Cast-Away Posted February 24, 2009 Report Posted February 24, 2009 So in light of all of the recent postings about vehicles going through the ice, I thought that this might be an interesting poll. Please feel free to add any comments with your post. Here are my comments: So first and foremost you risk your life being trapped in the vehicle if it breaks through the ice. Secondly, if your insurance company won't cover any loss and you could end up paying for environmental damage as well, why risk it?
Rustic-Fisher Posted February 24, 2009 Report Posted February 24, 2009 Remember that if you do go through, not only are you risking your life but also the lives around you!!! Its in most peoples nature to help, your rescue could turn into multiple rescues!! Think of others before venturing out on to unknown ice. I am guilty as I drive my truck out once I feel its safe. I also have a good knowledge of where the unsafe weak spots/pressure cracks are but really these change daily sometimes. Stay dry, RF
DRIFTER_016 Posted February 24, 2009 Report Posted February 24, 2009 Up here we do a little driving on the ice. The territory maintains a network of ice roads for public travel, plus there are numerous privately maintained ice roads (ala Ice Road Truckers) If the ice can support a fully loaded 18 wheeler (some haul dual trailers) I'm pretty sure my Honda Pilot is safe. Currently our ice is between 42 and 48 inches thick. Now when I lived in Ontario I never drove on the ice, too sketchy. I was fishing the lake trout grounds on Simcoe one day (12 miles out) when there was a great rumbling and the hut jumped off the ice about a foot and water came shooting out of the hole!!!!! As it turned out a huge pressure ridge formed back in the bay near the hut operator. On our return they had to stop the bombadier a couple of hundred yards from shore and we had to scale a 15 to 20 foot high ridge to get back to shore. It would have been cool to see the ice fracture and create the ridge as there was a ton of energy released when it happened.
lookinforwalleye Posted February 24, 2009 Report Posted February 24, 2009 I have no interest in ruining a 30-40k vehicle just to do something as boring as ice fishing to say nothing of the heavy fines and recovery charges, a snowmobile or ATV is better suited for ice travel. Idea for another poll, how would your significant other react if you told her that her shiny new Tahoe was at the bottom of lake Simcoe. Stupid is as stupid does!!
tinbanger Posted February 24, 2009 Report Posted February 24, 2009 Once a year ,maybe. and then only few hundred feet out ,where mutiple vehicles have been travelling . Don't be like the guy last year who drove his shiney new Ford out to where we were fishing ,THEN asked 'how thick is the ice ?" TB
Muskieman Posted February 24, 2009 Report Posted February 24, 2009 (edited) All the time..It's usually a 60 km round trip 15 + times per season. RFS Edited February 24, 2009 by Randy from Sturgeon
Fisherman Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 Many years ago yes, then personal age along with wisdom and the odds of bad luck happening got me to smell the coffee a little more. I'll go out with the ARGO, but still watch where I go, nothing is 100% safe.
irishfield Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 (edited) Hard to park at my dock if we don't !! Edited February 25, 2009 by irishfield
Mike the Pike Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 I will only go out on the ice when renting a hut from an outfitter I stick to the path the outfitter tells me to stay on they are experienced with the thickness and the wherabouts of safe ice. It always gives me the creeps when I am driving on the ice but in most of the times I had a vehicle on the ice the ice was 2 or more feet thick. MTP
Photoz Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 I go on the ice about 2 - 3 weeks AFTER there's lotsa other vehicles out there . . . then I stick to well travelled areas, GENERALLY picking somebody with a bigger heavier vehicle I can follow about 100' behind! With all the cracks & ridges being reported on a daily basis this year, I just made my LAST foray out with my van for the season. I DO NOT wish to lose my new van, and I think I WILL take the advice which I was given about checking with my insurer's claims department. Oral assurances ain't worth the breath it takes to utter them when $50,000.00+ is at stake!
