Ice house trailer

[Yamahopper]

I am going to purchase a drop down trailer only. Curently looking at Tundra and Ice Castle with a v-front. Any opinions on these? I want a strong, reliable trailer.

[rocki]

go with a sportsmans fish house trailer. the best built one i seen, and i looked for 6 months! ice castle is a angle iron frame most of the time!

[Yamahopper]

Where can I find these sportman trailers? Hold on I just found it. Looks very interesting with the suspention and also has a heavy duty option. Another one to check out Thank You.

[Mike Steckelberg]

an angle iron frame is a durable frame(ice castle) otherwise if you don't like the idea of angle iron find one with 1" tubing still light and strong

[fishinalot]

Want strong and reliable, get a "Tundra".

Had 2 in the past and they are built to last. They were the first in the business building the heavy-duty suspension with the #5200 spindles.

What ever you decide on, do not get a angle iron frame.

[hovermn]

I've posted this before, but here's an example of what angle iron frames will do. Keep in mind that this is a new fish house, not one that's traveled across miles and miles of rough frozen lakes:

[Yamahopper]

Thank You very much, This is why I was looking for opinions on trailers. This picture is just what I do not need to happen to me.

[Yamahopper]

Hey Rocki, Do you have one of those trailers? If so, how do you like the spring set up on it? I am currently geting a estimate on that trailer. I have eliminated one but am still considering the Tundra.

[sparkydm]

go with the tundra. i talked to people who have both, tundra owners most satisfied. ice castle owners not very impressed,they bought the fish houses without any knowledge of trailers. they assumed that by spending $10,000, they would never have any problems-wrong! go with the tundra

[MuleShack]

Let me take this a step further....

I checked out the tundra frames but it seems they only come in the 6 1/2' style.

If one wanted a good manufacturer for an 8' wide trailer...what would that choice be?

[Down2Earth]

It depends on if you plan on pulling it up to Millacs or Red every weekend or just setting it up on a lake around home. Most of the fishhouse I've seen like "Ice Castle" are not meant to be pounded up and down the road. I'm sure their are those who have never had trouble, but I know of lots who have seen or personnally have had the tires fall right off. I can't remember who posted it but I believe their is a company in Iowa that builds Ice House trailers with a torsion axle. If I was going to be doing a lot of traveling with it that's what I would do.

[R_B]

I have an ice castle frame and the axles bent eventhough the house weighed less than what it was rated for. I sent it to the fish house store in Milaca to be fixed. I am very pleased with how it turned out. Their axles are rated for much more weight and they have a 10 year warranty! If I ever buy another frame it will be through them.

[Augusta]

RB,

Can I ask you how much that cost you? Thanks

[Down2Earth]

I did a search and it's called Hayfield Industries in Iowa. I see you can get the fishhouses custom built but they are pretty much a "Plain Jane". But maybe they would just make the trailer for you and you could do the rest yourself.

[rocki]

i have one, they are built tough and also the powder coat was a plus for me, very nice trailer.

[R_B]

Augusta,

I wanna say around $1500 but don't recall for sure. It was well worth it. They put on a new full length axle with new suspension and tires (landing gear). The diameter of the axle is much greater than the ice castle and does not have to be lubed as often.

[sparkydm]

yamahopper, i got all excited when you mentioned torsion axles from hayfield ind. checked their site and there is no mention of torsion axles, all pics show leaf spring set ups. do you know if it is an option maybe? i agree that torsion would be better.

[Yamahopper]

I think someone else mentioned torsion axles.

[sparkydm]

yes you are right. i [PoorWordUsage]ed the bed there. sorry!

[germanshorthairs]

check out "the fish house store" they have 10 yr. warranty on there frames. I bought a 16foot shell and finished the rest myself. I haul my wheeler and lots of other things and have no problems. Diffenitely built to last.

[disdatlat2]

I am looking at building a wheeled house. My question are do you insulate the floor? if you do, do you bolt plywood to the bottom of the trailer? And if you do that, wont it stick and rip or peel off when you pull it up to move it?

my other question is that should your door open in or open out? does it matter that much? the only problem I could see that if opened in, it might be in the way of a fish hole! any input will help as I am kind of dumb(anal) :-)

[Down2Earth]

Here is the link from a discussion on the Hayfield Ind. Fish houses.

FM Previous Post

[Desperado]

The only one I know of with torsion axles is Dream Shak

[broman]

disdatlat2,

doors open out, like you said, because if they open in, they waste valuable inside space.

As for the insulation, put plywood on top of the frame, then a layer of foamboard, then another layer of plywood. Use green or marine grade plywood of course. For some good pics look at this site.

http://www.mnconclave.com/gallery/Fishhouse

It's got great pics of Klersks project.

[fishinalot]

Beware of the fine print behind the Fish House Stores 10 year "LIMITED" so called warranty!!

Bottom line is this....

It seems your shopping for price. If your shopping that way there are a lot of frames around $1000. If you plan on putting $5000-$10000 on top of a cheap frame... all you will have is a cheap fish house.

My 2 cents... spend a little more and have a frame that will outlast the mold in your fish house, "Tundra" from Fish House Supply.