5th wheel style drop down fish house

[Powerstroke]

I'm throwing this out there to see if others wonder about this like I do. Personally, I want to have a drop down fish house and the wife and I would like to have a 5th wheel camper to tow around in the summer. Since I'm not rich, famous or any combination of the two, I figured we could find something that satisfied both needs.

I cna't find anything at all on this idea. I don't think its even been done. So, has anyone else ever contemplated this? Me and Desperado went up to Mille Lacs last weekend and got to talking about this concept. Apparently there are only 2 dealers he talked to at a trade show that are working on the idea and neither have anything solid yet. We think there is a market for this, especially for folks who would like to tow a fish house capable of sleeping more than 4 people and you could park sleds or ATV's in the rear. Best part is you can still tow another trailer behind it for other gear, vehicles or a boat in the summer.

I'm hoping some of the other Drop-down shack makers consider the idea because its a whole lot easier to convince the CFO (wife) of a purchase of this size if its a family purchase that can be used year round.

[iffwalleyes]

Here is one that I have seen.

It obviously is a home made job. But, It might give you some ideas that you can take to a manufacture and have them come up with something. Hydraulics under the gooseneck, and on the wheels on the back. I myself would put tandems in it and slid the axle under the house rather than just on the back. I would also get a door large enough in the back that you could load sleds or 4 wheelers into. Or, put a hitch on the back and you could pull another trailer behind it like people do with boats.

[Powerstroke]

iff, you and I are thinking on the same page. I would want dual drop down axles (that design is already out there) with a kingpin or gooseneck style hitch. There could be sleeping or storage in the front overhang, a drop down rear for ATV/sled storage, heck you could have a slideout for extra room without having to commit to too much space. Of course there is a lot of weight to designs like this, but its not too bad compared to some of the other decked out wheel houses I've seen on the ice.

[huntnfish]

This would be a very good idea. I like the idea of having a sleeping area above the hitch. The one drawback that I could think of would be that you would have to wait until there was enough ice for your pickup and house to get on the ice because you wouldn't be able to pull the house out with a fourwheeler. I think the manufacturers see a more limited market with a lot of people either having an SUV or a pickup without a fifth wheel, but it would be something to look into.

[hanson]

I think a 5th wheel style drop down house would cater to a lot of folks. I know I was wondering if anyone made one a couple years and think I may have even mentioned it to Iffwalleyes one day as well.

The benefit? You can pull 2 trailers. I would have my snowmobiles in tow behind the 5th wheel drop axle.

[hawkeye43]

After looking at our 5th wheel trailer, I don't think it would be that much more to build one. Now if you were to have air ride, air to lift and lower that would be sweet.

[Stradic]

It would be sweet if you had the 2 feet of ice needed to drive it onto the lake. We have four weekends of ice fishing left and unless you go to Lake of the Woods, we don't have 2 feet of ice anywhere in the state. Seems like a little waste of money and time to build this type a behemoth.

[federline]

My thought exactly Stradic. The big advantage I see is what hanson said - you can tow another non-commercial trailer behind a 5th wheel legally, and that means you can bring more toys behind a single truck.

Note that double trailer towing laws vary wildly, and in over 20 states it is technically illegal (but not well enforced in most). In MN, your 5th wheel has to be limited to 28 feet and total combo length is 70 feet for pulling double. In some states, the second trailer can only be a watercraft, too. In MN, it is a little more liberal, like snowmobiles, ATVs, motorcycles and equestrian supplies, but still restricted. Before sinking $$$ into a project, better verify the laws for the states you want to head to with it. Eastern states are more picky than western about recreational double towing.

Also, beware, it is illegal to drive a recreational combo in the Twin Cities 7-county metro during 6a-9a & 4p-7p M-F.

I do think that not being able to tow a 5th wheel with an ATV is a big negative, tho. Even if you rigged a std hitch for it to do it with, the toungue weight of well balanced 5th wheels would wallop almost every ATV on the market, especially by the time you cleared the gooseneck or overhang, you'd be packing a few 200 pound buddies in back of the axle just to get it out.

I'd start thinking about a gooseneck flatbed trailer to put the regular fish house on, instead. And while we're at it, just get a long enuff gooseneck to put all the stuff on. I'm such a killjoy.

Speaking of that - two years ago, I camped next to a guy who used a medium duty semi to pull his fifth wheel. He had a professional car carrier setup to bring his car along - on TOP of the semi cab.

[Desperado]

I agree if you're only thinking of this as an Ice Fishing shack.

We're thinking of this as a year round camper that gets used in the summer at places like Father Hennepin State Park (or any resort with a campground) and can be pulled out to the Black Hills or Yellowstone for vacation.

Then Red Lake during the week in March that the kids are off from school for spring break is just BONUS. With that type of planned usage, the idea becomes a little more feasible.

There are places on Mille Lacs that I would be comfortable placing such a rig now. Not out on the mud flats necessarily. But if I have a sleeper placed on a fairly shallow spot on a rock pile, then I really just want it as a base camp. I'll be out fishing in the portable during prime time and midday hours. Then when it's bedtime at least I can have lines down for a chance to catch a fish (if I spend the night in a cabin on shore, there's not even a chance during the time I'm in the cabin).

[Stradic]

I'm guessing you'd need a 1-ton to pull this type of house out. So, what are we talking like, 10000-12000lbs? I don't know. You can go ahead and drive that out on 18 inches of ice, I'll watch from a safe distance, then see if I can make it. I'm not even sure about driving my 1/4 ton and 14 foot wheelhouse out to the flats this weekend!!! I know I'm being cautious but maybe I'm just a wuss.

[Desperado]

I understand that this isn't for everybody. If you want to be really mobile and be able to go anywhere , this just isn't the rig to pull all over lake. But for a year-'round multi-use family-camping rig, It'd be hard to beat. I just have to employ other ways to be mobile while using the "sleeper shack" as base camp.

My three quarter ton diesel would pull this type of trailer BUT I would NOT go to the flats right now with that truck pulling any wheel house.

I WOULD consider some of the reefs that are right in front of some of the resorts. I probably wouldn't even go out as far as Hennepin Island right now but I know of a resort that pulled 8x20 and 8x24 foot wheel houses out there 2 weeks ago.

I'm not considering anything bigger than 8x24 anyhow because I have to stay that small in order to still be within legal total length when towing a fifth wheel and boat together.

As far as tongue weight, the feet under the landing gear could be made like a ski so you could pull the shack with a tow bar while the landing gear is down. The only tongue weight would be the weight of your tow bar. The issues for an ATV would be: enough POWER and TRACTION to pull the weight of the trailer. I'd bet an argo with tracks would do the job quite nicely!

[Mydogsnaps]

I had about the same problem, I ended up buying a toy hauler pull behind 30' camper. the backend opens up and I can fit my 16' boat with trailier inside of it. I'm betting you could even find a decent size fish house that would fit inside one of these. I can get about 5000lbs inside of my camper. One problem, don't believe the salesman when they tell you a half-ton pick-up will pull this, I ended up buying a 3/4 ton 6.0 liter gas chevy, this will pull it but you can only get it up to 70mph floored, also gas mileage is at best 6 miles a gallon. I ended up with a 3/4 ton 6.6 chevy Dura max Diesel. I get 12 mpg fully loaded pulling the camper and close to 20mpg on the hwy not pulling anything. The added bonus with this truck is when I got the super chip for it, I can leave stock Vettes in the dust.