Safe Driving Ice

[Melbs7]

I KNOW that this question will get some controversy, but how thick is generally considered "safe ice" to drive on?



Melbs            

[Cook078]

All depends on what you are driving!!!  LOL  Really, if I were to GUESS what might be safe, or at least what I would feel comfortable with would be:  Truck-12 inches
ATV-8 inches  (includes my 250lbs)
US Tank-120 inches

Mike

[Melbs7]

a 4900 lb ford ranger (including all gear and my wife and myself.  12 inches is about what i was thinking.





Melbs            

[twodoggs]

A barrowed car, 40 feet of water near the middle and my ex seat belted in .   2 in    
just kidding, I have a f150 4x4 and I wait for 15 in just so it will be safe in all parts of the lake.  Or atleast safer.

[TroutFishingBear]

I dont drive on the ice

[docbas]

A barrowed car, 40 feet of water near the middle and my ex seat belted in .   2 in

I agree, except deeper water and thinner ice

[FFFarmer]

I have a print out from the American Pulpwood Association that says;
2" will hold a man on foot
3" a group of men single file
7.5" passenger car 2 ton gross
8" light truck 2.5 ton gross
10" med. truck 3.5 ton gross
12" heavy truck 7-8 tons gross
15" 10 tons
20" 25 tons
25" 45 tons
30" 70 tons
36" 110 tons
Table is for clear blue, or black ice on lakes.
Reduce strength values 15% for clear, blue river ice.
Slush ice(milky looking), one half strength of blue ice.
This table does not apply to parked loads.

[fishboy899]

I would say the same as most everyone here 8" for an ATV which is what we use and prolly 12" for a truck we also use that.

[fishinnutinwis]

the absolute most important issue is if your dealing with good ice or not.--i live up north,,we started with 6"good ice -then nature tossed a warm spell along with a some rain then it got cold again and the water on ice crusted over then 6-8 inches of wet (heavy) snow onto that and that made for some weak ice -not to mention sloppy..water would run up outa hole onto ice after drilling a hole because of the weight.to me i figured that 6" of ice to be about as strong as 2-3"...luckily then it warmed up-melted down the snow..alot of the "standing" water seeped back down thru pressure cracks etc and we got hit with a weeks worth of single digit and below zero nights..now the ice is awesome ..although its 12-15" i would assume it to be about as strong as 8-10 of GOOD ice...
when im leery of the ice i keep a couple windows down just in case!

[grumpymoe]

i'm a white knuckler when it comes to ice. this year, we had a nice cold snap to start the year with no snow cover which resulted in good clear ice. got impatient waiting to get the shanty up this year, so dragged everything out on 8". i didn't venture too far from shore, even though a neighbor put his up at the same time and drove all over the place. the crazy thing is he decided to check the whole lake out in his ford pickup. i swear he was doing 70 mph  whats really crazy is speed kills. all guidelines suggest 15mph and no more, and the more vehicles, the more you have to spread out between them.  the following weekend, i moved the shanty out to preferred water/depth with around 9-10" of clear ice. in previous years, i was terrified of 15 inches, but the clear hard ice is the key. BE SAFE --see the guidelines above-we dont need to lose anyone anytime--grump

[Traxion]

Traxion-
I'd go with 10-12" of good ice.  Gotta be careful with the vehicles though.  Ever park a couple trucks kinda close, then have someone drive up to visit you and the water starts pouring out of the holes?  Nothing like standing in 2 in. of water telling him to move his truck farther away LOL.  Ice stretches alot more than one thinks.

Eric

[edfalc]

i wait untill the at least christmas up here in wisconsin

[billditrite]

A barrowed car, 40 feet of water near the middle and my ex seat belted in .   2 in

I agree, except deeper water and thinner ice

yeah and lets make it my ex

[trapperdirk]

 Some real good advice here , but come on. EX WIVES . That  has a requirement for Cement Adidas and a noose with bulldozer attached .

[woodyjdh]

Some real good advice here , but come on. EX WIVES . That  has a requirement for Cement Adidas and a noose with bulldozer attached .

Here I thought that was for the mother inlaw.  But hey, I'm only 34 and still learning! 

[ChenBassHead]

Why don't you just get a van, then you can fit them all in it. 

[BASSandICE65]

I never drive on the ice like my truck too much have seen trucks sink into the briny blue. never trusted the ice rather walk. 

[darossman]

2" will hold a man on foot...
Yes it will but you can bet your last buck I am in 5 foot or less water.  Common sense is the most important factor.  I am not the first one to drive on ice and I am not the last.  Stay on the highways ie. other peoples tracks!  LOL... use your best judgement and if it doesn't scare yah, yah got problems!

[Duskallunge]

hell i dont know what your talking about common scense. Ive been fishing out there on only an 1" of ice. And still to this day havent fell in. As long as u know the water and what type of ice it is your fine. Lets say now if the lake just froze the night before and has an inch, then your askin for trouble, but if its been there for a few days your fine. The only thing would be is that dont go out there with a lot of stuff and deffinetly only a hand drill.

[2 dogs]

Question on slush--- have 20 inches of solid quality ice covered by 4 inches of slush from weight to 12 inches of snow plus drifts on ice. Have been driving pickup on it with only concern of getting bogged down in the slop.
The fact that water pours from the holes I assume also from the weight of the snow. How long before the slush begins to degrade the ice to the point it is not safe to drive? If we get another cold snap it would help immensly but chances of that happening here in NE Wis. this late is low. Your advice please as have been driving this time of the year on this mush for years (as have a  host of others on the lake) but in my old age am getting a tad cautious.

[grumpymoe]

2 dogs  please dont drive on that stuff!!!! what actually happens, is the ice cracks from the weight of the snow load, and acts as an insulator to the ice below. even up here, where we have 3feet of ice, the heavy snow cover is buckling the ice...sooner or later, especially with only 20" of ice, someone is going to meet their maker. no fish is worth that price!!!!!!   grumpymoe

[buzzbomb]

Grumpy's right, it doesn't take long to get honeycombed.  We can usually drive almost to the end of March here, but any points with a current going around them or springs coming out from shore or heaves going across the lake will be treacherous before then. We get an assortment of vehicles in the water at Last Mountain Lake every year, and they're all guys that think they know better.  When the sun  starts beating down thru the snow the water just seems to drill down straight into the ice.  One year I drove my little car out at the end of March and parked it 80 yds or so away from the head of the point and  walked over to try to get 1 last fish for the year.  The spot that had held 2 of us and a skidoo that morning when it was cold was so rotten I really thought I was going in.  I could've walked on eggs I think .  It was a foot thick, and as I was lowering my line into the hole my right foot went sploosh, through 10 " of slurpee.   2" of rotten ice was holding  180 lbs. I'm not a chicken when it comes to going out there, but that made me decidedly uneasy.

[grumpymoe]

good point buzzbomb, but we are talking about slush on ice, not slush from thawing which is even scarier!!! 

[fozsey]

I've seen the ice seperate into different slabs from that before. Walk off one, it goes up, walk on another it goes down. Scary chit. Thats the only time I can honestly say I was really nervous.