Collapsible Hard Side Shanty Design

[pvtschultz]

Hello everyone.  This is my first post on this great site so I should introduce myself a bit.  I'm a 30 y/o mechanical engineer by training so I can't just buy something, I have to design and build it.  My wife thinks that it is a huge fault of mine, but I call it a "personality trait".  Plus, I'm cheap.  This past year my brother-in-law and I purchased a Polaris 6x6 so we finally have something to drag our gear out onto the ice with (other than our feet).  After looking through a bunch of pictures on here and searching the net, I came up with the design below.  The idea is for it to collapsible, not too heavy, but still fairly rugged and large enough for 2+ guys to fish quite comfortably.  I based the design loosely on the link below.  I'm going to add windows, fold-down tables, and etc later on, but this is a good start.  It is 6'2" floor to ceiling and about 6' long.  Solidworks says that it should weight about 250 lbs as is.  I'm going to make plans and will either sell them for a small fee or I'll just host them for public distribution depending on how well it turns out and works. 

http://www.niceshack.com/index.htm

[FishingNewEngland]

Welcome to Ice Shanty!! That's quite a design, I like it!

[campfindit2]

looks like you have solid works at home. I thought the nice shacks were a pretty nice design also. build it and let us know the final cost of materials.....please.

[Mainehazmt]

Welcome to IS!  soon to be your new addiction    But look at you starting off with something to tease us all  your cruel!   

[michianafisherman]

I have made a few hardside folding shanties. Your design will have problems under extreme freezing conditions. Things don't work the same with snow and freezing rain. How are you going to suport the walls when you fold it back down into the box? How good will it fold with wet snow on the folding parts? Welcome to the shanty!

[gaudetskie]

Cool concept! I'd be interested to see how it all works out!
Nick.

[pvtschultz]

I have made a few hardside folding shanties. Your design will have problems under extreme freezing conditions. Things don't work the same with snow and freezing rain. How are you going to suport the walls when you fold it back down into the box? How good will it fold with wet snow on the folding parts? Welcome to the shanty!

Thanks for the perspective and experienced advice.  I am hoping that since everything folds to the outside with the exception of the end panels and seat panels which have internal hinges, that any blown snow can be brushed/scraped off prior to collapsing.  Once folded back down, the end walls (which fold in first) will be supported on the floor (haven't worked that part out just quite yet) and the remaining parts will rest on those panels.  The side walls and end panels will be pinned together through the use of door hinges (at least for the time being that the way they are) which I'll probably need to turn down the pin diameter a bit for ease of use.  I still need to add skids and the foam insulating panels on the inside as well. 

I use Solidworks almost daily at work and spend my lunches working on little projects such as these.  I wish that I had it at home though...

Call me a weak(er) ice walker, but I don't like to fish in freezing rain much if I can help it.     Hopefully we'll have thick ice here in SE WI prior to Christmas this year.  I've got the itch bad.

[michianafisherman]

Have you seen my folding hard side shanties? It may help you on your design? I had to solve plenty of issues that you may be able to use. I use cheap hinges and small screws. I make them from piano bench hinge, just cut them to size. It makes the per piece price go down. The hinges are a big cost when everything folds.

[pvtschultz]

Have you seen my folding hard side shanties? It may help you on your design? I had to solve plenty of issues that you may be able to use. I use cheap hinges and small screws. I make them from piano bench hinge, just cut them to size. It makes the per piece price go down. The hinges are a big cost when everything folds.

I have not (that I know of).  I came across one design that folded more like a clam shell that I really liked, but didn't get enough detail on at the time.  Do you have a gallery somewhere with pics?  Pardon my ignorance, I am still working my way around this forum.  

ETA: I found your build thread and am reading it now!  Thanks!
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=118125.0

[michianafisherman]

Let me know if you need help figuring out my posts. There are two. A michiana shanty and a michiana shanty 2. The first is the two man and the other is 8x8 folding. I have had five fisherman in it.

[pvtschultz]

I've come up with a second design that is a bit of a clone of others that I've seen as well as some of my own original ideas.  This version will be a lot cheaper, lighter, and more probable to be built.  Inside dimensions are 44" wide, 96" long, and 74" tall.  Travel size is about 46" wide, 65" long, and 12" tall.  Solidworks puts it at about 85 pounds.  I'll need to redesign the application of the stabilizer bars yet, but this one was pretty easy to put together. 

[gaudetskie]

The second one looks a lot les complicated. I'm sure you know that wood is going to swell up in the weather so the tollerences may need to be kinda loose.
Nick.

[pvtschultz]

Yeah, I've giving myself an 1/8" gap anywhere that two pieces need to move relative to each other.  I'd really like to be able to pull two of them together to form an 8' by 8' "party" shanty! 

 

The second one looks a lot les complicated. I'm sure you know that wood is going to swell up in the weather so the tollerences may need to be kinda loose.
Nick.

[Greg2ha]

Keep the ideas a churning! I too like to build my own stuff but the difference is that I weld so everything has to be steel
or aluminium. You have better options and when your done it just how you want it. Great job!
Greg

[michianafisherman]

I liked the first one you drew up better. I have made one like the second one and I could not get warm in it. I do have better boots and clothes now, but still, the thing was hard to heat to my preference. I have had trouble pulling on those freezing days when the wet snow gets suck on everything. I made my shanties since to slide on a different edge than the bottom. The wet snow and ice will cake up and make it difficult to pull. After I lay my shanty to the ice I make sure the wet snow is off the sled, that way when I get ready to leave, I have a clean sled to drag back to the truck. The second design is nice and I am sure you can build it, But I can tell you if you want comfort, make the whole thing with solid walls. Go to the lumber yard and find some R-board and pick up a sheet and see how heavy it is. It is a little more work to build a frame for it, but that's how to get a strong lightweight wall. I can tell you if I would of had a program to design my shanties I could of saved a bunch of time figuring things out. I made little cardboard boxes, that I taped together, so they would fold. Then I would imagine how hard it would be to set it up and how it would work on the ice.  Once I had the idea I would then try to solve other problems like the hinges and seals, etc. My last shanty I had the card board box I would carry with me and think it through. I used the little sample box for over a year before I had a good enough understanding to start building it. I don't mean to go on and on, but I enjoy making shanties.

