Ice House Build

[BunchOfish]

Hey everyone!  I have pondered the idea of building a wheel house for a long time.  Now that I have a little boy who will be about a year and half old next winter it gave me a good excuse to finally build one.  If I want to take the whole family out it will be much easier with a wheel house.  I have been reading through a few builds on this forum for awhile gathering tips and ideas to use on mine.  This will be a complete budget build so I have done a ton of planning.  I settled on 6.5 x 12.  I'm going to keep it simple for my first build.  It will have a table that folds down into a bunk on the back and a top bunk that folds up out of the way ad that's it besides some cabinets up front.  I do a lot of welding so I built the frame.  All the tubing is 3x2x3/16 except for the tubes that pivot.  Those are 2.5x2.5x.25 to allow room for the springs plus I wanted those to be beef up.  This frame should be way over built for how much its going to way(under 2000#).  I'm a mechanical designer so I was able to design the entire frame on SolidWorks and run test on it to see where the weak points are.  Since I'm on a tight budget I didn't insulate the floor.  I also used 2x2's for the wall studs and 2x4's for the roof which is a flat rubber roof.  I used the Prorib pole barn tin for siding and it came out super nice(I let the wife pick the color).  This is where it stands for now.  I'm about 2 months in and I'm just getting to the interior. 

[leech~~]

Nice work!  It looks like you are off to a good start. 

You can never go to heavy on the axles.  I just cringe when I see a home built flying down the freeway at 60mph with the wheels bent out!  

I think a lot of guys start off with a good plan but they load it down on the inside with more stuff then they first thought of making it a lot heavier then they had planed for the axle weight.   Don't forget to wire your tail and running lights before you close it all in on the inside.  

 

Keep posting up dates as you go! 

Edited March 26, 2019 by leech~~

[BunchOfish]

Thanks!  Yeah I started working on all the wiring last night.  My plan is to just keep it simple with very little stuff inside plus its only 12ft long so I don't have a ton of room for stuff anyways.  So far its been a fun project. I also didn't even realize how much it would match my truck until I hooked it up to test the lights haha!

[leech~~]

Well you still have time to put the white accent line on the house! 

[rl_sd]

Are you keeping things mostly 12v DC? Make sure that you wire it for 120v ac as well. That way you have the ability to put a small charger in that can run off a generator. What are you doing for insulation on the wall?  I know you said that you are on a tight budget, but have the floor sprayed somewhere down the road is a great investment. What are you doing for heat?

[BunchOfish]

Yeah its going to be mostly 12v but i will have 2 or 3 120 plugs for charging phones and id like to have a small tv to keep the kid entertained if fishing is slow.  Im planning on using the pink foam board for insulation.  For heat i was thinking one of those small wall mount vent free heaters.

[BunchOfish]

I got my clearance lights wired in tonight.

[rl_sd]

How come you moved away from the winch straps to cable? Make sure that they are stainless. 

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, rl_sd said:

How come you moved away from the winch straps to cable? Make sure that they are stainless. 

 

Just a quess but wouldn't straps turn into a solid ice block if they got wet and froze? 

Edited March 28, 2019 by leech~~

[rl_sd]

8 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

 

Just a quess but wouldn't straps turn into a solid ice block if the got wet and froze? 

Good question..... that I don’t have an answer for. I know that some of the manufactures have been putting them on. Just curious why he changed them. 

[BunchOfish]

I changed because the winches have to be perfectly in line with the anchor point other wise the strap would roll over on itself once I would crank the winch.  Well my winches must be off just a hair because they would both roll over in the winch.  That's why I went with the cables.  Also I wasn't sure how the straps would last getting blasted with road spray all winter.  Those are 1/4" stainless cables which should be trouble free for a long time.

[papadarv]

Couple of things to consider. Ventless or vent free heaters produce carbon monoxide. I don't see any vents in your build so you may need to crack your windows. Also propane produces .85 gallons of moisture for every gallon of propane burned. A 20# tank of propane holds 4.7 gallons of propane. You will put 4 gallons of moisture in your house for every 20# tank burned. Make sure you have a working CO detector.

[papadarv]

On lights. You appear to be missing Fender lights. Amber forward/red back. Also the 3 rear top center lights.

Edited March 28, 2019 by papadarv

[leech~~]

35 minutes ago, papadarv said:

On lights. You appear to be missing Fender lights. Amber forward/red back. Also the 3 rear top center lights.

 

I have hear of the 3rd top rear light but never heard about the need for fender lights nor saw many of them? I wonder if reflectors would do? That is what I have on my boat trailer. I would think it would be fun to work out the wiring on retractable wheels.

[BunchOfish]

5 hours ago, papadarv said:

Couple of things to consider. Ventless or vent free heaters produce carbon monoxide. I don't see any vents in your build so you may need to crack your windows. Also propane produces .85 gallons of moisture for every gallon of propane burned. A 20# tank of propane holds 4.7 gallons of propane. You will put 4 gallons of moisture in your house for every 20# tank burned. Make sure you have a working CO detector.

Yeah I will just crack the windows a bit.  I have always done that on my skid houses and portables. Also a CO detector is already on the list.

Edited March 28, 2019 by BunchOfish

[BunchOfish]

52 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

 

I have hear of the 3rd top rear light but never heard about the need for fender lights nor saw many of them? I wonder if reflectors would do? That is what I have on my boat trailer. I would think it would be fun to work out the wiring on retractable wheels.

