How much Ice is needed,,,,,,

[Gofishleech]

How much Ice is needed to put out a 20ft ice castle fish house? Never had one this big before and looking for info from those of you that have a house that large.

Thanks

[Guest]

I would make an educated guess a lot of *how much* is going to depend on what your pulling it with. It will take more ice to pull it behind a 3/4 ton suburban, or 1 ton pickup than it will to pull it with a mid size suv, or atv(doubtful with 20' house).

How much does it weigh? And what are you pulling it with? With these answers, somebody should be able to give you some accurate estimates. 12" sounds good if your pulling it by hand.. but I would be safe saying you will want considerably more if pulling it with a truck. I wouldnt put it behind my 3/4 ton van without at least 18" of ice, but I would feel better with 2'.

[Gofishleech]

will be pulling it with 1/2 ton truck, im guessing at least 18" but im conserned about settleing after placement. Of course I will be blocking it up but with the late ice production I am conserned.

[upnorth]

I would think 14 to 16 inches of good ice should be a pretty safe bet. I think they park big tow rigs for snowmobile races on 12". That being said my personal limit for any full sized pickup is 12 inches of good ice. I know some people will drive on less, but then again maybe I am just chicken

[End of the Line]

Weight needs to be known, and the other thing would be axle/wheels. Is it a tandem axle or single? Whats the spacing? You can get by on a little less ice with a tandem than a single on account of pressure per square inch. You can do a simple mathmatical formula. For example your tow vehicle may weigh in at 3300lbs.divided by 4 tires=825lbs per tire with a minimum of apprx. 5' spacing. So an ice house at 2500 lbs. divided by 2 tires again min 5 foot spacing would=1250lbs per tire. Thats a 33% more pressure on the same area roughly(tire size not the same) if I think I did this right. So if your comfortable with 12" for your tow vehicle then 15.96 inches would be roughly the same even when towed right behind the vehicle because of min spacing again. Generally I would guess that 14" of good ice would be minimum. I have a tandem axle 8x22 that weighs in at 3200# with all the propane tanks filled and gear etc... Havent had a problem with it yet on 14" with 6 guys sleeping in it and their gear too. Park the tow vehicle at least 8 feet away too. These are my opinion and nothing more...Have fun in your new house!

[Gissert]

I've posted this link before, but i"ll put it up again. It is an excellent source of information on ice sheet strength and safety. It comes from the Army Corps of Engineers.

http://www.crrel.usace.army.mil/ierd/ice_safety/safety.html

[Steve Foss]

Gissert: That's an EXCELLENT resource. No guessing is good guessing when it's your life. Thanks!

[Guest]

That table looks like its designed to get people wet on years like this year. I'm sure its accurate for perfect ice for a load that doesnt move.

The way the chart reads it more or less states its safe on 9" of ice for a 3/4 ton suburban pulling a wheeled house and gear... If you try this, I will be at the access watching and placing bets your 1st fish would have to come by spear gun shot out the drivers window(vehicle under water).

There are lots of variables listed below the charts on determining ice thickness and weight it will hold. Read them carefully and remember anything within a certain perimeter of your vehicle adds to the weight.. other houses, trucks, SNOW weighs up quick. There are also variations and exceptions with temperature.. above freezing, or well below.

Be smart and be safe. Good luck fishing!

[Gofishleech]

Thanks for the great responces guys, I think I will WAIT for atleast 16 inces so I have a little room for ice veriation. I am really a chicken when it comes to ice.

[Mr.Perch]

You are right about the ice this year I have not had to use the power auger yet. Have found lakes with 7" of ice that have taken less than 12 turns of the hand auger to go through. I guess the trick is to learn what is good ice.

[iffwalleyes]

Huh that chart looks to me like if I followed it I would be wet. My 2500HD duramax weights 8000 lbs with me in it. According to the scale on my construction project this fall. That is 4 ton the square root of 4 tons is 2 times 4 equals 8 inches. I don't think that seem quite right. I will wait for 12-14 and then go out I guess. I am not saying it isn't a good resourse but I think the corp might want to do some updating of the chart.

[Gissert]

Guys -

Look at those charts again, and then read the text. Slush ice that is refrozen is considerd MUCH weaker than good clear ice. Dont go by the chart alone. You have to factor in the bad ice with the good.

The best information in that site is contained in the text, not so much the charts.

Looking at the chart by itself can be misleading. The interesting part of that site is in the text on how ice behaves to changing weather conditions, and how refrozen ice behaves.

I have a 3/4 ton diesel truck, and there is no way I am taking that out with the conditions we have this year.