[pvtschultz]

We've been using an old(er) pop-up deer blind for fishing out of for the last couple years so this one would be a huge improvement over that.  The plan was to encapsulate 1/2" foam board on the floor to keep the feet warm and then some sort of heater to keep warm with.  I would like to build two of them so they can be latched together with a window or two to connect them if desired.  I had thought about making a second tarp to go over the both of them to make one big open room for the kids (and older kids) to have room to play.  We (my brother-in-law) and I have four boys, ages 1-4 coming up so there'll be plenty of memories to make on the ice. 

I appreciate your comments/concerns, this'll be the first shanty build for me but I'm sure not the last.  I've got a Polaris Sportsman 500 6x6 to pull equipment with now so a little snow stuck to the bottom doesn't really concern me.  I'm thinking that a HDPE sheathing on the bottom would prevent most of that from happening though, but I'll at least have HDPE runners.  I am kicking around making a 1/4 scale model of the more complex one to work out some of the bugs before dropping the big coin.  I'm going to make drawings for the second design today hopefully so I can put together a material list and costing. 

[michianafisherman]

My grandkids like sitting in my shanty. Plenty of room to play. I know exactly what you mean.

[gaudetskie]

What were you thinking for the floor material? Might want to consider a few things. If you want a rounded front (like shown) You could use 3 sheets of 1/4 inch luan, or CDX. Lay them around the stringers 1 at a time and laminate them together. That would give you a smooth radius in the front. Also if you use any Pressure Treated (green) lumber don't use aluminum hinges or any alum. hardware. (Apparently there's a high consentration of copper or nickel in the Green treatment.) I preffer standard lumber (white) and then use Thompson Water Seal.
Nick.

[pvtschultz]

What were you thinking for the floor material? Might want to consider a few things. If you want a rounded front (like shown) You could use 3 sheets of 1/4 inch luan, or CDX. Lay them around the stringers 1 at a time and laminate them together. That would give you a smooth radius in the front. Also if you use any Pressure Treated (green) lumber don't use aluminum hinges or any alum. hardware. (Apparently there's a high consentration of copper or nickel in the Green treatment.) I preffer standard lumber (white) and then use Thompson Water Seal.
Nick.

I was going to laminate two layers of 1/4" lauan (actually 0.205" according to Home Depot's website) and then seal everything with Spar Polyurethane. 

[michianafisherman]

I used ply wood. I think it was 7 ply about 5/16" thick. You have to hunt for it but it works great. The extra plies make it very strong.

[pvtschultz]

I used ply wood. I think it was 7 ply about 5/16" thick. You have to hunt for it but it works great. The extra plies make it very strong.

And flexible for this application.  Boat builders use 5-7 ply for their applications. 

[gaudetskie]

That should work out really well. Will the cover be a tarp of some sort?
Nick.

[pvtschultz]

That should work out really well. Will the cover be a tarp of some sort?
Nick.

Yeah.  I plan to use a waterproof tarp, hopefully black for solar heat gain, but really like the way that this one sounds:
http://cgi.ebay.com/White-10-X-20-Foot-TARP-Covers-Heavy-Duty-10x20-ft-New_W0QQitemZ360318165781QQcategoryZ20721QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D250721631849%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D4905156636271558761

[gaudetskie]

I see. The only other thing that I see is, where will the tarp go when it's folded down. Everything looks like it should fold up perfect, but once that tarp is added I'm wondering how it'll all fit?

There is a little bit of irony here. I see by your post that you're an engineer by trade. I'm a millwright/welder. It would appear that even in my free time for some reason I find joy in working through a project with an engineer of some sort. (Despite the bad mouthing us install boys usually give ya'll on the job site )
Nick.

[Iceassin]

Very nice...mine is similar to the 1st pic (see avatar). Used heavy duty tarp between the end panels and it works great.Mine doesn't have a bench seat so it just folds up "accordian style" to about 4" thick. The back of shanty which becomes the bottom in transport, has 2 - 1" conduit skis with 2" X 1/2" UHMW runners attached for easier slide (when hand pulled) and protect conduit.

[diabetik11]

Iceassin

can you post a picture of your shack

[Iceassin]

Iceassin

can you post a picture of your shack

I think I deleted the ones I had. I'll try and dig some up though

[Iceassin]

Ok, I found a few







The box on the back/bottom holds the battery for running my lights.
Pics also before I added the UHMW runners. Highly recommend if using conduit. After only 2 seasons it started
wearing through. Plastic only has minor scratches on it. Guessing it weighs about 150#...usually tow with quad
but pulls pretty good by hand with 2 guys.

[braley]

Built this 4 or 5 years ago. works pretty well one person can set it up but you will need snowmobile or a 4 wheeler to haul it.

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=49760.msg501747#msg501747

[Iceassin]

Built this 4 or 5 years ago. works pretty well one person can set it up but you will need snowmobile or a 4 wheeler to haul it.

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=49760.msg501747#msg501747