Buying Ice Castle..... Need insight!!!

[bassNspear]

Ok y'all, I'm going to pull the trigger on a ice castle and I'm set on a 20 foot with the v front. For those that have bought them, when have you bought them or when is the best time to buy

What are some things to keep in mind that I might over look when it comes to buying it as far as options ect.

Any information would help

BNS

[bassNspear]

find it hard to believe that noone has any input on this??

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Pretty much any time you buy a seasonal product in the off season you'll save some $. Fish houses are getting closer and closer to campers every year, so I suspect they don't have quite as much 'seasonality' as they did 10 years ago, but you'll still save some $ in spring and summer.

I would highly recommend getting the all wood interior on Ice Castles instead of the cheap paneling, as well as spray foam instead of fiberglass.

There are a lot of posts on this site about common Ice Castle problems, so do a search and you should get some good info.

[SwivelDigger]

Haven't bought an ice castle but I would say now would be the time to buy if you can find what you are looking for. I would check milaca.... Awhile ago they were giving away a Honda generator with purchase. Not sure if they still are, this was about a month ago. I would think with spring approaching you should be able to find deals. Good luck

[stealth3350]

+1 on cedar interior.. Not paneling.. When i got mine i did not want anything on the roof other than satalite.. Ac And skylights will eventually leak.. I just put a small window unit in for camping. Allso get at least floor spray foames

[BigGuy]

Get the 21' Bercon framed hydro in whatever style you like.At least check them out...lots more space and storage,and up or down in the time it takes to walk from the truck to the fish-house door.Doesn't have to be a "rv" unit to have the Bercon frame...love mine and Good-Luck.

[bassNspear]

There saying now that they spray the frames with ryno lining. That should help

[862]

I just bought one at the ice show this year. Shopped around for a while and the best price I found was at the show. Very happy with the house. Ordered a 20 foot Lake of the woods Hybrid. Some upgrades I did was Rhino sprayed the frame, added extra cabnets, Cedar interier, and removed the sky lights(did not want another spot for a leak and was afraid of the condensation that would build on them.) One thing I wish I had was a light over the wheels that could be turned on when lowering or raising the house at night.

[thefarmer]

+1 On extra lights, I wish I had exterior lights on all 4 corners with a seperate switch for the extras. Add more plugins. I have a rubber floor and like it.

[bassNspear]

When you all say more plug ins. Like how many more??

[thefarmer]

I have 3 in my LOW 8x16. One by the sink, one for the tv, and one by the dinette. They are all on the door side of the house. I would have liked one above the 2nd holes from the back on both sides and one in the wall by the jack knife sofa. Main reasoning is to plugin flasher and cell phone when I stay all weekend in it. Impossible now because it was foamed

[BLACKJACK]

Make sure you get the two LP tank regulator that swaps over automatically. My ice castle came with just the one tank regulator so if it ran out at night you'd have to go change it over. I ended up going to the local camper place and getting a new regulator.

Also go with two 30 gallon tanks right away, longer lasting and I've heard they work better in colder weather.I also bought a cover for my two tanks, helps keep the road crud off the regulator - and in my mind gives you a little theft protection, a thief can't look at it and say 'one bolt to get it off'.

[stealth3350]

+1 for plastic tank cover... i bought a black one helps keep the tanks a little warmer as black absorbs the heat.. i allso insulated the inside for a little more protection

[MJ1657]

When you all say more plug ins. Like how many more??

Decide how many you want then double it. You can never have to many.

[bassNspear]

How much does 8x20 weigh. Can't find it anywhere

[bassNspear]

I got the tank exchanger. And ton of plug ins

[thefarmer]

8x16 4500#

[bassNspear]

i found all my paperwork last night, it was under dam book!

[northerndave]

I think my 8x20 LOW unit is in the 500-5500# range for weight.

All I've done is have the underside spray foamed, we got the cedar interior, It's been a great house so far. We really like it.

[bassNspear]

Took the plunge and bought a 8x20 with v front lake of the woods. Very excited. Post photos soon

[BartmanMN]

Nice.

[morepower02]

Time for some pics of the new house.

[bassNspear]

[bassNspear]

I ordered it. Changed a few minor things. Will have it in a month. 2014 baby!!

[RiverChuckNorris]

Just read this post and was going to suggest adding the Beaver tail/toy hauler door i nback instead of the bay windows. We've got one on our 8x16 and it's awesome for loading snowmobile/portable as well as having down when we're drilling the holes for smoke and easy access for ice chip dumping.

+1 on all cedar interior, +1 on rubber floor, +1 on nothing on roof (other than satellite).

1 other important thing, on our unit (2012), the grease nipples for the wheel pivot points are "tap-in", not screw-in. We are going to have to pay an job shop to re-boar these this spring as the *#^^-ing things pop out when I try to add grease. Very frustrating and ridiculous IMO. Glad to hear they're spraying the frames now as ours is rusting a fair amount already.

Couple other minor suggestions: All the screws in the floor for the hole covers are cheap and will rust, change them out with stainless. Ditto on the screws on the outside for the diamond plating. The cables are also standard steel and will rust (despite washing after every trip and spraying with silicone), so going to replace with stainless cable this spring as well.

Finally, I am going to look into installing bearing buddies on the hubs. As the unit comes, you have to take off the wheels to pack grease in the hubs which makes no sense to me either.

We do enjoy our house as you will too, just a few things we've learned from two seasons. Congrats!