New Ice Shack spring project

[rjluke70]

How much POR 15 did you end up ordering? The more I look at that frame and all the surface area the more I think 2 pints may be needed for 2 coats.

I ordered a quart of the POR 15.  I did weasel the night off, so the plan is to re jack up the frame and get it painted today.  I did do two applications of the marine clean and one good solid coating of the prep and ready yesterday.  I am hoping it works, it was pretty hot out yesterday and the chemicals pretty much dried in minutes on the frame, but when it came to hosing off the chemicals it looked like hosing off soap suds.  the prep and ready did dull on the frame so I'm thinking it did its job.

[rjluke70]

Oh boy do I know about doing things over ! Put the roof on 4 times !!!
What are your plans for insulation ? I didn't do the floor at first and ended up going back and doing it ! It makes a huge difference ! I have wood heat so a little went along way . Had it up over 90 several times ! Surf will tell he slept out in it on the coldest night last winter ( with wind chill it was well below zero ) and he was in heat heaven !
 

I was going to use the spray on foam under the floor, but my carpenter buddy gave me the stink eye on that idea.  He wants to put down the Styrofoam sheets on the frame then put down the floor boards.  I will probably use the same stuff for the walls, and use the spray foam to go over the seams and gaps. 

[rjluke70]

Joe, did you do anything to beef up your axle and springs?  I wanted to put bigger tires on mine, but they wouldn't fit with out cutting out parts of the frame.  I wasn't going to mess with that.  Yours looks it has more clearance than mine.  I may have to lift mine a little more so that it doesn't drag going up and down the boat landings.

[da man cave shack]

rjluke70 are you beefing up the axel so it weigh more or so you get more clearance? and if it is so it can way more I built one out of an almost identical camper last year and it weighs 2600 lbs and the stock spring and axel work just fine.

[rjluke70]

rjluke70 are you beefing up the axel so it weigh more or so you get more clearance? and if it is so it can way more I built one out of an almost identical camper last year and it weighs 2600 lbs and the stock spring and axel work just fine.

I'm putting on a 3500 pound axle and 1500 pound springs on each side.  The original axle ran on the inside of the leaf springs, with the new set up it will be put on the outside of the springs.  This will give me a couple more inches, and if need be I can get stackable plates to add a few inches.
The reason for the extra suspension is for all the added weight that will be going on the inside. (cabinets, bunks, batteries, tongue and grove, ect.)  I am foreseeing this thing being one heavy pig 

[da man cave shack]

I'm putting on a 3500 pound axle and 1500 pound springs on each side.  The original axle ran on the inside of the leaf springs, with the new set up it will be put on the outside of the springs.  This will give me a couple more inches, and if need be I can get stackable plates to add a few inches.
The reason for the extra suspension is for all the added weight that will be going on the inside. (cabinets, bunks, batteries, tongue and grove, ect.)  I am foreseeing this thing being one heavy pig

Ya they always are bigger or weigh more than pland.

[rjluke70]

Here's a blast from the past.  This is my old ice shack from about 2007.  "The Angry Beavers Fishing Lodge"

[Joedirt34]

I added nothing to beef it up ! The ciearance on mine was perfect ( if not on the high side after being jacked up off the ice ) used buckets for sleeves ( had to put 2 together to make the distance to the ice )
Good call on the rigid foam ! I used the thinnest I could find ( the type you would use on a foundation ) works perfect no problem heating it ! I also vapor wrapped it all with thick mill plastic no moisture issues at all ! Of course I'm using wood heat .
 I've never weighed it but it's so well balance I can move it by hand and the wheeler had no issues pulling it .
Was on 12 inches of ice with no issues . When jacked up I had 6 points of contact a jack at each corner and ramps under each tire . Easy on easy off ! All the work was worth it ! I'm already planning my next one ! Lol

[rjluke70]

I'm hoping this is my last build for a good long time.

[rjluke70]

The frame treated with POR 15

[rjluke70]

The boss man is not going to be happy with me when I go to work tomorrow night.  I got POR 15 all over me and I look like a zebra! It's probably a good thing that I work by myself in a dark little cubby hole.

[Joedirt34]

Just looks like you put in a honest days work ! Frame looks great ! I was thinking I should have done that but my frame was in pretty good shape ! Hope I don't regret it ! What's the plan for siding it ?

[rjluke70]

Just looks like you put in a honest days work ! Frame looks great ! I was thinking I should have done that but my frame was in pretty good shape ! Hope I don't regret it ! What's the plan for siding it ?

I'm going to use the same type metal sheeting that you used. 

[da man cave shack]

After reading your blog yester day about the springs I did watch a youtube video about ice fishing and they built a shack that ended up weighing too much and it blew both tiers and flatened the leif springs so if you do plan on it being heavy than I think your idea about making the springs beefyer is a good idea. And nice looking frame, I bet that will last forever. cant wait to see more pics of yur build.

[Lavman]

Oh dude! I told ya to wear the gloves, that chit don't wash off, you have to WEAR it off LOL!!

[Lavman]

BTW, good looking paint job. Are you going to do a top coat on it or leave it as is since it should not see much UV light? Trailer frame looks better than new!! 

