Small permanent Build

[IceKingggg]

Hello all!

I am starting to plan for this next ice season, I am looking to make a small two-three person permanent ice shack. Does anyone have any ideas that would best work for me? I am looking for it to be light and tow well with good skis (any ideas of good skis?). I have some ideas but would like some others to chime in as well to see how much further I can take this! If you have any pictures please leave them below!

Thanks!!!

[UFCreel]

This is probably the easiest to build. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjvrc7J1cTTAhUZ3YMKHZdoBwUQFghMMAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blfga.org%2Fblfga%2Fshanty%2Fshanti.html&usg=AFQjCNH5LqLnreS710Ijqe8Y4ZcFsbhpGw I had one for years. Although mine did not fold down. It fit in the back of a pick up. With no snow i could move it by myself. With snow it took a couple of guys or 4 wheeler. Also i did not have holes in the floor so to speak. I had two 1 foot by 3 foot rectangles on one side of the shack. Used two buckets to hold up a bench seat that i double wrapped with carpet pad and then some carpet. It ran end to end and could comfortably seat four. I marked on the outside. Where i wanted my holes to be and drilled them outside and then just pushed the shack over them. In the off season my daughters used it as a play house. Have fun!

[IceKingggg]

Thank you!!!

[IceKingggg]

Does anyone have ideas for running electricity inside the shack? I am not looking for much and was wondering if anyone knew of any ideas?? Looking to charge my phone and or gopro batteries??

[UFCreel]

Portable car battery charger. Jump the car, power lights, and charge your phone, Vexilar what have you.

[hockeynut12]

I have seen some good deals on smaller solar panels. I had a set up with a battery and an inverter that worked well in my ice shack. I think I paid about $150 for everything. Ran LED rope lighting, ceiling fan, and charged cell phones with it and never ran out of juice.

[IceKingggg]

I'm new to this whole idea... Do you have links to any of this? And can you explain it further??

Thanks!!

[hockeynut12]

I'm new to this whole idea... Do you have links to any of this? And can you explain it further??

Thanks!!

If you go on ebay and search for solar panel with 12 volt a bunch of options will pop up. I put my solar panel on the roof. The solar panel connects to the battery. I used alligator clips to connect the battery to the inverter. You can get an inverter on ebay or pick one up at a Walmart type store. The higher the wattage, the higher the cost of the inverter. It really doesn't add a ton of weight. I added a link for solar panel, battery, and inverter. They sell battery monitors, which can be helpful but I never used one. I hope these links work, but if not just search on ebay. Hope it helps!

 http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Watt-100W-12V-12-Volt-Solar-Panel-Battery-Charger-RV-Boat-Camping-Off-Grid-/251814310533?hash=item3aa14d7285:g:kGwAAOSw2s1UzBKE

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BOOST-400-w-1000-WATT-peak-PORTABLE-12-v-DC-TO-110-120-volt-AC-POWER-inverter-/291696713907?hash=item43ea7aa0b3:g:3WUAAOxyW7tRgbyy

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mighty-Max-ML35-12-12V-35AH-U1-Deep-Cycle-AGM-Solar-Battery-Replaces-33Ah-34A/380873376463?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D40130%26meid%3D10a928fa861c4b79bf94a2bfd6b5df11%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D302026035765

[IceKingggg]

Solar panels are fine in the snow and cold?? And thank you so much this helped a ton!!

[IceKingggg]

Does anyone have pictures of there build with solar panels and or there system hooked up??

[buuddy]

Solar panels are fine in the snow and cold?? And thank you so much this helped a ton!!

Solar panels work well in winter. The panels are more efficient when cold and the snow adds to the amount of reflected light that they receive. The only downside to winter is that there are fewer daylight hours, but that can be offset by the size of the panel(s).
I have a 55 watt system with a 23 amp/hour battery and it is more than I really need, and I use my shack about 4 times per week (I'm retired). My panels are on the outside southwest wall. They are in the vertical position so there is no problem with snow accumulation.
I run my fish finder, fan and interior lights at night.
You might not need an inverter, you should be able to charge your phone and go-pro from a 12 volt system. One thing you will definitely need is a charge controller. It regulates how much charge to send to your storage battery. Without it, when the battery doesn't need a lot of charge, the solar panel will be sending out a voltage that is too high for the battery and it will shorten the life of that battery. 

[hockeynut12]

Most of the panels I have found come with the charge controller, but as Buuddy said they are necessary. I used an inverter simply to make it easier to plug in rope lighting, etc... But you can get the power either way. I heard that harbor freight has complete kits now for around $150. And no problem at all!

[IceKingggg]

Awesome! Thank you so much!!!

[IceKingggg]

Hey guys,

I am in a debate on what to do for skis on the bottom? I want something that is really easy to pull (just hook right up), so I can do everything by myself. I am looking for ideas and open to anything! I want something that sits low on the ice so there is no cross breeze to the point where i cant see down my hole ... any ideas??