Walking out

[piersm2]

My Wide 1 has a rope thats about 2ft long.  Curious what others are doing for walking out?  I know some are using harnesses, but what is your opinion?

[Ice_Fly_Guy]

I built myself a Smitty sled with approximately 10 ft of soft rope to make pulling pretty easy in snow.  When there's any amount of snow, I use it.

[DR.SPECKLER]

get a longer rope.i ditch the short rope that comes with most shelters..long enough to put around my waist and still have good distance between me and the shelter.much easier dragging thru snow.rope around my waist leaves my hands free for a spud.

[esox_xtm]

Definitely a longer rope. I made a poor man's harness and use it even on my small sled. I like it because it keeps my hands free for a spud or a cigar. 20' of 3" nylon strap with the ends fastened together in a small loop holding a welded ring. Snap the ring end to your sled, step inside the strap and put the front of it over your head behind your neck. The strap should be behind your neck then under your arms going back to the sled. I added a small sliding strap to move the pressure off my neck to my chest or waist. I can pull a fully loaded Otter Lodge pretty easily (no Smitty yet). You can also use it as a straight drag "rope" if you have someone to help pull you each have a "side".

You could do the same thing with a rope but the strap is more comfortable and it was my favorite price (free).

[shawn30]

Pulling the Otter Cabin, I use a ATV recovery 2" strap like a harness. I need a smitty sled for that beast. For my Jet-Sled I use the rope it came with, or I can hook it up to the belt and poles for my snowshoe polk.

[FG Steve]

My custom sled has skis on the bottom, Smitty style.  When conditions don't permit me to tow it, I pull the hitch adapter and insert a t-bar.  Especially nice going down a boat ramp.

[lynng]

Do yourself a favor and build a Smitty sled.  Here is mine.  Built it a few years ago. It really makes pulling so much easier, especially in snow. Use a long rope (16 ft) attached directly to the skis. I walk to my fishing. It is remarkable how much it reduces the effort required to pull all of my "necessities".  Built mine wide enough to put a Jet Sled XL with a large Clam Hub beside it. Best thing I've built for my ice fishing. Highly recommend for anyone who walks.

[Ice_Fly_Guy]

Do yourself a favor and build a Smitty sled.  Here is mine.  Built it a few years ago. It really makes pulling so much easier, especially in snow. Use a long rope (16 ft) attached directly to the skis. I walk to my fishing. It is remarkable how much it reduces the effort required to pull all of my "necessities".  Built mine wide enough to put a Jet Sled XL with a large Clam Hub beside it. Best thing I've built for my ice fishing. Highly recommend for anyone who walks.

Mine is very similar to yours, in the same manner, so one can break it down for storage.

[piersm2]

So do you pull the house off of the sled when you get out there?  I have a one man flipover.

[Ice_Fly_Guy]

Yes, the shack gets removed when it's time to fish.  It's pretty easy to pull it on and off of the Smitty sled, by standing on the skis while pulling the tow rope of the shack to slide it off the sled's platform.

[jethro]

Curious what others are doing for walking out? 

I make the wife pull it. Wouldn't want to spill my coffee!

[matzilla]

My old shack had a 12' 1/2" dia rope with a shoulder harness pad on it from my old racing days. My new shack has a 15' rope. I tie a knot in the middle so it can serve as a grab point when pulling the sled up hills or walking it down hills

[Seamonkey84]

I attached my deer drag harness to the section of rope that came with my sled.

[Bubba340]

If you want to get super fancy the clam pulling harness works very well.  a bit expensive though...

[3300]

long rope so i'm in front of it much further so my gate doesn't lift the front of the tub and make the back dig in . this keeps it riding falter on snow. added a length of pvc and ran the rope thru it twice. this is a handle or i prefer to step behind that and let my body pull it. you could also use the pvc for an ice anchor on windy days.

for my smitty skies i used a 3m reflective rope with clips on each end and clip it to eye bolts on front risers. i found if i attach them to the skies it pulls harder. i use this with any of my 4 shelters including suit case,flip over and 2 large hubs and i it always carries a large sled if i'm not taking the flip over.
the long rope with clips can be used for rescue.

pic 8 is one of my hubs on a smitty. notice the reflective rope and clips.
pic 9 is one of my buddies flip. notice the long rope sitting next to a throwable boat seat cushion. he uses a long rope and throws the rope over a shoulder after stepping in it so it lays across his front diagonally.
https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=316792.0

[shawn30]

Do yourself a favor and build a Smitty sled.  Here is mine.  Built it a few years ago. It really makes pulling so much easier, especially in snow. Use a long rope (16 ft) attached directly to the skis. I walk to my fishing. It is remarkable how much it reduces the effort required to pull all of my "necessities".  Built mine wide enough to put a Jet Sled XL with a large Clam Hub beside it. Best thing I've built for my ice fishing. Highly recommend for anyone who walks.