[rjluke70]

Oh dude! I told ya to wear the gloves, that chit don't wash off, you have to WEAR it off LOL!!

I did start the project by wearing gloves, but it was so hot out the gloves drove me nuts.  Besides by the time I tossed the gloves, I already had the stuff all over every other part of my body anyway.  There were a couple times that I ended up painting myself in a corner and had to crawl out, so needless to say its on my legs, shoulders, arms.  The real downfall was that I was only able to get one coat on the frame with the quart.  There are a lot of nicks and crannys  on that frame.  Hopefully that will suffice, I know that it says to put two on, but at this point I think I will just spray it down with rubber undercoat.

[Lavman]

Well if you burned up a whole quart in one coat I would say you probably have adequate coverage and thickness. The only way to make that paint job easier is to put the frame on a rotisserie so you can get at all the surfaces easier. Looks good!

[rjluke70]

Well if you burned up a whole quart in one coat I would say you probably have adequate coverage and thickness. The only way to make that paint job easier is to put the frame on a rotisserie so you can get at all the surfaces easier. Looks good!

I took a look at it this morning after work and it looks really good,  I think that a good coating of the rubber undercoating and it should be good to go.  I will go over the tongue and rear bumper with black gloss spray paint.  Those are the only places that will be seen after the build.

[rjluke70]

One of my fishing buddies came into work this morning crying about how his wife spends to much money in cherry master machines every time they go out for cocktails.  So then the little light bulb goes off in my head, I'm going to find me one of those small bar top cherry masters and put it in my new shack.  Then I'm going to invite her to come fishing with us.  I will no longer have to pay for gas, bait, beer and I may even recoup some of the money I am spending on my build.  I'm sure on those slow fishing days my other buddies may even get bored and spend some money. 

[Lavman]

One of my fishing buddies came into work this morning crying about how his wife spends to much money in cherry master machines every time they go out for cocktails.  So then the little light bulb goes off in my head, I'm going to find me one of those small bar top cherry masters and put it in my new shack.  Then I'm going to invite her to come fishing with us.  I will no longer have to pay for gas, bait, beer and I may even recoup some of the money I am spending on my build.  I'm sure on those slow fishing days my other buddies may even get bored and spend some money.

LOL!! Love it! Great idea 

[OldSailor]

How's the shack comming along?? We haven't heard anything recently, except for your other post about gas lines. Have you any updates for us You got me hooked on your project!!

[rjluke70]

How's the shack comming along?? We haven't heard anything recently, except for your other post about gas lines. Have you any updates for us You got me hooked on your project!!

Still waiting on my new axle.  I did get it coated with rubberized undercoating, installed new safety chains and tongue jack.  I ended up banging up my right hand working in my wood shop, so needless to say all my fingers are bruised kind of put a kabosh on doing to much.  What a great start to my vacation.

[rjluke70]

The axle has arrived!!!! now hopefully I can get the springs and axle on it and have a rolling chassis.  Then I can at least pull that into my garage and get out of the heat while I work on it. 

[OldSailor]

How's your hand and fingers doing?? Just what did you do to them Snap a couple of pics to post of the axle install!! Thanks!!

[rjluke70]

How's your hand and fingers doing?? Just what did you do to them Snap a couple of pics to post of the axle install!! Thanks!!

I bought a tongue jack at tractor supply and it didn't fit in the metal hole of the front plate that I had so after two hours of trying to widen the hole in the front plate with a dremel and stone with no luck.  So then I get the bright idea to make a new mount out of 2x4's and cut a hole in the middle.  It was still a tad too small, so instead of taking it apart, I put it over my spindle sander, well it got away from me and nailed my right hand.  Thought for sure I broke all my fingers.  Luckily it just bruised the heck out of them.  One of the those things you know you shouldn't do, but you do it to try to save time.  Well it cost me four days so it wasn't exactly a time saver.

[rjluke70]

Got the new springs and axle on today plus another $200.00 for tires.  At least now I can back it into the garage and get out of the sun.  What a hot beast it has been to be working on this project.  Hard to think of ice fishing in this heat. 







I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the fenders, I may cut them down an inch or two.  They kind of sit on the frame a little high.  I may just enclose them when the siding gets put on.  I did manage to get a few more inches of lift by putting the axle under the springs, hopefully it will be enough to get up and down the boat landings.

[surflizard]

You got her looking real Sharp RJ, Well Done !

[OldSailor]

Glad your hand is on the mend! I was always told that haste makes waste, and you ended up with 4 days of it!! That frame looks great, and with your axles and tires on it, you can wheel it into the garage to work on it. Just my $.02 worth on the fenders, but just leave them and cover them with some siding. You want to be able to get at them if ever the need arises, so you may want to do some sort of radius cut depending how far down the siding goes!!

[yoslick]

You ought to hook on to that thing right now with what ever your going to use to pull it most this winter and find some steep driveways and see how she does going up n down, bet you could put that axle inside the spring instead of under, trust me it'll make a world of difference the closer you are to the ice!!, I'd kill to get my camper 6 inches closer to the ice, banking snow sucks, especially when there ain't any!! They make RV wheelie wheels to mount on the back if she drags a little, not very spendy either..

Slick!