New Skid House with Graphics

[hcs]

After fishing out of portables the past 10 year with my brother in law, we decided to get a skid house this year and fish in comfort. I thought I would share the experience and some photos. We went over to Beberg's in Andover and Chris hooked us up with a nice 6x10 v-front from Ridgeline. (No affiliation, but Chris was awesome to deal with, very helpful and worked with us through the whole process. He even let us borrow a trailer to get it up to our lake!) We upgraded to a 18kBTU Suburban furnace and had it spray insulated. This was the first weekend out, the house was a lot harder to pull than we anticipated and we struggled to get it on the ice with 2 snowmobiles.(a 4 wheeler may be in our future). After getting set up, this thing is nice! Very comfortable, 8 holes, and the furnace is a little overkill but works great.

We decided to wrap the house in graphics and had a local shop, BrandInk, do the design and printing. (Once again, no affiliation, but Nick at BrandInk was great to work with. He knows graphics!) Since by law we have to have reflectors on the house, we decided to go with 3M reflective film (IJ680CR) for the whole wrap. It really 'POPS' at night, the reflective material works great and the design looks better at night than during the day!.

We caught 7 walleye this morning and are heading back out now for the evening bite.

[Dave]

Very cool! I live a couple blocks from Bebergs and was going to check out those houses.

[IceHawk]

Love the wrap unique might be on to something there!

[Broberg]

Very cool wrap! The 3M at night is awesome!!

[CAMAN]

Very cool! How much does a reflective wrap like that run?

[elkrivermn]

Great house with a awesome graphic!!! I love talking to Chris he is very knowledgeable and gives out great information on how to choose the right house and how to set it up. I hope to buy a Ridgeline 8X12 v front from him next year! I just wish more people posed on the style and brand of house with lots of pictures to get an idea on how to set it up.I am not a fan of the 8X35 retractable wheel fishhouse with interior siding and other things that make it weigh in at 9500 pounds. I want a fish house I can take on the lake without needing 23" of ice to support it!

[hcs]

Great house with a awesome graphic!!! I love talking to Chris he is very knowledgeable and gives out great information on how to choose the right house and how to set it up. I hope to buy a Ridgeline 8X12 v front from him next year! I just wish more people posed on the style and brand of house with lots of pictures to get an idea on how to set it up.I am not a fan of the 8X35 retractable wheel fishhouse with interior siding and other things that make it weigh in at 9500 pounds. I want a fish house I can take on the lake without needing 23" of ice to support it!

This thing all decked out is about 860lb. I will take some inside shots, but it is pretty basic. The foam insulation, a few hooks, a cabinet over the furnace and some doodads inside right now. We will probably add some shelves and maybe some carpet. It is too heavy for a single snowmobile to pull, we thought it would be OK but it isn't. Figure 6" of ice is enough to hold it.......we plan to take it out early ice next year.

Chris IS very helpful and knowledgeable, he helped us out. We went to ta few other shops, but he knew what he was doing and gave us the right package. I would buy from Beberg's again.

[BartmanMN]

Sweet looking set up. Would love to see some inside shots as well. That reflective wrap is amazing at night.

[CrewJones]

looks great, the wrap is awesome.

good luck on the fish

[landscaper]

looking good!!

[elkrivermn]

I want mine fairly basic as well to cut down on the weight of the house.I want to make it a sleeper house with a fold down dinette and a wall heater maybe another folding bunk and a counter up front in the v with a cook top with a oven and just using the cedar boards along the wall to attache led lights, rattle reels, coat hooks. Look forward to seeing inside pics. One thing that I find interesting is how difficult it is to tow your house. Have you considered installing plastic skins under your skis? It will make a huge difference in how easy it s to slide the house.

[CaptainMusky]

What type of machines are you trying to pull it with? If you don't at least have a long track that is a major problem. Perhaps a bearcat is in order?

[expl]

Nice shack,someday I will get one like that.Legend of Lake Carlos?How has Carlos been treating you this winter?I fish the chain in the summer months been years since Ive ice fished it in the winter.Have fun and good luck.

[hcs]

I want mine fairly basic as well to cut down on the weight of the house.I want to make it a sleeper house with a fold down dinette and a wall heater maybe another folding bunk and a counter up front in the v with a cook top with a oven and just using the cedar boards along the wall to attache led lights, rattle reels, coat hooks. Look forward to seeing inside pics. One thing that I find interesting is how difficult it is to tow your house. Have you considered installing plastic skins under your skis? It will make a huge difference in how easy it s to slide the house.

We have the low friction slides installed on the skis. We are pulling it with an Arctic Cat 580 sled and a Polaris 500. They are not enough. On hard ice/pavement, they are fine.....5" of snow....no way. The snow needs to be hard packed.

