Questions and Advice for Constructing a Wheelhouse for 2022 - 2023

[flyfish59102]

This weekend was detail work weekend. Well, it was detail work after I fixed the diesel heater anyway. Turns out that while insulating the fuel line to cut down on pump noise I pulled it to close to the exhaust line. Rumor has it that the exhaust line gets hot. That means I melted the fuel line. Somehow, thank God, I didn't start a fire in the shack. Can't even say how completely pissed I would have been to burn the whole thing up his far into the project. I can't imagine the wife would have been overly impressed that I burned down the garage with her new Honda Pilot in it either. I suspect she would have had more of a headache at bedtime than usual.

So, once I fixed that little problem which only took about 4 hours, I added trim around my spear fishing holes, finished hooking up the wiring to the taillights and ran running lights down the side. Looking back, I should have run the running lights down the side earlier and then waited to hook up the wiring because I had to drill out about 2 dozen rivets and then re-rivet them once the wiring was done. Oh, well, live and learn. i didn't get to the main objective this weekend which was cutting fishing holes in the floor. Maybe one night this week or next weekend. Oh, the pics are before I cleaned up the corners on the trim for the spear fishing holes. I made it look a bit prettier for the final product but never did take a picture.

One delay I must admit was taking a few hours to clean up the colossal mess I had made during construction in the shack and in the garage. Once the mess in the shack was cleaned up, I closed the doors and just sat in there in my chair for about an hour and looked at how cool things were coming along.

flyfish59102

[flyfish59102]

I was online looking at designs for a spare tire carrier. I wanted to see how other designs looked before I welded one. I supposed I could buy one, but I have built the rest of the shack and it seems kind of lazay to buy one now. Either way, while I was looking at designs an add came up for a wheel cover that you can get customized. Here is my idea so far. It was either this or "Nice Tent Peasant". I am open to other suggestions.

flyfish59102

[flyfish59102]

The wiring continues, slowly but surely. I feel like I am running out of things to wire. There always seems to be something else left to hook up though. The box of accessories I bought to wire in is getting pretty empty at least. I think that means I am near the end of wiring. I got the fans wired in last night. I used computer fans because they draw almost no electricity and do a decent job of circulating the hot air from the top down to where I need it need it to be. I ended up putting in three to move the air in a circular downward pattern. Might end up being excessive and I might take some out later on down the line or add some depending on how they work.

flyfish59102

[Splattypus]

Good call 9n the computer fans. I've Eben seen those set up on a switch to manually control the speeds. They do move a ton of air for the size and power draw. Plus nice and quiet.

Did you remember to wire in the surround sound speakers? How about the coffee cup warmer?

[flyfish59102]

No wiring for surround sound or a coffee maker. I am going to have a propane burner on the counter. I can use that to boil water for my french press coffee maker. You get a few grounds in the bottom, but coffee should be a little bit chewy. The kind of fishing I do around here tends to be very shallow. 10 to 20 feet. I am afraid if there is too much sound it will travel through the ice. So, no surround sound. The joys of technology allow for wireless earbuds, so those will have to do. The shack isn't big enough that I will be out of Bluetooth range.

I haven't' had it out yet. I have been finishing the inside and the trim before I move it out of the garage, which is going to be a pain in the a$$. I don't want to try and get it back in. Once I get it out, I still have to put the rubber roof on it. I need a weekend to be able to do that, the problem is I am running out of weekends, and I have to work the next three weekends. That only leaves one weekend of ice fishing season left around here. I don't think she will hit the lake until next year. I guess I should change the name of the post to Questions and Advice for Constructing a Wheelhouse for 2022 - 2023 and on to 2024....

flyfish59102

[flyfish59102]

Oh, and I tried to wire in a variable speed dial to turn the speed of the fans up and down. All I did was fry the motor in one of the fans with it. Looks like they are all the way on or all the way off. The dial also made the most wonderful little electronic whining noise. Kind of like a mouse caught in a blender that never quite dies or runs out of breath. It was decidedly unappealing.

flyfish59102

[flyfish59102]

After working for the weekend, I managed to get some additional plastic added to the walls around furnace to protect the wood from fish slime and splashing. I also started cutting holes in the floor. Kind of funny that I am finally doing that since I ordered the hole covers back in May.

flyfish59102

[flyfish59102]

So, looking at the pictures I know it looks like the holes went in halfa$$3d, but I swear they didn't. There was a plan there. The shack is designed so one fisherman sits with his back on one side and the other fisherman sits with his or her (don't want to be sexists here) on the other side. That way it is easier to talk. Then, I spaced the holes out as far away from each other as I could while at the same time putting them in so they didn't hit any of the support steel under the decking.

