wheel house - freeze down tips

[yamix4]

doen anyone have advise on how to keep a wheel house frame from

freezing to the ice? I have aways fished portable but looking into a wheel house however i'm not sure of the pros and cons of a wheel house besides the price.

[Dubleaa]

Set some 2 X 4's chunks (6 to 8" in length) at each corner and lower her down onto them. Bank the house and drink!

[L_Cappo]

make sure you keep an eye on the water level under the house.just incase it starts to flood you do not want your house to freeze down.make sure you have extra blocking in the shack also.never know when ya might need it.

[slipperybob]

My vote is 4X4's because I hate to be the one retrieving those 2X4's in the ice...That's my buddy's wheel house.

[L_Cappo]

thats what i use is foot long 4x4 blocks. and i keep 3 boxex of them in our portable jon.i always put atleast 2 4x4's on each corner and middle of the house.the reason i have so many blocks is i move my house alot out on lotw.

[Big Dave2]

Our wheel house never freezes down so hard that I cannot pop it loose with the cranks. If it did I would hook a hose from the exhaust on my truck and run it to the open part of the frame in front so that the warm exhaust would flow into the hollow tubes of the frame and heat it up.

[hawkeye43]

I let my house sit right down on the ice. Much easier to bank up and seal out the wind. Never have I not been able to pop the house free, but then the house is hardly in the same spot more than 7 days. On time some yahoo drilled holes along side the house to fish out of the wind, the water came to the bottom of the floor, but it still came loose. All 3 houses I have had in 25 years, so I have been doing it for a while now.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

 Originally Posted By: slipperybob

My vote is 4X4's because I hate to be the one retrieving those 2X4's in the ice...That's my buddy's wheel house.

I second the 4X4's! One under each corner, then bank the house with snow. Check the house at least weekly to be sure that the water has not risen to the tops of the 4X4's. If it gets close just add another one in each corner on top of the other one if you are locked in on a good spot! If not, just move the house a few feet and start over.

Cliff

[backlash 1]

In 4 years with the wheelhouse I have not even come close to freezing in. My stays are usually 2 or 3 nights.

I would think you should not be concerned unless you plan on leaving it out for an extended time.

[dewey1980]

same here wheel house never frezze down

[eyebjim]

I've had two wheel houses and never had them freeze in either but I have seen some frozen in very bad. I don't like to use blocks either because it makes it sit up too high and you have to bank too much. Keep and eye on the weather and check on it once in a while just to be sure. If it snows/rains heavily when it is on the lake go and check it and block it as needed. I have had several times when I thought for sure it ws going to get floded and freeze in and then go and check it and its fine but I know the one time I don't Murphy will get me. The only problem I have had with freezing is I left the chain for the tank lock dangling on the ice and had to chizel 2 feet of chain out. Of course if there is already flooding when you put it on the ice it would be a good idea to block it above the water or just take it off with you when you go.

[mrmanners]

I agree, never had my wheel house freeze.

[yamix4]

how do you drill your holes with a wheel house? do you drill them once the shack is down or mark the spot,move ahead, drill the reverse over them??

[shamrock7]

I always use 4x4 in the back corners and 1 under the hitch. This way my hole sleeves fit just right to the ice and banking isn't so critical. We never leave the house down when we are not there. (LOW) We always pick it up and park out of the way when we are not going to be there for awhile. But like said, if you are only fishing for 2-3 days, you shouldn't need anything. If you leave the heat on, it shouldn't freeze down.

[eyebjim]

It depends on how the house drops. My fisrt house I would drill the holes while it was up and then drop it down and it would work greats every time. The new one doesn't drop straight down or at least not as straight so I have to drill once I set it down. I picked up one of those sluch buckets that have a hole in them for the auger to keep the slush off the floor. I wouldn't want to try to mark holes and move it off, drill and the move back on. What a hassle.

[dirtking]

have never had the wheel house freeze in and I have had slush forming around the house and over 22 below - 2 days later it popped right free. If a guy were le3aving it for an extended period of time I would 4x4 block it

[hoggs222]

4x4's here! I usually use 1 and if it's going to get warm during the next week or so, I'll use 2.

[federline]

I dunno if they still do, but King Crow wheel houses have a 4 inch piece of 2x2 square tube welded to the bottom of the outside frame in 3 or 4 places as built-in blocking. Only having a few inches of steel touching the ice is a lot easier to crank up from if frozen down than 12 feet of it frozen down is.

[Realtor Boy]

I have had 3 wheelhouses and I have never had one frozen in. Although if you plan on keeping it in the same place for a period of time i would definetly block it up. Lets face it these things are spendy and why chance it. To me being off the ice 2-4" is well worth the scenario of something major happenning to your nice little investment. Block it UP!!

[late night]

After reading some post on this forum I am glad I cannot afford a wheeled house and I am stuck using my portable. I would love the comfort a house can provide but I am so happy I dont have to worry about break-ins and freeze-ins. One advantage of being on the lower tax braket.

I remeber years ago in high school some friend of mine had a "party shack" on the ice. It was not a wheeled house but just a shack and of course everybody was to drunk and stupid to care about blocking up the house up while leaving it sit in one spot for months. Well, you know what happened. Two trucks and a box of 30.06 shells later she finally came loose. Boy I had some stupid friends!