Illegal Fish-house widths?

[TrapMan13]

I have a 8x12 icehouse(inside) and i know this is quite a bit over the legal limit so i have 2 questions.. We have asked two different officers about it and one said that he wouldnt and doesnt see many tickets for something like this but the other said it happens all the time(people gettin tickets for oversized houses) so i was wondering if any of you have ever gotten a fine for this? if so how much was it.. I was looking into pulling it up to a lake up north this xmas break and now i got to thinking this might not be such a good idea? Thanks

Chad

[anyfishwilldo]

The legal limit is 104" not 96".

[hitthebricks]

Ditto on the 104", After that you just need a permit for oversized load, HTB

[mtreno]

thats tire to tire right?

[hanson]

You are corrent mtreno-

Outside of tire to outside of tire.

If your fish house is 8' wide, and you have retractable wheels on top of that, you are illegal for the highway.

[psegriz]

It depends upon the police, some won't bother you and others will. I know a couple and they have different views. One said "yea it's technically illegal but I don't know of anyone who'd pull a guy over with a fishhouse. That's rediculous." The other said "My job is to enforce the law even if I don't agree with it." Take your pick which one you run into.

I had a flat on mine once and was changing the tire when a trooper pulled up to see if I needed help. He either didn't notice or didn't care outside to outside was 9'-10". All he asked was where I was going and I told him red lake so I got about 4 more hrs. togo. He told me as long as it's not a real problem he'll let me get going.

[Whopper Stopper]

My experience with cops is give them a reason to pull you over and usually it's down hill after that.

WS

[fishing41]

I have the same issue with my house. It's an 8x12 house with the tires on the outside. I got a smokin' deal on it, so I can't complain too much, but due to the width, I don't take it anywhere but my home lake. I called the state patrol when I got it to ask the towing questions as well. I could get a permit, but it would only be for certain days/times and would be WAY too much of a hassle.

For me, it's really more of a safety issue than a legality issue. There's absolutely NO WAY of seeing behind or around the house while driving. You'd be taking completely blind corners and would never know what was behind you. Only option would be to have someone follow you with a cell phone or a radio. Too much hassle. I stick with the portable when traveling.

[FullTilt]

fishing41 makes a good point about safety. You probably won't get a ticket, but in the unfortunate circumstance where you were in an accident and someone was hurt or killed you'd have a pile of hungry attorney on your tail. I'd think it would be a slam dunk negligence settlement.

I was reminded of this by a news special a couple months ago about trailers with break away brakes and proper safety chains.

[mpls_ham]

My 7x14 is slightly over 9 feet tire to tire and I have had no problems. One exception is that all of the ice bridges on Mille Lacs are 8' wide so I have to drive to the south end of the lake to get on.

[danny berg]

My house is 8 x 12 and the wheels extend about a foot or more on either side. I only drive 2 miles to the lake, I put a slow moving sign on the back and also lights, so when driving I use the emergency flasher. I also drive over on the shoulder as much as possible. I drove the house to the cities from Glenwood (approx 116 miles) on highway 55 at 35 miles an hour, pulling off the road to let traffic by as needed. I was passed by no less than 6 cops, who just smiled and waived at me.

The Carver County deputies I have talked to, said as long as I look like I am trying to be as safety minded as possible, they wouldn't mess with me. Of course, the ones I've talked to are also the ones I invite out to my fishhouse, or offer them coffee or stew while making the rounds on the lake.

[arbuck]

Legal width is 102" not 104" and the fines are somewhat dependant on what county you are in, but a rough estamate would be about $110.00. As stated above alot will depend on the officer that stops or doesn't stop you.

I think the best point made was the safety issue. It is one thing to pull it a couple of miles on back roads to a local lake and an entirely different thing to take it on a long trip through the cities. I would not recomend pulling it for any distance.

State Statute 169.80 if you want to read up on it.

Subd. 2. Outside width. (a) The total outside width of a vehicle exclusive of rearview mirrors or load securement devices which are not an integral part of the vehicle and not exceeding three inches on each side, or the load may not exceed 102 inches except that the outside width of a vehicle owned by a political subdivision and used exclusively for the purpose of handling sewage sludge from sewage treatment facilities to farm fields or disposal sites, may not exceed 12 feet, and except as otherwise provided in this section.

arbuck