Suitcase style shanty mods

[Steellord2]

Hey guys,
I'm going out tomorrow to pick up a Clam 2000 suitcase style shanty and I was wondering what the other owners of these types of shanty have done to modify/customize them?.  I've got a few ideas kicking around in my head on custom touches for my new shanty. I would like to know what other ideas are out there. So let's see the creativity of the group.
 

[Hollywood703]

other than some sort of sled....i havent heard of much......not having one cant give much suggestions.....

[C P]

I would make sure theres a spot for beer! 

[beeverfishing]

Not sure there is much you can do with them considering they fold up the way they do... High end carpeting ?..  UHMW plastic runners ?  don't think there are many options, But would love to hear what you come up with..

[Melbs7]

I had a clam 5600 and I would say about the only thing I could think of... like was already posted was build a sled of some sort... so you dont feel like ur going to have a heart attack every time you head out. I built a sled... it helped... but I still sold the Clam.....

[mmb]

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=41499.msg436531#msg436531

I added alum. stock to strengthen the plastic tub around the pull points and added some anchor points to help keep the shanty shut when pulling.

[Steellord2]

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=41499.msg436531#msg436531

I added alum. stock to strengthen the plastic tub around the pull points and added some anchor points to help keep the shanty shut when pulling.

This is a great idea and I happen to be working in a place to get the aluminum stock to do this to my new shanty. Thanks for the tip mmb  
I'm also going to be using a sled I had built for the pop-up blind shanty I was working on for this new shanty.

[mushroom_capd_1]

Pretty simple to do but I made a little platform/table to fit over the middle for the heater out of a couple pieces of scrap 2x4 and about a 12x12 scrap of plywood. My floor cracked on the side with the 5 gal. pailholders so it might be a good idea to cut a sheet of plywood to fit on that side. I've seen and heard of more than a few clam 2000's that cracked and busted up on that side of the floor.

[Steellord2]

Well I picked up the shanty today. 
I put it up in the garage and am going to leave it up in there for a while. The material needs to stretch some, it was really tight putting it up out of the box. I already have some ideas I want to try doing to it. I want to add some conduit poles along the front and rear to put hangers on for coats and such. Lots of ideas, so little time!. I'll post pics as I go along.

[Walleye64]

http://i45.tinypic.com/1zvy6wo.jpg[/IMG]
a must have for suitcase shacks, I made it for my clam jr.
IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/nvpeo7.jpg[/IMG]

[Walleye64]

[Walleye64]

[smitty0312]

I made this for $15.00 for my shapell suitcase shanty. Makes life a whole lot easier. A long pull rope is the key. Smitty

[needice]

Hey guys,
I'm going out tomorrow to pick up a Clam 2000 suitcase style shanty and I was wondering what the other owners of these types of shanty have done to modify/customize them?.  I've got a few ideas kicking around in my head on custom touches for my new shanty. I would like to know what other ideas are out there. So let's see the creativity of the group.
 

                                                                                                                                                                  I have had one for a few years,My bucket side bottom cracked also.My friend got one last year and his did not have the bucket hoders on his,so I guess they addressed this problem.I took some cheap thin luan plywood and painted it.I cut it to fit.This was a MAJOR improvement as seats sat flat,beer or coffee'setc could stay upright,I was not searching for things in the cracks or jigs stuck in carpet.We'll you get the idea.It folded up with no problems and added no noticable weight.Another thing I did was use the end of bungee cords hooks for hangers in the corners.A little buddy heater fits perfectly between the fishing doors.Hope this helps some.

[Steellord2]

                                                                                                                                                                  I have had one for a few years,My bucket side bottom cracked also.My friend got one last year and his did not have the bucket hoders on his,so I guess they addressed this problem.I took some cheap thin luan plywood and painted it.I cut it to fit.This was a MAJOR improvement as seats sat flat,beer or coffee'setc could stay upright,I was not searching for things in the cracks or jigs stuck in carpet.We'll you get the idea.It folded up with no problems and added no noticable weight.Another thing I did was use the end of bungee cords hooks for hangers in the corners.A little buddy heater fits perfectly between the fishing doors.Hope this helps some.

I had this idea after looking at the shanty the first day I had it set up. I figured I would use it as is this season but next spring I was going to cut some luan to fit the floor and get some better carpet. I also am going to make some poles to put between the side poles to brace the front and back and to have a place to put the ground blind wall shelf I bought from ameristep to place my stuff on.

[Penguin]

I have a Shappell 3000DX. I built a sled something like the ones above, with lightweight metal angle siderails a friend gave me. Works great. I also had to add a length of canvas to the doorflaps to give a little more protection from snow blowing in the bottom.

[davef]

I also use a shappell 3000dx. For some reason mine does not have the door flaps sealed at the tub on the bottom. Someone from this site gave me instructions on how to use metal snaps I got at walmart to seal the bottom of the door. It was simple to do and solves snow blowing in from the side. I just leave them snapped all the time and there is enough room to enter just using the door zipper

I also used skis and 1 inch aluminum tubing to make a sled to get the shanty up off the ground when pulling.

I also made a 2 piece pole that slips together and fits between the tubing on the side where the holes are to keep the wind from blowing the hole doors down over a rod and breaking them. I use a 1 inch (?) fitting cut in half to slip around the shanty poles so it would hold and just slide it down to the correct height.


Also drilled holes in each of the 4 floor corners so I could attach ice anchors from the inside if I wanted to.


The fellow who had told me about the snaps really had some nice photos and showed several other things to do to a shappell. It was about 4 years ago and perhaps a search would turn up something additional?