Greencoachdog Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 Here are my comments: So first and foremost you risk your life being trapped in the vehicle if it breaks through the ice. Secondly, if your insurance company won't cover any loss and you could end up paying for environmental damage as well, why risk it? ... because walking makes me tired?
Sinker Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 I drive out if conditions allow it. I voted occasionally. If I had a 4wd truck, I'd drive out a lot more. Sinker
Cudz Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 I will park on the ice so I don't get a parking ticket on the road but that is usually in about 1-2 ft of water and about 10 ft from shore so that doesn't count.
Greencoachdog Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 I drive out if conditions allow it. I voted occasionally. If I had a 4wd truck, I'd drive out a lot more. Sinker Is that because the really Huge fish hang out in the middle of the lake under the thinnest ice... and there's millions of them?
irishfield Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 (edited) I will park on the ice so I don't get a parking ticket on the road but that is usually in about 1-2 ft of water and about 10 ft from shore so that doesn't count. Ya...wait till some rocket scientist (no not you douG) gets out in the middle of the 60 car "ice parking lot" and tries out his new shiney auger ! Edited February 25, 2009 by irishfield
Sinker Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 Actually, the ice in the middle of the lake is the strongest. The shore has the weakest ice. S.
Bernie Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 There is at least 24 " on Nipissing. This is enough to run a single axle dump truck with a load of sand. I drive my pickup out to my cottage every weekend. I stay on known ice roads and away from known current areas. In the spring there are areas on the lake that open before anywhere else. These are the same areas that the vehicles go through. Not everyone that drives on the ice is taking a risk. I don't.
irishfield Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 Exactly Bernie! My neighbour had the lumber yard bring out a FULL lift of drywall to his island on Friday.. with the 10 ton yard fork truck!
gdelongchamp Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 Heh sinker, I lived on an island for twenty years and duh!!! no the ice isin't thicker in the middle then near shore.
Sinker Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 Heh sinker, I lived on an island for twenty years and duh!!! no the ice isin't thicker in the middle then near shore. So, where does the ice melt first then???? Where does current enter a lake? First ice, sure, the shore is obviously thicker......but once a lake is tight from shore to shore, the middle of the lake will have the best ice........no current, no shoreline to warm up, less traffic. I feel safest once I'm out away from the shore.......especially now on simcoe! I was born and raised on an island S.
Jer Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 It all depends on what lake. Nipissing, Temagami and further have established ice roads (heck, we even get a couple roads on Chemong most years, never heard of a single vehicle going through). Simcoe seems to be the lake that likes to eat cars & trucks. Pressure cracks, not thin ice are usually the culprit.
John the Fisherman Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 A few years ago (04 I think) when we had little snow and a ton of good ice I had put more miles on my truck going to work or fishing than I did on my sled. Travelling Temagami pretty much every day on the ice and going just about everywhere when the bite is on (except where you should not take a truck) is just something that is part of my life. I need to get to work, I fish, and I have to look after a hut, and a little golf in March / April when the ice is just perfect for smacking a few balls around some islands (9 hole rounds). I bring my truck on the lake when I know I can use it, and I take it off when I know I can't use it. There are people on the lake who I listen to, and there are those I pay no mind to. Some times I've been the first to go, but I read the ice by checking it myself (on my sled of course). Come spring when the ice begins to thin out and turn black in mid April the sled gets uncovered on a daily basis. I think it is all based on your surrounding habitat and the knowledge one learns from living there over a period of time (years/decades). As for the insurance, I got into an fender bender on Nippissing years ago, and I was covered. Temagami First Nation vehicles are covered, OPP and other government agencies are covered. My buddys was covered this winter when his came to rest on bottom. If you had no coverage on the ice, then you would not be covered in a shopping mall parking lot, some back woods logging road, or any other area where the Highway Traffic Act says you are covered. I sled is insured, and so is my truck. But, I like my truck more because it has a much better windshield. JTF
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now