Wheel House: Do's and Don't's

[tisosy11]

Hello all,

I am new to this forum, but have been reading the posts the last couple of days - I absolutely love it.

I am planning on building my first wheelhouse and was curious as to some of the things I should do for sure and some of the things i should stay away from. I am hoping to put a ramp in the rear for the wheeler as well.

Just looking for some expert advice from folks that are skilled at wheelhouse erection.

[icefishingdude]

Their are many things that deal with building a fish house. However, one of the biggest things I like in my house is an insulated floor. This may or may not be necc. or possible with some styles, but for the standard 8x12 it works great. Also, this may be obvious, but proper placement of a 12v or ceiling fan helps tremendously with warmth.

[broman]

I built one this summer. It took alot of time and effort. We sprayfoamed (bought kit from place in Plymouth) and also insulated the floor. Sprayfoaming is about $300 more than using sheets, but is awesome. Roof is rubber membrane. A direct vent heater is a must. Keeps things nice and toasty, safe and dry. I put windows on 3 sides and also outdoor lights to aim at tipups. The three windows in the bench area are placed so that you don't have to get up to look at tip ups. You can just look right out the window. The most important part of your wheelhouse is the frame. I would suggest purchasing one if possible.

[matt_bewley]

I am also new to the forum but i just buil a 20 foot v-nose with retractable wheels, i built everything from scratch so if you have any questions at all just give me a hollar and i will try to assist you anyway possible. Only spent a total of about $3000 and it turned out great.

[Eric Wettschreck]

The biggest piece of advise I could give is if you don't know how to weld, well, and are a little unsure of the engineering end of it, buy a frame. Buy a top quality frame. One side of the road breakdown will cement that advice.

[ice_it_06]

Matt:

Thats a pretty lean budget for a 20' house. Did you have access to cheap materials and how option filled is the house.

When you figure a guy can't get a good HD 20' trailer for much under $2,500 after taxes you built one cost effective unit.

[paceman]

Although I didn't built one, I bought a used 7 x 14 this summer. A few things I don't like after using it for awhile are, the windows are too small. I need to have lights on an hour before and after dark; hole location - They did not put the holes in the corners. I wish they would have. And I wish it would have springs on the axles for a more smooth ride. It doesn't and bounces pretty good down the highway. Now I know what a want for my next house..

[randallt]

I was going to do the same last year and many people said to buy the "shell" and finish the inside. When getting quotes I got a great deal on a custom ice castle by deal I mean I could not have built it for what I paid. It was at the end of season when I ordered and I wasn't able to use it till this year but what a deal. They were clearing out inventory.

I love the way mine is laid out but I always wonder why people don't put a large side door in so you can pull a wheeler in sideways. That way you would have to loose the back bunk space. Perhaps it is a weight distribution issue. I certainly am not an engineer.

Anyway if you e-mail me I will give you contact info for the dealer I used. I don't think we can post it here as I am not sure he is a sponsor. He is a small business that does the fishhouse thing on the side, but he does deal ice castle.

[matt_bewley]

its not all that lean of a budget when you add everything up especially when you do all the work yourself but i did watch for sales on most of the building materials other than the steel. but steel for the trailer was only $200 plus 2 hubs, 2 winches and 2 tires. so i have about $450 into the trailer thats $2500 left to spend on building materials. for ex. another thing i did to save a few dollars was to make rattle reels, i took a reel from a friend and made a pattern so the cost me about a $1.50 to make.

[matt_bewley]

i do agree with boilerguy if you cant weld fairly well it is worth it to just buy a trailer, plus it takes alot of time to fugure out the drop down part of it, the pullys for the winches and where to put the axels so that it rides strait and has the right amount of tounge weight.

[matt_bewley]

sorry i didnt see the ? about what options i have in the house. I have a buit in livewell/ bait holder in one of the wheel wells with a rod storage box on it too, and in the other wheel well i have a built in battery box and a electonics cabnet, for the electronics i have 3 110v outlets , a cd player, 12 to 110v power inverter, and a 110v to 12v power inverter that i can use when im running a generator it will power all of the lights and electronics and it also backfeeds and charges the battery with the extra power. I have wood rattle reels and the front 4 foot v is the bathroom.

[late night]

I dont have wheeled house but I wish I did. I do not like the lay-out of most houses I have been in. For one thing most houses are built for comfort not practical fishing. My buddy has a nice 14ft house with four holes! I think that is a waste of space. Some people are more concerned with the placement of the cribbage board and the comfort of the bench and card table rather than making the most of your fishing space. I would definatly have fold up beds, removable table and I would build a specific frame so you could have two holes side-by-side at four different locations in the house.

[matt_bewley]

that was the main reason I built my own becuse in a 20 ft manufactured you only have about 5 ft of space to fish