I will be picking up the center3 lights tonight.  I forgot about them when I bought everything else.  I thought about putting lights on the wells but its going to cause problems down the road later.  I have nothing to run the wires inside so I'm not doing them.  Also I'm pretty sure Ice Castle doesn't have ligths on there 6.5ft wide wheels.

[papadarv]

8 hours ago, leech~~ said:

 

I have hear of the 3rd top rear light but never heard about the need for fender lights nor saw many of them? I wonder if reflectors would do? That is what I have on my boat trailer. I would think it would be fun to work out the wiring on retractable wheels.

 

7 hours ago, BunchOfish said:

I will be picking up the center3 lights tonight.  I forgot about them when I bought everything else.  I thought about putting lights on the wells but its going to cause problems down the road later.  I have nothing to run the wires inside so I'm not doing them.  Also I'm pretty sure Ice Castle doesn't have ligths on there 6.5ft wide wheels.

Side marker lights AKA fender lights are required (federal law) on all trailers 80" and larger in width. As tires and fenders are part of the trailer they count in the width so the side marker lights are required. Because wheel house fenders are attached to the wheel lift side marker lights are allowed attached to the side of the trailer/house near the center, as the bouncing wheel cause the lights to fail.  Reflectors are also required one red at back and one amber at front each side.

And yes, 6.5 Ice Castles and all other manufactured wheel houses have side markers. Top pic is an ice castle side marker light circled. Bottom pic my DIY wheel house. Where I had the lights on the fender and moved them to the side last fall after total fail due to short circuit. Link to light and reflector federal requirement.

https://one.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/standards/conspicuity/Trlrpstr.html

Edited March 29, 2019 by papadarv

[BunchOfish]

10 hours ago, papadarv said:

 

Side marker lights AKA fender lights are required (federal law) on all trailers 80" and larger in width. As tires and fenders are part of the trailer they count in the width so the side marker lights are required. Because wheel house fenders are attached to the wheel lift side marker lights are allowed attached to the side of the trailer/house near the center, as the bouncing wheel cause the lights to fail.  Reflectors are also required one red at back and one amber at front each side.

And yes, 6.5 Ice Castles and all other manufactured wheel houses have side markers. Top pic is an ice castle side marker light circled. Bottom pic my DIY wheel house. Where I had the lights on the fender and moved them to the side last fall after total fail due to short circuit. Link to light and reflector federal requirement.

https://one.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/standards/conspicuity/Trlrpstr.html

Well I'll take my chances because I'm not putting lights on my fenders.  Not to start and argument  but those lights on that Ice Castle aren't on the fenders.  There mounted to the side of the house but according to you they need to be on the fender.

[rl_sd]

19 hours ago, BunchOfish said:

I will be picking up the center3 lights tonight.  I forgot about them when I bought everything else.  I thought about putting lights on the wells but its going to cause problems down the road later.  I have nothing to run the wires inside so I'm not doing them.  Also I'm pretty sure Ice Castle doesn't have ligths on there 6.5ft wide wheels.

Not sure if you will be moving it at night or not, but one of the smartest things we did was put a licensed plate light above the wheel well for moving at night. It is a lot nicer that trying to hold a flashlight in your mouth. For what its worth... I didn't put fender marker lights on either.

 

 

 

 

[BunchOfish]

I added the 3 center lights last night and got all the 12v wiring done which wasn't much.  Just 3 lights and a light switch.  Now for the 110 wiring which I hate doing. 

[papadarv]

14 hours ago, BunchOfish said:

Well I'll take my chances because I'm not putting lights on my fenders.  Not to start and argument  but those lights on that Ice Castle aren't on the fenders.  There mounted to the side of the house but according to you they need to be on the fender.

I'm puzzled about your arguement comment we both said the same thing, Ice Castle side marker lights are attached to the side of the wheel house and not the fender (ScreenShot). I was just giving you a heads up on what I observed on your build. Your totally entitled to do whatever you desire.

[BunchOfish]

20 hours ago, papadarv said:

I'm puzzled about your arguement comment we both said the same thing, Ice Castle side marker lights are attached to the side of the wheel house and not the fender (ScreenShot). I was just giving you a heads up on what I observed on your build. Your totally entitled to do whatever you desire.

I thought you were saying that they need to be ON the fender my mistake.   I wont be pulling the house very far except for mayba a trip to Mille Lacs or LOW once a year.  I have about 10 lakes within 20 min of my house so I'll  be staying around home.

[BunchOfish]

I finished up all the wiring and insulated the ceiling today.  All my plugins work so i did something right haha! Wiring stresses me out for some reason haha.

[rickwalley]

On 3/27/2019 at 6:15 AM, BunchOfish said:

Thanks!  Yeah I started working on all the wiring last night.  My plan is to just keep it simple with very little stuff inside plus its only 12ft long so I don't have a ton of room for stuff anyways.  So far its been a fun project. I also didn't even realize how much it would match my truck until I hooked it up to test the lights haha!

 

 

FYI.....feed the dog, it looks hungry !!

 

 

[BunchOfish]

19 hours ago, rickwalley said:

 

 

FYI.....feed the dog, it looks hungry !!

 

 

Oh believe me he's fine.  Its my other dog that needs to learn to eat when the Golden does other wise the golden tries to eat his too.  The Golden would eat a bag if he had the chance.