DanD

Why not use the ice road that goes out to Georgina Island; going out of Gilford you must be looking for Perch? I know it's the opposite side of the lake; but it's a maintained road, in decent perch grounds. Drive out and dig out a parking spot for yourself and go fishing. The ice road is approx 3 klm long and you'll likely find some clear ice to park on? Just don't park on the actual road; the native police with stick you with a heavy fine. The one time that I was out there, heading to a buddies trailer on Georgina island; I saw a couple of guys with a snow blower, clearing a path for their pick up. Looked funny as hell; but they got to where they wanted to fish. LOL Dan.

Hopefully that also doesn't happen in your professional career? LOL Sorry I couldn't help myself. Dan.

I didn't lose this one and it's not an expensive lure; but I retired it after the lip broke off. It is now proudly hanging on one of the rafters in the main cabin of Eddie's place on the Attawapiskat river. Here's one of the walleye that couldn't resist taking a bite of the lure. Dan.

Always wash my hands with some sort of non perfumed soap, before touching my tackle; especially after refueling whatever motorized equipment i'm using. Dan.

Don't know where you live; but here in London there's an excessive noise by-law; that all security alarm sirens must be inside the building and below a certain volume level? Kind of defeats the purpose of an alarm siren but big brother has the last say???? Dan.

With the way you guys keep those trucks clean; I cannot imagine the job it would have been, getting them back in shape after one of those bad nights??? Try getting a modern vehicle soaked through the inside; your wet/froze feet would warm up pretty good; because you'd be walking back to the station house. LOL Electronics and water don't mix well. The only thing electronic in the truck pictured, would possibly be the wrist watch on your arm. LOL Dan.

Both great Ideas and something I do not have too make a commitment to now; both could be added at the end of the build. I'll have to wait till the weekend, when I'm closed, before I can get back on this project; the shop is filled with customer's vehicles and I need to get them done before I can play. My biggest problem now for this weekend is, what should I do; build the trailer or go fishing??? Dan.

Bonus! No sharp edges for someone (more so me) too get cut on. Dan.

I'm thinking 10" or 12" stovepipe? My auger is an 8 inch, so no worries about the pipe going through the ice hole. Keep the trailer level with stabilizer jacks on both rear corners and one on the tongue. Then the pipes should always be the proper length, once cut and thin enough metal to cut through the snow down to the ice surface? Dan.

I agree 100% that the sign works; but if you hang that sign, don't have a dog. I was told this by my insurance agent; if you own a dog and post a "beware of dog" sign; you're openly admitting that you know the dog will bite. It's an open and shut case against you in a civil court; even if it was a thief that got bit; let alone the guy delivering the Watchtower Jeho rag mag. Dan.

Just goes to show you, if its not chained down, padlocked and sat on; it's fair game for some people. That's unless you want someone to steal something. A customer's 4 brand new tires and I mean 1 week old tires where ice picked; his insurance replaced them and let me dispose of the "old" tires. I cleaned all the chalk marks off, showing the puncture marks and set these tires outside the shop in plain view of the street. They friggin sat there for 2 weeks before they were scooped up one night? I'd of liked to see the thief's face when they went to have the tires installed and found them to be junk. Or the person they sold them to, comes back looking for their money; I'm aaaa sorry Bubba; I already spent the money. LOL Dan.

LOL

Thanks for the suggestions and comments guys. Drifter I've seen those dropdown axles before and they would be ideal for this; but this trailer frame is light duty (remember its a $400.00 trailer frame) and I don't think the frame rails could handle the stress of these axles; not without twisting it like a pretzel. That Idea will have to wait for the next build when I start from scratch. glen It would be nice to go 12' but I don't think this frame could handle it? Not without welding extension supports to the rear and then re-enforcing the side rails from the rear to up past the axle. That's more work than what this frame is worth. As for the height, I'll have to live with that and find my gaff. LOL Gerritt I like the idea of the sheet metal; but haven't found a cheap source for the material? I'll ask the guy at the RV wrecking yard, if he has anything that would work? chris I'm with you on the height thing and if turns out that bad; I'll sell the trailer and build something different for next season. I was going to do that last summer but the time just flew away? Not a bad idea of a light hut to pull on and off the trailer; but it defeats the purpose I had in mind. I want to be able to crank up my lines, start the sled and move to a different location. I still have my 6 man pop up and I must be getting lazy; because once it's set up; the idea of breaking it down to move just doesn't appeal to me. wormdunker Thanks for the offer of the sketches; but like I've said I'm stuck with the height for this year; good or bad? Is all sonotube cardboard or is there plastic; cardboard would likely turn into mush after a couple of uses? Thanks again guys. I'll update this as I go along. Dan.

