anyone built their own sled for ice fishing?

[BFSC Kevin]

if so, any pics or details? thanks!

[BFSC Kevin]

im lazy and cheap with alot of wood laying around the house, im thinking of just getting a baord and putting two runners on the bottom then sticking a large rubbermaid i got laying around on top. looks cheap, works.

[Headhunter]

See if you can find an old pair of down hill skis somewhere. Attach them to the bottom of your sled platform and you should be good to go.

HH

[bow slayer]

I built one, lasted one trip to nipissing. i used a pair of old cross country skis and mounted a box i made from scrap wood.,mounted the power auger on top. My problem was I made the box to high and the skis were not far enough apart. I made a hitch to hook it up to the back of my machine . everything worked great the first day,the box held everything seats,pails,food,talkle ,bait. the box was high enough to sit on while fishing.I also made a wind break with 2 pieces of pipe and a old piece of canvas that you could side in once you got to your spot.The second day on the way back in (maybe going a little fast ) I hit a rut in the snow and the box fliped on the side breaking one of the skis.It sucked trying to get back in with only one ski. anyways it worked great and was very cheap. I broke down and bough a ice jet sled from cabelas with the hitch and it has been great cost only a about 75 bucks.

[muskieb]

You can build a great sled out of wood with a little effort and the suggestion to use downhill skis was a great one. Do not use cross country skis as they are far too flimsy and will break in no time at all.

 

I have built two sleighs to date, one for pulling by hand, and another for pulling behind a snowmobile. If you are only going to use it without a machine the sleigh will last for years without maintenance if put together well. Just make sure that you mount the skis at least 6 inches below the deck of the sleigh so that you do not get hung up in fluffy snow or pack ice. I built a 2x2 frame and covered it with 3/8 plywood, all screwed together and then mounted an old plastic truck tool box in the center of it. At each end I screwed down a milk crate which works really nice for 5 gallon pails or propane cylinders. The sleigh is 20 inches wide which provides lots of stability when pulling by hand.

 

The other one I built was for behind the snowmobile, and it worked really well but the operator needs to be smarter than me and keep the speeds to a minimum. It was built the same as the one above, except I mounted two 4' 2x4 outriggers on top of it(centered perpendicular to the length of the sleigh). I then mounted a third and fourth down hill ski on the ends of the outriggers. I used a 1" steel tube for a tongue which worked well if speeds were not excessive. This sleigh worked really well, even used it to set up our modular 8x12 hut. This is a really cheap way to build a sleigh for hauling gear behind a machine, and as long as you collect old downhill skis from the curb you can change the odd broken ski by removing a few screws in minutes. If you keep speeds to 30-40km/hr and excercise caution around pressure cracks and pack ice a sleigh like this will do you fine.

 

Hope that helps.

[ketchenany]

Two "blue boxes" mounted on skiis, on a windy day you can find lots

[knotaclue]

The bottom is made from a piece of truck box liner upside down [very slippery]

The top is my seat/bench where I put me Coleman stove for my coffee maker/

All my stuff fits in quite nice so if you see a guy brewing coffee on simcoe this winter it’s probably me!

[jjcanoe]

Find an inexpensive plastic kids tobboggan $10-15 at Can. Tire get a rubbermaid container that will hold all your stuff $5-7 a few bungee straps to hold things down, a tarp and 2 2x4's bolted together at one end (both slightly shorter than the tobboggan) and a piece of rope When you get to your spot, tilt the 2x4's and the tobboggan to form a tripod and wrap the tarp around it, bungee and ropes in stratigic places and you've got a cost effective ice hut that will hold up in light winds.

 

jjcanoe

[Carp]

I collected a pile of old skis for making a sled or two.

Cleaned out the garage and tossed most of them. I think I still have at least one set.

 

One of these days I'll actually get off my tush and start a sled project.

[joonmoon]

I bought a cheap kids sled from CTC and then strapped cut pvc pipes into the corners of an old milk crate as rod holders. Inside the milk crate I can fit wire rod holders, 2 ice scoops, and the propane Blackcat heater. The sled gets all the gear piled on and I pull it with one hand and carry a pail with a minnow bucket inside with the other hand. The following year I bought an Eskimo Quik Flip II portable sled and all the gear fits in it even better.

[BFSC Kevin]

i like that sled knotaclue!

 

only thing is, i dont know where to find truck box liner?

[spooner_jr]

I basically built mine the same as muskieb; a plywood box (30"x16") with 2x2 frame and downhill skis for runners. I used 1.5" dowels to connect the skis to the box. I also put a hinged lid on it, with styrofoam glued to the top and covered in vinyl, keeps your butt warm.

[Headhunter]

Just to add;

-try using Kid's ski's, they are shorter and usually wider and you won't have to cut them.

-if your making a box with a lid, try cutting some holes in the lid and covering them with a wire grate. This will allow you to put a heater in the box, the heater will breathe and give you a nice warm tush while fishin.

HH