Folding fish house photos

[Polar Bear]

A couple years ago I built a folding hard-sided 6.5'x 12' house on a drop down trailer. I'm gonna try to post a few photos here to show how it works.

In the first photo you can see it folds up to a stack of about 14 inches.

In this pic the first wall is up and temporarily supported by braces.

Here the second wall is up and braced to the first. Notice the roof panels hanging by hinges.

Here the roof panels are raised.

Next you raise the end wall. Notice the hinges for the fold out bunk self contained in both end walls.

Finally the last end wall goes up. The blocks you see are spacers used to stabalize the stack as it is pulled down the road.

I think there are about 50 hinges of various sizes used in the walls, bunks, shelves, hole covers, etc.

I've pulled it north to fish and west to use as a base camp while hunting the Black Hills. I really like how it pulls, you don't even know its behind you. Also, you can stack stuff like coolers or portable houses on top of the unit for travelling.
It takes one 15 minutes for one guy or 10 minutes for 2 guys to set up.

Any comments? Polar Bear

[This message has been edited by Polar Bear (edited 09-16-2004).]

[Rick]

The image location on the web is placed between image tags.

example:

[img ]http://yourpicsite.com/yourpic.jpg

[Polar Bear]

Thanks for the info Rick. The trouble was the HSOforum I was posting from. Swiched to a different host and everything worked.
Polar Bear

[Matt Johnson]

Awesome fishhouse Polar Bear! Looks like you've created quite the fishing machine.

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[Rick]

How does it tow when fully erected?

[ivegottabite]

polar bear-
nice unit, i'm sure it pulls like nothings there with a setup like that. how does it do for keeping wind out?? or do you have seals around each wall??

[Uncle Grump]

Is it just me, or are there others that can't see the pics? Were they pulled down already?

UG

[ivegottabite]

the pics were here last night. don't know what happened to them

[PikeTipper]

I saw them earlier this morning but now they are gone. Pretty sweet setup if they can get the pics back on.

[Polar Bear]

Sorry for the photos dissapearing. I'm on my 3rd photo host now, I hope I don't get kicked off again!

Rick, it pulls fine in the up position but I usually fold it down if I need to go more than 15 or 20 miles.

Polar Bear

[Polar Bear]

Ivegottabite...I used several types of weather stripping on all the various joints, seams, etc.

It is very wind proof. I intentionally leave a little breathe room on the peak to release some of the humidity.

Pola Bear

[This message has been edited by Polar Bear (edited 09-17-2004).]

[mudman]

Polar Bear

Do you have the blue prints for sale?

[setterguy]

I would be willing to pay for a set of plans as well if there are any available. That looks like one cool set up.

[Polar Bear]

Mudman and Setterguy... No plans or prints available but if I get some time later this winter I might sit down and draw some rough sketches.

Polar Bear

[Rick]

Thanks Polar Bear, that's what I wanted to know.

So when are we going to get out fishing in that house of yours?

[Polar Bear]

Thanks for the kind words guys. If I can get up north to Winnie, Mille Lacs, or Red sometime this winter I'll post a note here so anybody in the area can stop in,take a look, and say hi.
Polar Bear

[riverrat56]

say polarbear how do the walls attach to the floor? im was thinking of building something similar to yours before i saw it but wasnt sure how to make the walls stand upright and be stable. Did u use hinges or do they slide into place and lock in somehow? also do your braces stay up the whole time when the house is fully upright?

[Polar Bear]

RR56-
As you can imagine the last wall to be raised is the first to fold down, that means it can be hinged virtually flat to the floor. The next wall to fold down must be hinged to a stub wall about 4 inches high. The 3rd wall is hinged to a stub wall about 9.5 inches high: 4" + 4" + 1.5" (for the roof panel). Finally the last wall is hinged to a stub wall even higher to
compensate for all the above plus the last roof panel.

Its not that tough to figure out but you'd better be pretty good at both carpentry and welding to get the thing built. The truth is I'm not sure its really worth the 100+ hours it took to design and build. I guess the challenge was something I needed to do. I might never build another one.

The support braces don't need to stay on but I usually leave them there for convienience.

Polar Bear

[This message has been edited by Polar Bear (edited 09-21-2004).]

[riverrat56]

thanks polar bear, i decided that im going to build a perment that can be taken apart at home for easier storage, the walls and celing will bolt together with brackets and to take it apart all i have to do is un screw the nuts. thanks for the reply though

[Rick]

Here it is again.