A CT build from days gone by.

[Trooper Bri]

To celebrate our first frost this weekend, I'm going to try and wake up the Shack forum. 

Here in Connecticut we don't have much use for hardshacks. It's a fairly short season for hardsides, and it's illegal to leave them on the ice.
Believe it or not, once in a while one does appear on the ice. This is the build of Iceholes 2 by occasional sitemember Kapt. Pretty sure this was late 2004 into January 2005. It's based on the Karavan snowmobile trailer that was used to haul around Iceholes. The 1'st hardside based on a simple 4x8 footprint. A horror story involving this trailer and a pic of Iceholes can be found on this http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=118119.0 thread.

One of the main ideas of the build was being able to put Kapt's quad in the shanty for traveling to whatever lake. This idea was most likely born from the experience we had on an interstate freeway. After that it was seating/storage, cooking/heating area, and plenty of electrical goodies.

So, first thing on the list was to strip the trailer down and replace the plywood.



Since this is an ice shanty, you need holes in the floor. Kapt's choice was Tempress Access boat hatches due to their durability. The 13x23 version. The idea was to have bench seating up each side so the quad could fit in, and the hatch holes we cut based on that. After the hatch holes were located and cut, the trailer was ready for glue and grey outdoor carpet.
Once the carpet had time to set up for a day, it was trimmed around the edges to allow the steel stud rails for the framework to be sealed and screwed directly to the trailer to keep liquid intrusion to a minimum. Sorry for the fuzzy pic, it was an old digital camera.



Now that the footprint is set, the framework can begin. The rear of the trailer has double doors to allow the quad in, so there is a large opening to frame out. And down each side of the trailer is a long window above the bench seat. The forward wall of the shanty is solid, except for a vent hole used by an exhaust fan.





For the roof, Kapt used the steel rail again. Cut to length, trimmed and screwed to the rim, then bent and screwed to the other half at the peak. It wasn't quite that quick. It took a little work to get the recipe for the rafters right. Kapt had leftover rail, so the rafters were eventually boxed in. More roof strength and looked better inside the shack.





From these last two pics, you can see what's coming next. Some skin.
And then the roof, vinyl siding, and on to creature comforts. More to come soon!

[michianafisherman]

Looks great! Should last a lifetime! Keep us posted!

[bart]

Looks like quality all the way! Great job so far, keep us updated.

[pikeking]

That looks beautiful!!! Do you mind me asking, how much were the metal studs? I would love to do that but the wife has us on a budget. I have an old trailer that would be perfect. Did you just put plywood on the deck of the trailer?

[jbird68]

That looks cool so far!!!!

It would be nice to be able to use a semi-permanent shack here where I live.

[michianafisherman]

Are you going to take your shanty on and off the Ice daily?

[Thumber]

Bring that rig up here to NH.......Real nice workmenship.

[Trooper Bri]

I2 may be up in New Hampshire Thumber. Kapt sold it after only two seasons. No idea where it may be. I know the original Iceholes went north when it was sold. If anyone has seen I1 or I2, holler.

It was also taken on and off the ice everytime we went. There's no law in CT against having a shanty on the ice all night, as long as you are not camping. Technically, if the DEP happens to come out and inspect your shanty, having primary items for camping (cot, sleeping bag) is a no-no. No law specific to napping in a comfortable fishing chair though. I suppose as long as the shack is occupied full time, you could leave it out all season.

Anyway..
Since this is just a lightweight trailer built for hauling a couple sleds, Kapt tried to keep the shack as light as possible while still attaining Overkill status. I2 was towed with an Arctic Cat 400 4X4, which parks in the shanty for the ride, so we already had that to consider.
I2 was skinned with luan. In a perfect world where this project was started earlier than November or December, the luan would have gotten painted to pimp out the interior and protect it, but in this case we just screwed it on.



After the whole thing was skinned, all 4 exterior walls were skinned with foil covered foam board and taped off with aluminum tape. Kapt wanted white vinyl siding for this project, so we finished everything else on the exterior that was needed. He installed a vent at the rear peak, there's an exhaust vent on the front wall in the cooking area, and exterior lighting on every wall. In this case, 3 of those el-cheapo aftermarket driving light kits from some big box store. One kit on each side, and a lamp at each peak. 330 watts of overkill! In the first pic you can see the vent hole, and where the lamp will be above it. Kapt is working inside the trailer shield kit, which was left on for obvious reasons. It was meant to be used for storage, but never fully utilized.
You can also see how late this got started.



The roof was handled the same way as the original Iceholes. A big roll of some sort of HVAC metal Kapt had in stock in his garage. Sealed and laid, then trimmed and rolled down when necessary. Free, effective, and still pretty light in conjunction with just luan. The bumps are the gasketed screws you would use for that plastic corrugated roofing panels. Seals just as good on metal. Once boxed in, the steel rail rafters were easily strong enough to support Ron while he planted screws he couldn't reach with the ladder.



A little more rough-in work, and it's time for some plastic. One item i'm neglecting to mention is the window on each side. It was just 1/4" standard issue poly (lexan). It was laid on over the foilboard, just before the siding. I'll flash forward to a pic from the morning she was launched on her maiden voyage. Not really visible is the temporary solution to the unused forward storage area. It was decided that the aluminum ramps used to load the quad in I2 would mount up front on top of that boxed in space. Studs were strategically mounted to allow the ramps to sit flat through them, then secured with wing nuts. And below that the space was sealed off with some wide roofing flashing, also in stock.

