see what he finds out from Clam. I would hope they send him a correct model and pay the shipping to take his back......

I have attached a few photos of the two "identical" houses:

In this first pic the skirts are lined up even on the back side, you can clearly see that they are not lined up in front.

In this pic you can see the eyebolts on the side hubs and that they are not at the same height.

These next two photos show the difference in skirt size. The first is mine, the second is my friends.

Another pic of the two houses side by side:

[DTro]

Ever since I started this thread, and someone mentioned theirs didn’t have mesh pockets. It bothered me as to why. I asked around and never got a definitive answer… only speculation. If this recent discovery is true, it really disappoints me.

It doesn’t change how I feel about the specific house I have, as it has worked great and I haven’t had any issues with it. I’m very happy with it.

However, if this claim is true and Clam did know about it and is not offering to exchange the faux 4000 for the real 4000. I find that unacceptable. Especially with the increased emphasis on quality and customer service this year.

[McGurk]

Wow. Now that is crazy! Clam has always posted that the XL4000 is large than the XL2000 in every dimension. To see them side by side is pretty disconcerting, and I'll be measuring mine the next time I set it up.

[Walleyeman22]

I couldn't agree with you more DTro. I am happy with the design of the house, but if this was a known issue and still passed on to the customers I consider it a deadly blow to any customer trust that Clam was trying to build. I wonder if Cabelas was the only place selling these houses without the mesh ceiling storage? Anybody buy one from somewhere different? Maybe they sold the batch of misfits to Cabelas to move them out? I am waiting to hear what he finds out from Clam today...........

[BeenACrappieDay]

PLEASE post Clam's response here. I could deal with the mesh thing, not a big deal, but I did notice this weekend how short the skirt seemed and if my footage is actually smaller than another 4000t, I will be livid.

[NKLCOLT1911]

wow thats a huge mistake.

[nielsencod]

Would like to know the outcome of this too. I recently bought a 4000t that did not have the pockets. First thing I am gonna do tonight is set it up and measure. Thanks for the post, let us know how it turns out.

[McGurk]

For your information, from Clam's site:

XL4000T, model 9130: Setup Size: 96” x 96”, Center Height: 82” (8'0"L x 8'0"W x 6'10"T)

XL2000, model 9128: Setup Size: 90” x 90”, Center Height: 80” (7'6"L x 7'6"W x 6'8"T)

[TruthWalleyes]

I'll be measuring my clam command post thermal just for the heck of it...That's a crazy bad mistake.

[Walleyeman22]

My friend called Clam this morning to discuss the issues mapped out in my previous post. They said they would look into it and that all products have a manufacturers defect warranty of one year. This is the email he was sent asking for specifics from him including copy of receipt and photos of issues:

Good Morning,

Thank you for contacting Clam Outdoors.  My name is -------- and I will be happy to assist you. 

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience, however please be assured, I will personally look into the matter.

As per our phone conversation here is the information that you will need. Clam Corporation has a one year manufacture defect warranty based on date of purchase on all of our products. The information needed to get this going I listed below. 

I will follow up when he hears more, but I am curious if any others match the problem he had.......you can use McGurk's measurements to check out your shack-thanks for posting those. I think they must measure from the center of each side wall where it flares out a bit, because at the corners mine was about 1.5" less than 8'.

[OnAFly]

It wouldn't surprise me at all if 1.5" was within their manufacturing tolerances. When they say 8ft, they mean 8ft +/- a little bit. Nothing will ever be perfect.

[Lusid]

1.5" tolerance is okay IMO. You can stake it out on the ice and make up 1.5" easily.

[Walleyeman22]

Yeah, I don't have a major issue with 1.5"......I was just throwing that out there for those checking there houses at the corners.......but then again sell it as a 7'-10.5" x 7'-10.5" and not an 8'x8'. I think they call it the Subway rule!!

I think the issue were looking at here is the fact that the two houses were in no way the same......and they should be!

[OnAFly]

I fully agree. When it comes to assemblies, there is no excuse for using the wrong parts or missing parts. Sounds to me like they tried to push off their QA to the vendor and didn't make sure the vendor knew what it was doing. This is a common cost cutting method and when done correctly works great. When it goes south it becomes a huge problem.

[nielsencod]

I checked mine tonight and it is the same as a xl2000. I will be calling clam tomorrow morning.

[deerminator]

Ok, I just set mine up and my skirt is 8 inches wide too (model without mesh ceiling pockets). I believe the 96x96 inch foot print is supposed to be the bottom since they say you have 64 square feet of fishable area. Mine is 91 inches by 91 inches approximately and the center roof hub to hardwood floor is an even 80 inches. So if that is the deal, I will be asking for a new shelter. And that is why you keep your receipts on such purchases.

[deerminator]

BTW, if you didnt have the receipt and you have a BigFoot 4000T that actually isn't one, what more proof do you need!!!