In most lakes where I am, you are only allowed two rods. If I go to other areas, you are allowed as many as six rods. It will be tight with six rods each, but if you are allowed six rods, why not have six holes per person. I figure two holes can be put into the spear fishing openings plus four more holes per fisherman. That was the idea anyway. I might end up installing holes for rod holders into the floor so that rod holders can be put in and taken out depending on how many rods are being used. Still chewing on that idea. I think I have enough decking left that my 4 wheeler won't go through the floor when I am hauling it around though.

flyfish59102

[flyfish59102]

So here is why this project takes so freaking long. When you are building something from scratch you are fabricating almost every single little thing. Good grief. Sometimes it fits, sometimes you have to make it fit, sometimes you have to modify it to fit and sometimes you have to modify the shack to make it fit. Either way, last night I spent 4 hours putting in two latches to hold down the lid to my spear fishign holes. I got the damn things in though. Only one bloody knuckle, several dozen swear words, and a broken screwdriver.

flyfish59102

[flyfish59102]

Been a while since I posted about the build. Spring turned to summer, summer to fall and now fall to winter. Life got in the way of my project, but it is still moving forward slowly. I make a weather/snow and Ice Break to cover the air intake for the furnace. That project turned out to be bigger and take way longer than I thought it would.

The interior is done, the trailer lights are wired. Last night I was putting in a window and at least got the hole cut out. I also built my skis, but I haven't put them on yet. Funny as it sounds, I won't be able to get it out of the garage if the skis are attached. That would suck. So, I fabbed the skis and they are ready to go. All I can do it hope I have enough welding cord to reach the alley.

So here are the pic updates.

flyfish59102

[flyfish59102]

Still working on getting things done. I made a mistake putting in a window. Cut the #$@ing hole to big. I think i was able to patch it up to make it look decent though.

[flyfish59102]

And last night, I completed the install on window number 2. It went a lot easier the second time. Almost like i knew what I was doing. Then I added some spray foam insulation around the edges to make sure it is sealed up tight. Hell, i have insulted the hell out of the inside of this thing, why leave any last little gap to chance. I am goign to be sitting in this bad by wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.

flyfish59102

[flyfish59102]

Launch day was on Saturday. I got it out of my garage with about 1/2 a millimeter to spare on height for the door. Measure twice, cut once. It was close enough to make me nervous anyway. I had a movie of the launch, but IceShanty doesn't seem to allow me to post it. No biggie, there is a super fuzzy screenshot of me dragging it down the alley with the old Honda.

Low speed tows worked really well, but since I don't have plates on it, I didn't really get it up to highway speed just yet. Need to get the wiring lined up for the trailer lights. The wiring is already in, it just haven't matched it to the correct pin. I know I could have used a diagram, but when does that actually work....

I also got the PVC roof on it. No leaks on this bad boy. Let is snow, let it rain, let it hail because I am good to go.

flyfish59102

[Splattypus]

Just make sure you let a little air out of the tires, in case it warms up before you try to put it back inside

Looking real sharp, I'm excited for you to finally out it to use!

[flyfish59102]

It isn't going to fit back inside.  It was touch and go getting it out, and that was before I put the PVC roof on it. To get it out, I had to cut 3/8 in steel bars into sections. I put it under the frame, with the wheels up, and rolled out on those. I had to use the winch on my truck to pull it out. When I say it was touch and go, it was so close, the roof scraped on the top of the door. I didn't think it was going to make it for a minute.

Now, I need to finish insulating the floor and get it registered. For some reason, the diesel heater started giving me fits last night. That reminded me why I should have put an access panel next to the heating unit. I guess it will give me something to do this weekend.

flyfish509102