Soderbloom's AlumaLite Skidhouse?

[bmc]

I'm looking at this house and wondering if anyone has one or has any experience with one of these.

Thanks!

Brian

[Hooliganz]

I have only seen them on the HSOforum, they look pretty nice from the pictures. Think I would have to put theft insurance on it.

[fishwater]

I'd personally trailer something like that off when not in use. How much might a 8x12' weigh?

[Northlander]

Brian these are Super light and very very very warm. You could heat that yellow one shown with a buddy heater or sunflower on low. They are sprayed not only on the inside but on the bottom of the house wich keeps the lower portion of the house toasty as well.

These puppies can be pulled with a wheeler no problem.

I have seen these with spear holes and all sorts of hole arangements.

Very nice houses at a great price. You will be hard pressed to find as a good a house at as good a price.

Check them out at www.soderbloom.com

[ice_it_06]

Brian:

I have a first generation skidder by Soderbloom.

Was looking @ a new one myself but not crazy about the seams all over.

Exterior of mine is foam, not sheeted like the new ones.

My 6 X 8 weighed in under 400 lbs and has been a good house.

I have a 12v winch mounted on tongue of a snowmobile trailer to pull it up. Works nice, unload just pull the pin and let it slide off.

The heat (R-value) is crazy as I can't keep the thing cool enough to be comfortable. I use a sunflower on (low) three vents, open door window, and the door itself chained open @ 3" just to try and control the heat.

Had a small (ventless) in it but was over kill and created severe moisture. not sure what the difference in blue flame and a sunflower presents, but it does not freeze the door up or have half the moisture.

Have (4) PC fans pushing air down from the ceiling.

T Shirt and socks and that is standard.

The amount of heat you see coming out of it at night is nuts, looks like hot dogs boiling.

Great product, Jay is a great guy.

My user name at yahoo if you want pics.

[Northlander]

Ya I would get a buddy heater. Im not kidding Brian these things are Super warm. If ya wanted Jay could put a couple vents on both ends to help keep the temp down but I think the buddy heater is the way to go.

[ice_it_06]

Have had (2) different Big Buddy heaters and problems with both.

Might have to try again, as the heat is just to much with the sunflower.

Thought maybe a nuway or similar (vented) might work as you can control the heat some what!!

Wouldn't be hard to cut a hole in it and run the stack up the side connected to a stud.

[bmc]

Thanks for the info. guys. With Big Winnie a half hour away, it would be awesome to have a permanent out there, especially something like this house that could be towed by a wheeler.

The theft issue is of course a concern with me and I'm wondering if a guy could somehow anchor it down from the inside with a chain frozen in the ice? It'd be a pain when it came time to move, having to get the chain out of the ice, but it might work?

Any idea how insurance would work on something like that if you left it on the ice?

Ice it 06, I tried to send you an email ealier, but was denied. Would you mind sending me one with some pics of your house?

Thanks,

Brian

bmc2680 at yahoo dot com

[ice_it_06]

Brian:

Pics sent... sorry I missed you, I work nights so just saw your post.

[ozzie]

bmc- you would want to take out a small policy on that.....it should be covered through your homeowners while it is on your property since it is not on wheels but the coverage might only cover to a certain almount and you don't want to make a claim on your homeowners especially when your deductible could be around $1000......a policy on that should be relatively cheap and have a low deductible say $250 or even $100 and then would be covered while on the ice

[Get'n Jiggy]

Looking at purchasing one of these houses in a 6X10 to use with an aluminum

sled trailer I already have. Wondering if there is any new input out there.

Wondering if the theft issue turned out to be a problem.

[Northlander]

Theft issues will always be there but I would anchor it down no matter where I put it. I will say you wont find a better house at a better price. If I ever buy a perm it will be from Soderblooms with out a doubt.

[rickwalley]

OK guys...so who either already had one or got one within last year of this thread? How have you liked it? What size did you get? What stuff have you done to it that has worked out good? Pics would be great.

[hawkeye43]

I thought about making an ice anchor that would screw down though the floor into the ice, anchoring it in place so the wind would blow away being that they are so light. If 2 or 3 were used you would think it would very hard pry loose to steal. I was thinking like a 6" lag bolt with a washer on it and use a cordless drill to put them in

[woodspliter]

My father-in-law bought one last year and liked it alot, very warm. He also had vapor issues with his wall mounted ventless heater. He replaced it with a vented one this year.

