Give me feed back on my sled build.

[thomasdgs]

Hey All,

I am planning to build an ice sleigh to be pulled by hand until the ice it thick enough for my truck, or if the the snow gets too deep on the ice for my truck. I have mocked up my current design, and would like your feedback on it please.

The frame will be build of 2x3 lumber, with a deck of 3/8 plywood. I will be putting it on a set of downhill skis. I am restricted to 50" length, because I want it to fit in the box of my Ford Ranger with the tailgate closed.

Here are some pics of my layout. 2x3s will be cut down, just mocked up.

[Chris338378]

Sounds good to me.  Ask anything you want, we were all new to ice fishing at one time.

[SLAYERFISH]

Way too heavy-

[thomasdgs]

Way too heavy-

Any suggestion of how I can make it lighter while still carrying all my stuff?

[IM-POUNDING- R -U]

Look at one of these style.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/ice-fishing/shelters-sleds|/pc/104793480/c/104735880/sc/104561280/otter-outdoors-pro-sled-ndash-large-magnum/1900666.uts?d

[WaterFox]

Lose 2 egg crates, a tote, and a 20lb tank.  Maybe 1"x 2" for your framing.  4 small propane tanks have to weight less than that big one

[happyheber]

jet sled xl $ 90 

[thomasdgs]

jet sled xl $ 90 

I'm in Canada. So thats $130 for the Jetsled XL

[SeisMec]

Look at the My Homemade $15 sled! AKA The Smitty Sled thread in the Equipment.

[happyheber]

I'm in Canada. So thats $130 for the Jetsled XL

AMAZON !!!!!

[WTN4ICE]

Medium Otter sled will haul all that gear and more. Nothing wrong with building your own either. Quality shop time is good for the soul.

[thomasdgs]

So after getting so much negative (but constructive, thank you) feed back on my original plan I had to really rethink what I was doing. I have since tried a few different things, but am not feeling much closer to a final product.

I did need something immediately because I was going out Tuesday fishing, so I took the skis I had for my original plan, and some scrap wood I had laying around and built this modified Smitty sled for a short term solution. I will call it the Smitty deck. The Deck is 33" x 45". Did the trick, but was just a heap of fishing stuff on it. Not what I want for the long term, but also gave me a chancee to try out the Smitty sled.

(I asked my Shepard if he wanted to be a sled dog, I don't think he gets the concept.)

After all the suggestions here (and else where) of a jet sled I went and bought a similar 48" long design used Cabela's brand tub sled. The previous owner started building the extension box you see here. Its a little heavy, but a sturdy design that's for sure. The problems I see with this is that with out the extension it just ends up a heap of fishing equipment, just piled higher than my Smitty deck sled, but with the sides there isn't room in the sled for my auger or tent, and a 20# LPG tank wont fit inside with a sunflower heater attached (i plan to leave the burner attached to the tank all the time, one less thing to mess with in frigid temps while setting up and taking down.). with the weight of the auger and tent on top it will also be very top heavy and tipsy I think.


I then tried combining my Smitty deck and the tub sled with extension to simulate using an original Smitty sled design. First, I can certainly see the benefit of the skis, much easier to pull than the tub on the snow. But I still have the issue of just having a heap of fishing gear in the tub if i don't utilize the box extension, and with the extension i either have a 4' Tall rig with auger and tent on top, or a smitty sled twice as wide as the tub to hold the tent and auger next to the sled.


So after all that, and buying a tub sled, I really dont see the user of having the tub sled in the design at all. If I'm going to put it onto a Smitty sled anyway, and will need to modify the heck out of it to have the tub sled hold all my stuff, then why not just build a light wood box on top of a Smitty sled, or build a modified Smitty deck like my original design? I realize there are longer jet sled style sleighs, but Id still need to put that on a Smitty sled, and would just have either a heap of fishing gear (which I dont want), or a highly modified and much heavier jet sled.

I am thinking of just going with my original design and focusing on keeping it as light as I can. I will finish the jet sled extension, and sell that unit to someone who really wants a tub sled.

[Uncle Al]

take that box extension off the jet sled, and put it on the smitty, then hook up the jet sled in tandem with the smitty and go from there. may need another smitty for the jet sled. Good luck with it, looks like you're having fun with it. Nice looking dog by the way.

[chilly-willy]

I am surprised rgfixit did not chime in here must be busy he is the guy to talk to about light weight and smitty sleds here are some pictures of his creations page 13 is one of them at this link ... and another photo of rg's lantern box..

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=172918.msg2894960#msg2894960

[thomasdgs]

After making my last post, and doing some thinking about the dimensions of my temporary deck sled, I realized that it would work for my original design almost perfectly. So I did a few minor modifications and ended up with this. I am happy with it do far, and ended up selling the tub sleigh. I will keep using this "temporary" sleigh until either it falls apart, or the end of the season, whichever comes first, and tweaking the design along the way. I will post my final sleigh whenever I build it. Thanks for the input.

[Uncle Al]

That looks a lot better than what you had before. should have kept the jet sled, you will find out that you will need it for something.