Wheel house dilema

[HardwaterHero]

I'm am looking for owners thoughts on their wheel houses. I am looking to buy a wheel house that light weight and good for run'n and gun'n. I don't want a large wheel house for the fact i am young and still have some [PoorWordUsage] left in the tank. I still want to chase the fish, not just plop down and watch TV on the ice. I have looked up pretty much every brand available and want to hear from you about the pros and cons. Aluminum vs steel, has anyone had issues with their aluminum frames pitting or twisting? I'd like a unit with a rear door for loading and unloading my atv but had anyone seen drawbacks to this door? Thanks

[sunniewally]

look at zack shacks new version of the back door. i think they made a good improvement going with that. i have and older zack shack and those type of doors can be a pain some time. the new zack shacks are a pretty nice unit. ridgline would be nice if they spray foam it. the spray is the only way to go.

[SwivelDigger]

Lightweight houses that I know of are ridgeline,king krow,or ultra shack . I have a 6.5 x 16 king krow that is about 1700 lbs without my gear.... But it has 4 bunks ,the heater and a 3 burner stove/ oven with the double doors in back 2 haul a wheeler. You can pull that thing with a pretty small wheeler all over the lake. It cranks up and goes down super easy. I really like it but now I'm thinking of getting a little bigger house as the kids want to go with more on overnight trips and they bring a lot of stuff 😜. Anyway steel frames are fine as long as you wash salt and gunk off whenever you get a chance. I know aluminum is better as far as corrosion but I don't think you save as much weight as what everyone thinks because most of the time there are more braces. It's still lighter but like I said not as much as you would think. If it's a good quality door it should be fine, some of the cheaper doors don't want to seal up well. It's a good way to go though because you'll be able to get on the lake earlier with a light toy hauler like that. You can pull it to the lake, unload the wheeler and hook the house to it and go across the lake. Good luck.

[B-man715]

If you want run 'n' gun, hydraulics is the best way to go. Easier than cranks, and faster than jacks.

Or you can buy tall hole sleeves for a crank house and plop down when you find a good bite.

When I had a hydraulic house I once set down 21 times on two different lakes in one day of scouting Couldn't have done it with a crank!

This year I switched to a Yetti to get away from the rust, but have to go the sleeve route for scouting.

[blue_healer_guy]

imo if you wanna run and gun, then use a porty and use the wheelhouse later. Just an opinion, i have never seen a door for atv's that i would personally use.

[The_King48]

Agree! IF your a runner stick with a portable. Only advantage to a wheel house is you can get out of the wind and watch TV in shorts. Then if its that windy out where a portable is miserable, I wouldn't want to run and gun. Never had a door for the ATV but I sure wish I did now since I bought a ATV.

imo if you wanna run and gun, then use a porty and use the wheelhouse later. Just an opinion, i have never seen a door for atv's that i would personally use.

[TV BOY]

Get one with spear door! I drill 2 holes close together in front of atv ( right by auger rack) then pull house over said holes ( easy to line up with spear door) drop house and fish!

You can really flush out the holes when you are not drilling inside the house! Save time without scoop or slush bucket. Also no need for electric auger ( fumes outside).

The arms on the ridge line are nice vs cranks for speed , but make sure if you go spray foam you have the aluminum wall studs covered with foam or they will sweat!

Rear doors are nice if you use them to haul an ATV. When I bought my first wheelhouse the owner said, " everyone wants a rear door… when you get your 2nd one you will get one without." He was right! but now i got another one... small and a rear door for doing exactly what you are talking about!