[beebsout]

The ice anchor is a good way to keep these light weight houses in place. I have been fishing aluma lite houses for years now and find that when banked in a little, they stay in place very well. When I leave mine on the ice unattended, I will run 2 ice anchors from inside under the house / in a fish hole area, and then cable lock the house to them. Great protection against blow away and would help deter theft. I guess anything can get stolen from the middle of the lake at night, so it isn't theft proof.

As far as what can be done to them, there are options from leaving the foam standard, to painting the interior and adding cedar board accents/utility mounting places, to full tongue and groove. Most people that fish this type of house want light and simple, so standard foam or maybe paint is the most common.

I am fishing an 8x12 V this year with full tongue and groove, 4' dinette/bunk combo, an additional fold away bunk, and 8 holes. So you certainly can create the setup that fits your needs ... but light weight mobility is still the sweet spot of the Aluma Lites.

[Lucky_Rugger]

I know this is an aged thread, but it still pops up as a leading google result so I thought I would add my 2 cents. I purchased an alumalite (6x10) mid last season and have been really happy with it. we picked it up without insulation, and laid it out ourselves. I wanted it to remain light, so we wired it, cut the holes, and installed some cedar firing strips to use as anchor points. Then we had it foamed locally, and the cost was approximately the same as if Jay would have had it foamed. I've included a few pics just prior to foaming it. It is still very light and easily pulls.

One other thing we did that we've been really happy with is that we used led strip lighting on the ceiling. It was a little expensive ($130?), but it was a 16' strip of weather proof lighting that we simply stuck to the ceiling. I cut them to 4' lengths, so the light is very uniform in the house. You can get a sun tan in our fish house if you want. We put them on a dimmer, and we can run a long time off of one charge. Not sure how long exactly, we never needed to re-charge the battery last year, but we didn't get the house out until mid January. Also wired for hole lights (not needed) and computer fans to move air. Other than that, we kept it pretty simple.

[laportian]

I stopped in there a couple weeks ago. I haven't wanted a ready built permanent before, but after stopping at Soderblooms and giving these a really good once over I think I will get one if I can figure out how to break the news to my wife. I was seriously considering building a wheel house but after looking at these they may have steered me from that.

[Northlander]

Jay and Chris do great work and they stand behind everything they build. Best of all they are just plain old good people.

[WalleyeChaser]

Has anyone tried to pull one with a snowmobile? If so what size? And did it float okay on top of any decent amount of snow. Thinking this will be a good option for me if it will pull with a sled for those late night sits chasing walleyes and crappies. Would beat dealing with a flip ove in the wind!

[fishkins]

Has anyone tried to pull one with a snowmobile? If so what size? And did it float okay on top of any decent amount of snow. Thinking this will be a good option for me if it will pull with a sled for those late night sits chasing walleyes and crappies. Would beat dealing with a flip ove in the wind!

Last year a guy posted he was readily pulling a 6X8 with a sled, he did

say it was a V-Front and that the xtra ski helped a lot.

[Stilly]

Old thread so sorry for bumping it to the top. My old man and I checked out these sheds at a place in Starbuck today. They look like their worth the asking price and would fit our needs nicely since my dads home lake doesn't have an ice road. Our hesitation is based on our unfamiliarity with snowmobiles and their ability to tow. Up to now all our hard water fishing has been done with my 4wd pickup using icenroads. Neither of us know anything about snowmobiles and their capabilities so basically complete newbs in that regard. Anyone have any real world experience towing one of these (preferably the 6/8 v front) with a snowmobile? Any replies will be appreciated, thanks.

[bak2MN]

I got a 8x10 alumalite with the plastic skids on the runners. I have a 800 summit that will pull it anywhere I want to go! Great house just have to be a little bit creative to mount hooks and heater and rattle reels. Mine is not a v front.

[Duckfisher]

This will be my second year with my 8x10V and I love it. So easy to move and warm as could be. I use a sportsman 500 with rear chains to move it with no problems what so ever. I have not had any sled experience moving this house so cant help with that.