FM Ultimate Fish House

[BucksnDucks]

Just an idea for you, but sil seal and green treated sil plate wouldnt be a bad idea to help with where your most likely gunna have moisture if any!

[Sandmannd]

Can you run a vex off of a 12 volt battery? I thought the vex batts where less than that.

[ozzie]

i am not sure of the logistics on his modification but I know he hard wired the vex into his house and it is pretty slick....no battery and the vex can run the whole trip with out worrying about the battery!!!

[deadminnowcatcher]

Just to update you on what i have spent so far. $2,294. This was for the trailer, framing wood, floor, roof, rubber roof, 2 windows, door, stove and oven combo and screws. major expenses remaining is insulation, siding, and interior finish. I have a goal of $5,000 and it is gonna be close. I do not want to cut corners on the interior.

[Rick]

I haven't read the whole thread so maybe this has been mentioned, but a fan or two blowing from the sealing to the floor can make a big difference in the comfort level.

[Eric Wettschreck]

 Originally Posted By: Rick

I haven't read the whole thread so maybe this has been mentioned, but a fan or two blowing from the sealing to the floor can make a big difference in the comfort level.

Amen to that. It's a HUGE difference.

[irvingdog]

 Originally Posted By: Rick

a fan or two blowing from the sealing to the floor can make a big difference in the comfort level.

A Tale Of Two Sticks Of Butter:

(L.O.W. 2003 25 below zero)

We emptied our coolers into a chilly rental sleeper one March. For some reason, one stick of butter was set on the floor of the house, and the other was placed on the fold down cot hanging from the wall.

24 hours later; one stick is frozen solid, the other a melted puddle of fat.

So, yeah; fans are important......

[fishb4work]

 Originally Posted By: Sandmannd

Can you run a vex off of a 12 volt battery? I thought the vex batts where less than that.

Vexilar battery's are 12v as well and are set up to draw 7 amps or less as long as the supply or positive side is fused at or below 7 amps the flasher should be protected from a short to ground that would cause the unit to fail, I'd have to look but i believe the unit it's self is fused as well. May want to contact vexilar for warranty issues just in case, they may have a suggestion.

[mediocrates67]

instead of a normal heater on the wall and a fan on the ceiling, what about a forced air furnace? my buddy has one, put it in the storage under the rear bunk on the floor. that keeps everything circulating from the bottom and forces the heat on the feet first. also, gives you more wall space.

deadminnow, what have you decided on bunks? are you doing a convertible table/bunk in the rear of the house? if you do a full bunk with osb and hinges you'll get some great storage. i think when I do mine, that's how it will be and then i'll just have to make room for a portable card table.

[hunter76]

I am just hoping that the deadminnowcatcher can catch some fish in this thing when he has it completed.

[deadminnowcatcher]

As far as a heater goes I am still undecided. I like the forced air furnace but you almost need a generator then, because of battery drain. What i would really like is a vented heater but one that you can see the burner through glass on the front of the heater. I have been unable to find anything like this.

As far as bunks go i am thinking i will go with fixed bunks. Nice to always have a bunk ready for a nap. I am waiting for a call from the spray foam guy so that i can pick the trailer up and bring it home and start on the framing. I have most of the material bought and ready to go

[only ice]

Dont go with the forced air, they are so so loud. my friend now just uses his big buddy heater because we cant even talk when the furnace kicks in!!

[mediocrates67]

good point, it is louder than a normal wall unit, but he must have either a cheap heater or have it set in there too loose. my friend has one but i've never noticed that it is too loud to talk. plus, it doesn't stay on very long and heats up quick. yeah, you do have to have a generator. but if you want tv, dvd, radio, and lights you're gonna have one anyways.

[beer batter]

I have a Suburban force air furnace and it is loud, but not all that bad on the batteries. A single battery will last 2 days even on the coldest of days. I'd still go with a vented wall mount furnace and add ceiling fans that can be set on delay timer so that they'll cycle on and off. That way if you run out of batteries, you won't run out of heat, just air movement.

[MuleShack]

I have a forced air unit in my spray foamed wheel house. It runs for a while if you take it out cold, but once it gets caught up, it only comes on every 15-30 minutes...it depends on how you set the thermostat for the delay and how high off the floor. I just turn on my 3 burner stove and that makes up heat quickly.

You can always insulate the compartment where the forced air unit will be installed to keep the fan noise down. But for how comfortable it is with even heat distribution i wouldn't go any other way.

I have my 3 boat batteries in my house (all wired in series), and have had it running for 6 days straight, keeping it at 65~ with out a charge. You can also use jumpers to charge the batteries from the truck if need be.

You only need geny for TV and microwave popcorn

[Coach1310]

First of all, great idea for a post. Nothing like having a whole team of experts to bounce stuff off of. Also, thanks for letting all of us follow the process. My dad is cold in his old age all of the time and I finally have him convinced he would ice fish a lot more in one of these so we will be building one soon.... A couple of questions for you

How big is your frame?

Why did you decide to go with winches vs. hydraulic? You may have answered this already, but I didn't read all the pages.

Thanks...keep us updated and good luck.

[walleyeaddict]

I run an atwood forced air furnace. I have never needed a generator. In my old house I had 2 fans circulating air and they were a lot louder then the forced air. I do not even notice the noise it hardly ever runs. I cycle 3 deep cycle batteries getting between 15 and 24 hours from each one.

[tisosy11]

i would think a straight vent heater would be best...the wall space isn't that much of an issue i don't think...when i get a new wheel house...i'll go with a vent heater and put it on the same side as the door. This way you can park against the wind and this should help ...

[MuleShack]

I guesss i would have to ask, why would you want to put direct vent heater in, and then run 2 seperate fans on the ceiling to push heat back down? The forced air heater seems to run just as long on the battery charge. I can't compare the gas usage, but i know i got 6 days straight out of a 30lber so far keeping it at 65. (although the temps have been a little warmer, but nights have been cold yet.)

[Trick]

We have a 30,000 btu wall heater in our 7X19 & it REALLY sucks the gas. I'm sure we could get by with a size smaller, but if I had to do it all over again I'd put in forced air. Someone mentioned earlier...you still have to run fans anyway, so either way you'll be chewing the battery up.

[Sandmannd]

Where do you find the forced air heaters and how much do they run?

[beer batter]

My only argument against the forced air furnace is that if you run out of battery power, you also run out of heat. That's death if you're out in a snow storm, or it's so cold you can't get your truck started. With the direct vent furnace, you at least separate your heat source from your power source.

I have a forced air furnace and it heats really well, but I've been stuck on the ice in a snow storm where you just have to wait it out. It's an uneasy feeling knowing your heat source is tied to 2 requirements (battery and propane). Just my $.02

[deadminnowcatcher]

I have pretty much ruled out a forced air furnace. I want the security of knowing that if my batteries go dead that as long as i got propane i am ok. I would like a direct vent that you can see the flame.

[ice_it_06]

I've seen a few houses with a propane fireplace in them like on the Kare 11 ice house series.

Remote control flame on the log settings, glass front, I believe it was like 24" wide, 20,000 - 30,000 btu. Installed against the wall with the surround it looked awesome. Most are vent free, but adding ventilation is no big deal on a house.

Search them out as I believe I saw one for like $800 which is not much more then a Empire might cost of equal btu.

[tisosy11]

Yeah those fireplace heaters are a real nice touch! I've seen a couple in tailgate setups...