Hey Everyone. I would like some suggestions on this build I’m doing? I found this light duty trailer frame at Harbor Freight, last weekend. At $367.00 I couldn’t pass it up; it’s a 4X8 tilting platform frame, rated carrying weight of 1720Lbs. What I wanted it for was a snowmobile trailer; but now that I have the frame assembled, I’m thinking a fish hut/trailer? Here’s what I want to do and I would like you people to tell me what I might be missing? The one thing I already know is its height at 21 inches from the ground (ice) to the trailer decking; is high for a fish hut. Do you think that I would be just asking to loose fish, pulling them up that far out of the water, before getting them inside the hut? Perch or crappy wouldn’t be any big deal; but something larger, might prove to be an issue? The dimensions of the hut will be 7’X10’. The deck will be 5/8 tongue & groove plywood. Walls and roof will be 2X2 on center, with 3/8 plywood sheeting. A double door with an opening of 4’; one will be for use as entry into the hut while fishing and then both open to load and unload the snowmobile. One of my customers has a spray foam business; that’s willing to spray the hut for me in exchange for some vehicle repairs; so insulation is looked after. I’ve found two used RV style louver operating windows for light and ventilation. Last thing is a set of skis that I might need, if I find the wheels are no good in the snow? The idea I have for them is two 5’ sections of an old extension ladder I have. Rivet aluminum sheeting to the foot crossers, between the side rails. Cut notches and weld the side rails to give me a 30 degree upward angle at each end to form a ski? A ratchet strap to fasten the ski to the wheels. Would a 14” wide X 5’ long ski be too much resistance for pulling compared to a narrower ski? Or would a narrower ski not hold the hut/trailer on top of the snow? There’s no feelings here to hurt guys tell me what you think? Dan.

X2 A buddy has one, can't remember the motor size but it's a 4 stroke and maxed out for this 24 foot toon. This thing would idle down to 1.5-2 mph and then get up and easily hit 35 or 40 mph at 3/4 throttle. Very versatile, fishing (Down rigging) in the morning and then out with family and friends touring around in the afternoon. Only thing about it, when the full camper top was up; you were fighting a sail, even the slightest of wind. This is what I'm waiting for, once I can swing it financially; who am I kidding, it's when the wife gives me the green light. LOL Dan.

Yea right! Who in their right mind would take the chance of pissing you off? LOL Dan.

If this fuse blows as soon as it is installed; here's one way of chasing it down without going through a pile of fuses. Get one of those cheap 12V test lights. Remove the blown fuse and connect the test light across the two fuse terminals. You'll need to insert something like a paper clip into the fuse terminal making it easier to connect the test light. If the short to ground; that's blowing the fuse is there, the test light will light. As you start to work on the wiring harness and the light goes out, you'll be close to where the short to ground is. Dan.

Yea winter sure can look pretty, just like a lady; but we have to respect them both because they can turn nasty! Dan.

I stayed at Ket-Chun-Eny Lodge on Temagami a few years ago and they had houseboats for rent. Had a chance to go into one just to check it out and was surprised at how roomy it was. The boats were far from being new; but looked too be well maintained. The upper sundeck had a slide and the kids looked like they were having a blast going down it into the lake. Here's a link to their rate page. http://www.ketchunenylodge.com/rates.html Dan.

I've been having my best luck rigging a #4 or 6 hook in a drop shot fashion. A good sized bell sinker that I can bounce off the bottom a few times and then just gently twitch the line too keep the minnow swimming; that's hooked through its lower lip and out the top of its jaw. Makes for a nice horizontal presentation. Dan.

It may not hurt to call the hut operators in and around Beaverton; maybe if someone finds it, they may turn it in at one of those guy's offices? I lucked out when one of the rhino grips broke and my auger went off the back of the snowmobile. I didn't realize it was gone, until a guy waved me down and pointed it out to me. Here's wishing you luck getting it back. Dan.

Dave is the owner's name of this little family business; he and his kids work the huts, food stand and about a 10 spot parking lot. I met him in person last weekend when I parked my truck & trailer at the parking lot in front of his house. He and his kids are nice people and went out of their way to help make things go good for their customers. We were unloading the trailer and packing the sled with or gear and Dave was in there like a dirty shirt packing and tying things down; he knew we had our own pop-up and didn't need anything else from him other than parking. The fishing was slow, we only kept a dozen of decent sized perch; everything else went back in. We were set up about 1 1/2 miles Southeast of the Gilford road access, in about 20 FOW. Dan.

Not sure if this is a good deal or not; but CTC has the Rapala 8" gas auger going on sale this Friday. $100.00 off the reg price of $499. Just a heads up if anyone's been looking? http://flyer.canadiantire.ca/Canadiantire/WeeklyAd?storeid=2400193#!/store/2400193/sneakpeek/y The add for the auger is on the bottom left corner. Dan.

Oh man seeing your stuff on the bottom, just adds insult too injury; have you been able to raise them yet? I guess there's one thing that's can be called a blessing; you're here to tell us your story! Dan.

Yea I miss my plow truck; NOT!!!!! LOL When I had my shop in a stand alone building, it was great having it there and at the house after a big snow fall. The part I didn't like is the friends and neighbours who would come knocking. Hey Dan, can I ask you a favor and then whine in the spring because their lawn got a bit tore up with my blade? But now like most city slickers, I pay common area at the shop for snow removal and I have my trusty snow blower for the driveway at home. I just need to get the wife out there to learn how to use it, not like she doesn't; but a case of convenient memory loss has been working for her. LOL Dan.