Camper fish house

[FloppyCrappie]

I got an old 16ft Jayco travel trailer I would like to convert into a fish house. I would still like to use it in the summer months. Anyone out there done this? Advice??

[Big D 1]

I did that to an old apache, I would think you could make the transition, however, there are some limitations.

With my apache, I gutted it. With yours, you would need to slide out the bed ends, which would make for a great windcatcher, to slide you along the ice. I would rethink keeping an all in one unit, and find an old popup to gut.

IMHO

D

[silveroddo]

Is it a pop up type house or tavel trailer? I've got a 7x12 winebago that I bought already converted. I've also used a converted slide in pickup camper fishouse. With the Winebago the guy put a bigger heater in it, then cut the holes and used catch covers and hole sleeves, which work really well. It is a little higher on the ice than some people are used to but its really not a big deal. One thing you should really look for is rot/dry rot in the frame/walls of the house, these older campers seem to get bad cases of that. You can probably live with a little but keep in mind how extensive the damage may be before putting to much money into it.

[FloppyCrappie]

It not a pop up but a regular old travel trailer. How much ice do you wait for before putting one of them out? Its around 2000 lbs. Are those furnaces they come with enough to heat it (no fan).

[nytelyter]

i converted a pick up camper to an ice house and all i can say is HEAT HEAT HEAT they are cold creatures by nature not much insulation in them. but i was young then and dint have the bucks to do anything else. nice thing was the big blow we had one summer that tossed it into the next yard. it was fuly insured by my renters insurance. got a nice check for it and built my dream shack. good luck. .... paul

[Walterwontfalter]

My dad and uncle converted a couple of them years ago and I grew up spending most of my winters in them on Mille Lacs, when I wasn't in school of course. They took out all of the closets and most of the cupboards out and put a bigger propane furnace in it and two propane lights (which usually provided plenty of heat by themselves) They cut the holes where they wanted, being careful to not cut too close to the frame by first tracing around 5 gallon buckets. Once the holes were cut out they cut plywood squares larger than the holes to use for covers during the summer and while traveling and just used regular wood screws to screw them into the floor to keep them in place. The old furnaces are pretty easy to come by cheap but don't get too big of one as it will easily sweat you out of there. The thermostat and pilot light on them are pretty handy.