Travel trailer / Camper conversion to ice house

[manderson]

I am about to convert a 1962 Corsair 16' single axle camper to an ice house.

I am looking for tips or ideas on what to do or not to do.

For example, should I modify the undercarriage to make removable wheels, or just leave it on the wheels and put up skirting around the outside. How many holes, and where etc.

I've never done this before, and would rather learn from others than by the "school of hard knocks."

Thanks!

[harvey lee]

Welcome to Fishing Minnesota and Hot Spot Outdoors.I will let someone with more knowledge to inform you how to do this.Good luck on your project.You could also try and call some of our fish house sponsors to get a few ideas.They are very helpfull and will also have any items you will need to get this project going in the right way.

Again,Welcome.

[jiggin 4 fun]

Have you tryed using the search feature?

We also converted a travel trailer and

just took any thing out that wasn't needed and

got alot more walking room

installed hole lights,rattle reels,radio,tv,furnace

should be good to go

[cold one sd]

I have a converted Palomino popup and I figured things out as I went. I'm sure you have your own ideas as far as how much floor space you want and how many cabinets you want to keep. I have 2 holes in each end and I put a pipe and canvas bed in each end to save room. I have added things when I found a need for several years. It would be nice to have a dinette though instead of a card table. I fish through 10" PVC pipes with no skirting.

[manderson]

Thank you for the quick response. I am still very new to this site, and I am still finding my way around. I will try the search feature.

Happy fishing!

[manderson]

I like the idea of the 10" PVC. I had considered using aluminum flashing rolled in a cylinder and allowed to expand to the size of the hole. The PVC would probably be an easier way to go! Thanks.

Another question: How do you drill your holes? From the pop-up, or do you mark them and drill/clean out and move back over them. In Minnesota in January, the ice can be 3+ feet thick, to which you must add the height of the rig off the ice. May require an extension on the old auger.

Stay safe on the ice!

[theminnow]

we are in the process of turning a 12' single axel into an icehouse. what me and my friends did, is completely gut everything, built the walls in 7/16" plywood to the top of the windows and peg board for the upper walls and ceiling. we got a bunch of insulation for free so its a mix of foam and fiberglass. we run 2 10" holes in back and 2 10" holes in front and 1 kinda in the front middle. we are just using 5 gallon buckets with the bottoms cut out for our sleeves. all we got left is to mount our heater and run wiring for the generator!!! hope this gives you some idea's..

[katofishingguy]

I have been tossing the around the idea of converting a travel trailer where did you find your's and what did you pay for them?

[cold one sd]

I drill the holes from the inside of the popup and clean the center of them out. When I put the pvc down, the ice cone seals the wind out. I use foam seals like the ones you use for a window air conditioner glued together on the end to go around the top of the pvc. This this seals the wind out of the popup. I'm in South Dakota and I sometimes need the extension in late winter. I think ice would stick to the aluminum flashing and it would be hard to work with. When I want to move, I just give em a kick and pull them up. It looks weird, but works well.

[manderson]

I had been looking all spring and summer for a single axle camper trailer. No luck, everytime my wife would see one and ask me to go look at it, it would be sold before I got to it. I had just resigned myself to the fact that it wouldn't happen this year, and lo and behold, a miracle. At the end of deer season a guy in my area was upgrading to a bigger trailer, and I made him an offer which he accepted.

All of the trailers that I had seen and heard of through the spring and summer were selling for around $600.00 give or take.

I had looked on hsolist, and they had a few, but you would have to travel to pick it up. I had seen a few around the resorts in the Baudette area, and in the Red Lake area. Sometimes a guy gets tired of them, or upgrades, and the resort owner will help sell. Especially the ones that allow storage. The ones that are ready to go have been in the $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 range. I think that will be close to what I will have in mine by the time I get new tires, generator, fix lights, etc.

Good luck, and stay safe on the ice!

[caughtacase73]

I have a 14 ft. hardside camper that was converted last year. We did not remove much from the inside. We did remove things we did not need such as the sink and the small fridge. We wanted to leave most of the storage and the the table in the front that converts to a bed. The camper came with a small heater that was probably made for cool summer nights so we use the oven for our heat source.

We use cement blocks to rest the camper on the ice. Using the tongue jack we jack the tongue all the way down, this raises the rear of the camper enough to place blocks under the frame. We then raise the tongue up all the way and remove the wheels. Once the wheels are removed we place blocks under the front and lower the jack. The process really only takes about 10 minutes at most. We drill our holes from inside the house and use 10" pvc in the holes. The floor of house ends up being about 15 inches off the ice. We don't use any skirting around the house. We use computer fans mounted at the ceiling to keep hot air moving in the house and help push warm air down the holes. We don't have too many accessories just a small tv/radio and lights. We use 2 deep cycle batteries and can usually fish for an entire weekend if we don't use the tv too much. Tear down/ move / set up / fishing is about a 20 minute process not counting travel time.

We have only used out house for 1 year so we are in the trial and error stages. I will give updates as the year goes on.

Travis

[Dave]

I converted a 16' travel trailer years ago. I believe it was a '70s model. Weighed in at 4000 pounds, too. Much more than I thought.

I left everything intact so we could use it for camping as well. When cutting the floor holes, I saved the cutout piece, screwed an aluminum strip around the underside of the hole cut in the floor. That way, the floor "plug" could be set back in the floor during the summer months. Wiht a piece of carpet, you couldn't even tell it was used as a fish house, too.

I used two 5-gallon buckets, telescoping the top one into the bottom, in each hole. I just left the wheels on and banked it high with snow. I did add 2-inch foam insulation under it as well. Wasn't as warm as I thought it would be though.

[rippinlipz]

Travis and dave, thanks for the imput. Does your holes freeze up without the skirting? This will be my first year with a camper conversion.

[caughtacase73]

Last year was our first year and the weather was extremely warm. We mounted computer fans on the ceiling to move warm air down the holes. We have also used an old sauce pan on the stove to warm water. Then just dump warm water down the holes as needed at first sign of ice up.