The bottom line, if you are pulling one of these, you need a 4 wheeler or MAYBE a long track sled with studs. It is heavier than we thought. With a Honda Pilot, it got stuck in an 8" drift trying to pull it.

I love the house, but we under estimated moving it.

[hcs]

Nice shack,someday I will get one like that.Legend of Lake Carlos?How has Carlos been treating you this winter?I fish the chain in the summer months been years since Ive ice fished it in the winter.Have fun and good luck.

Early ice on Carlos is good. We (2 of us) got 10 walleye today and one nice northern. Last year we got 8 walleye all season. Le Homme Dieu is much better in the winter, better access and more consistent bite. More people fish LHD....Carlos is hard.

[expl]

Soumds like a good day to me.My family has a summer cabin on LeHommeDeiu,Ive fished it since I could walk and talk and Im 35 now so I know the lake pretty good.Have done most all of my winter fishing onDeiu also back when I did fish there in the winter anyways,Never did hit Carlos in the winter though

[V-12 Merlin]

Awesome graphics! That's really cool!

[Princeton]

The graphics are really cool, and I agree Chris at Bebergs is great to work with. I have a 8 x 12 aluma lite that I bought from him last year. My house tips in around 1,800 - 2,000 pounds depending how much gear I load it up with. Believe it or not I pull it with a 1994 big bear 350 with diamond patterned studded chains on it. I pulled it out last weekend through 10 inches of snow, but no drifts. I would suggest getting an ATV with chains on the tires. It is all about traction and keeping the momentum going. I have also found that a long piece of 1.5 inch pipe comes in handy when blocking up the house, I use it to pry/lift up the house

[bak2MN]

Princeton do you have plastic runners on your skids? I have a 8x10 and a 500 sportsman chained up struggles. And mine only weighs around 1100 pounds

[B-man715]

Some shacks are neat......... some are cool............ some are awesome.... that thing is BODACIOUS!!

They did a very nice job on the graphics. What did it set you back?? I would assume they installed them?

How well is it supposed to handle the elements (UV)? Any kind of warranty?

[hcs]

Some shacks are neat......... some are cool............ some are awesome.... that thing is BODACIOUS!!

They did a very nice job on the graphics. What did it set you back?? I would assume they installed them?

How well is it supposed to handle the elements (UV)? Any kind of warranty?

Thanks for the nice comments, it adds to the fun of owning the house. A little nicer than a white house.

These films are used on trucks, fleet vehicles and autos, they are made for outdoor use. Since BrandInk uses the 3M inks and overlaminate it comes with a multi year 3M MCS warranty. I don't expect any issues. As for price, I have to admit that I have an 'in' with the graphics group and didn't pay retail. I also did the install myself with some trained buddies (I DON"T recommend this unless you are trained.....it isn't easy.). It took about 4 hours with 3 of us. BrandInk does install the graphics ...they design, print, laminate and install. The reflective material is expensive, it would be much more economical to use IJ180C Fleet graphic material and just use some reflective pieces in the design.

I would love to see one of the large Ice Castle's wrapped.....

[slammer]

How do you guys transport the house down the road? Sled trailer? Pickup box? Are they easy to load up?

[Princeton]

Princeton do you have plastic runners on your skids? I have a 8x10 and a 500 sportsman chained up struggles. And mine only weighs around 1100 pounds

I do have plastic runners on the skids. The 350 has low range, and it is giving it's all to pull it, but it does a reasonable job of pulling. At times I do need a little help with a pry bar and a buddy to get it moving but once it starts to move it pulls ok. Do you lack power or are your wheels spinning? The diamond patterned spiked chains are super aggressive and my tires only spin when I initially start pulling. I once tried to pull the house without breaking it free and I dug about a 2 inch deep hole in the ice with the tires.

[Princeton]

How do you guys transport the house down the road? Sled trailer? Pickup box? Are they easy to load up?

I load my 8 x 12 up on a snowmobile trailer. Bebergs Outdoors sells them. They are a heavy duty tilt snowmobile trailer with a winch on it.

[elkrivermn]

Wow!!!! some great comments from skid house owners, It is making me second guess my thoughts about purchasing a 8X12 house because of the pulling issues. It seems to be more work to load and unload the house on a snowmobile trailer then have the hassle of not being able to tow the house of of the plowed roads because of snow. Also my atv trailer is new 7x8 which means a new trailer 8X12 or larger is needed to haul the house at a cost of $2,400 for a nice trailer. Maybe a wheel house is better then I do not need a new trailer? I like Ridgeline but 6 foot wide is to small to have a dinetted that folds down to a bed. Am I better off going with a 8 foot wide aluminum house such as a 8X16 spray foamed unfinished on the inside instead of a 8X12 skid house? The Yetti, Firebrand look pretty decent, what do you folks think?