The doors are also made from steel stud material, with a window boxed in on each one. To keep it light, the paneling material was screwed directly on the door frame. It's thin like luan, but has a white coating on one side. I forget what it's called. It was used in the cooking area too. It wasn't the first choice for the door material, but it was fast and matched the siding. 
Generally, one door was the primary for entry, and the other was kept bolted.

You can see by the plug near the door that she was rigged to accept 110v too, even though almost everything was DC.



Next is the interior. Without that, it's just a shed with holes in the floor. More to come soon! 

 

 

[Hollywood703]

Now......is this gonna be a crank down? or will you have to fish 2' off ice? Great design though...love the slam hatches......

[Thumber]

Trooper

When finished what do you think it the will cost for the complete job minus the trailer and labor of love?

[michianafisherman]

Are you going to weigh it?

[rvz]

Now that's a beautiful job!! Well, thought out and extremely functional.  Looking forward to seeing the interior.

[CanIceCpl]

The CT build is amazing ! I'm impressed.

I was glad to see your construction from start to finish and more photos to come. I'm in the same situation and being a newbie, I hope photos are correctly added.

At first it was to be 8' long by 6' wide. Then it was suggested I make it 8'x8' with less cutting?? I was going to add boxes at the back of the skis for the winter's supply of wood.



Then it was suggested to simply keep the wood inside and forget the boxes. So now the hut is 8'w and 10'Lonnnngggggg ! So here comes 2"x2" framing and roofing (now shingled). Materials are starting to "weigh" on my mind :-)



Now that I pull out my tools to start work ... it starts to rain! Time is a bit of an issue so here I go with cordless tools! I have a small window by the door and a long window along the face of the hut. This side will point to the middle of the lake and where most of the holes will be. We can have 5, 2 will be in the hut.



Now the outter shell is done (1/4" pressboard), painted, and ready to go! The inside is insulated, vapour barier, and some of the inner wall is up (1/4 pressboard. I want to paint the Ottawa Senators logo on the back side of the hut - somewhere around 5' x 5' :-)



I had a lot of materials lying around and kept budget in mind! She made me hahahaha
So soon you will see the fire wall, woodstove, and all the piping. I'm using 2 deep cycle batteries, an inverter, and will wire it up for lights, TV, satellite! We plan on fishing, eating our catch, watching our Ottawa Senators. The stars are amazing so photos to come.

When I cut holes in the floor, I was thinking of using small plastic garbage cans to prevent air from coming in. Any thoughts ??

That's it for now and hope to post photos of th interior soon.

D&T

[Trooper Bri]

Remember guys, this build was from 5 years ago. And this shanty is out there somewhere since it was sold after 2 seasons.

As far as cost goes, I don't think Kapt ever tallied what he spent on it. The framing materials, carpet, and siding were purchased along with a few other odds and ends, but since he does home improvement and is a maintenance mechanic, his garage is well stocked. I would guess 1200-1500 bucks maybe?

Making it a crankdown was considered Hollywood. They would have recessed into the bench seats nicely. Between the weight of the shack and quad, and the timetable, the idea was shelved. The solution to that was to build a skirt that could be attached to the shanty when you got on the ice. Never got around to that either though. So yeah, jigging out of it was like fishing off a real low bridge.

Speaking of weight, it was never weighed either. But when he sold it the wheels were suffering from a slight case of negative camber. All loaded up, she was likely exceeding capacity a little. Towing it across bumpy lakes gave the suspension a good workout too.

I'll get a few pics of the interior work up later. I've got to eat and prep for a trip to Okemo this weekend.

[Curley]

Does that bring back memories. Can't wat to see the inside again.
Thanks Brian

[Trooper Bri]

Speaking of bringing back memories... What's that old phrase about whistling for the wind?

A sharp-eyed friend of mine on another site found Iceholes 2. It's still in CT, and now for sale on craigslist! Creepy.
http://hartford.craigslist.org/rvs/1426950557.html

Anyway, sorry about the delay. The quad dictated the final interior dimensions. It needed to go right up the middle, and as forward as possible to add weight to the hitch tongue to counter the wind load on the front of the shack. The quad has a winch, so for traveling it was secured up front to a ring mounted to the center rib in the floor, and ratcheted down in the rear on 2 more rings mounted inside the rear doors.

In the first pic you can see the framework for the countertop area up the middle which is high enough for the nose of the quad to clear, and serves as the cooking area and shelf for radio or TV. On the right of that area will be the control panel, and on the left is a closet for jackets. And above is a storage area for duffel bags or tackle boxes, etc.
On each side is a long bench seat boxed in. It's storage for lots of ice fishing swag, and the lid on each side is long enough to warrant splitting in two.
The cat is Batman. He is Kapt's outdoor cat. Very cool cat that loves winter, and absolutely had to be in the shack whenever we were in it in the yard.



Here's a closer pic of the cooking area after completion. The countertop and that little panel at eye height is that material they make cutting boards from. That panel is hiding a light and exhaust fan. An easy area to clean after bacon, sausage, fajitas, chili, burgers, Mmmmm.
There's still a temporary media solution installed.



And here's a pic right after the control panel was roughed in. It's just an aluminum plate tacked onto carpeted luan. With all the electrical behind that.
There's a couple main switches next to a DC voltmeter, below that is the various switches for lighting, fans, etc, and below that is something some of you will recognize. A Ford 6-disc radio. That gap between the switches and radio was for the Sirius lick-n-stick setup. Visible in this close up of the control panel.



I'm headed back up to Ludlow after work tomorrow (Wooooo!) for the weekend, so I'll get up the rest of the interior pics and a few action photos next week.

[gaudetskie]

DUDE!!!!! That's wicked!!!