Sorry to hijack the OP thread, but how well does the Smitty float on snow when loaded? Does it plow a little, a lot, not at all?

[3300]

very little plowing going on with skies.
it sinks into the snow just as you would wearing them. the idea is that there is far less resistance (surface contact) than the tub with the same weight.
how far it sinks depends on the snow and weight and what type and length of ski you use.

some used to use metal conduit to do the same thing.
look at old school snow sleds with metal runners for example.

[Junkie4Ice]

Good ole fashioned brute strength to pull out my clam nanook. Probably why it rarely gets used before you can drive on, man that thing is a beast to pull in the snow.

[lynng]

Sorry to hijack the OP thread, but how well does the Smitty float on snow when loaded? Does it plow a little, a lot, not at all?

A lot depends on the type of skis you use, not so much the length.  178cm all mountain (parabolic) skis will float much better than 220 cm cross country skis. The skis on my Smitty are my retired pair of Volkl all mountain that are designed to float a 200+ lb man in fairly deep snow. So my sled pulls very easily in snow with no plowing. Just be careful what skis you use and wax them every now and then. You should be able the get a good pair of used skis for $25 or so.

[latremorej]

I attached my deer drag harness to the section of rope that came with my sled.

Same here!

[chilly-willy]

Dollar store pool noodle as a pad for the harness I have to carabiner clips attached to sled if their is a emergency I clip the two clips together and use the 50 ft of rope that's in my sled to throw the loop and pool noodle to those that fell threw ice I got a 10 to 15 foot long harness but it's always a great to to have a throw bouy to save some ones  life..

[mbart]

This is what I use on my FX 100 and jet sleds, use a poly rope that won't absorb water

[matzilla]

Dollar store pool noodle as a pad for the harness I have to carabiner clips attached to sled if their is a emergency I clip the two clips together and use the 50 ft of rope that's in my sled to throw the loop and pool noodle to those that fell threw ice I got a 10 to 15 foot long harness but it's always a great to to have a throw bouy to save some ones  life..

thats a damn good idea!!!!!

[markrazzy]

3300 - nice setup.  Did you drill out a bunch of holes in your risers?  To save weight, I'm assuming?  I got a buddy's old smitty last year with 2x4 risers... was great until we got about a foot of annoying snow... not wet enough to ride over, but not powdery enough to blow through.  Ended up doing a lot of plowing.  Recently bought some 2x10's to use this year for risers.  I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to cut out the notches.  I've got a handsaw, but I think I might just bite the bullet and get a circular saw to make a bunch of cuts and then figured I'd chisel the notch out clean. 

long rope so i'm in front of it much further so my gate doesn't lift the front of the tub and make the back dig in . this keeps it riding falter on snow. added a length of pvc and ran the rope thru it twice. this is a handle or i prefer to step behind that and let my body pull it. you could also use the pvc for an ice anchor on windy days.

for my smitty skies i used a 3m reflective rope with clips on each end and clip it to eye bolts on front risers. i found if i attach them to the skies it pulls harder. i use this with any of my 4 shelters including suit case,flip over and 2 large hubs and i it always carries a large sled if i'm not taking the flip over.
the long rope with clips can be used for rescue.

pic 8 is one of my hubs on a smitty. notice the reflective rope and clips.
pic 9 is one of my buddies flip. notice the long rope sitting next to a throwable boat seat cushion. he uses a long rope and throws the rope over a shoulder after stepping in it so it lays across his front diagonally.
https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=316792.0

[3300]

thanks mark! yep needed the height not the weight. used what ever paint was handy to keep water out of the wood.
i can see why yours plowed snow, it needs more height for sure. almost looks like you made it to fish from?
some thing else you can do is just cut the height and angle you want from a wide enough board for the crossbars and have any size height.

[markrazzy]

It's just a bad angle on the pic. I've got about 4-5" of clearance... Not enough for those snowy walks.  Thanks for the ideas, much appreciated!

[coldfingers]

I use an old deer harness, and attached it to the pull rope. Works well by distributing the weight and allowing me to use my spud bar to check ice and provide support

[Ice Scratcher]

A lot depends on the type of skis you use, not so much the length. 

The type makes a difference, but length is everything...

Longer the better for what we're doing...

<°)))>{

[piersm2]

50ft too long??

If it is, good way to cut this?

[chilly-willy]

Cut the poly rope with a sharp steak knife or razor knife cleanly..  then melt the ends either on a gas stove or a propane type torch just enough to stop it from fraying ..

 word of advise it shrinks the poly rope up and melts it with flame the poly may catch fire!!  and drip !! if done to long..  so don't burn your house down doing this over a carpet rug.. or some thing similar .. also the melted or fused ends can be very hot when done so don't get burned buy them. wait a wile till they cool to touch before checking them..