Making permenant floor/sled for popup?

[eriksat1]

Anyone try making a permanent plywood floor with ski’s attached for a popup? I thought I saw someone with pictures on here a couple of years ago. It was 2 pieces of plywood that fold together with hinges on a frame with ski’s. You only needed to secure the popup onto. I think it was a 949i you could take off and on if you wanted a permanent type floor. I know it would be heavy as heck, but yet much lighter and easier to pull-than a big permy. I think it had a 2x4 outside frame and 2 sheets of 4x8 ft. Plywood and folded together. 2 people could load into a pickup truck or on a trailer fairly easy. If you had the right ski setup you should be able to pull with a snowmobile. 

[williev18]

ive thought of doing this myself for overnights but never got around to doing it. Hope some one replies would love to see some pics. If my local cusk lake freezes im thinking of putting my hub on my snowmachine trailer and pulling it our with the wheeler, kind of a light weight pop up camper.

[T-Hawker]

I did exactly this a couple of years ago.  The shelter is 6x8 so the sled was was 3x8 and hinged to unfold to the 6x8 size.  I used pressure treated 2x6 for runners with 2x4 cross members and 1/2" pressure treated plywood.  To anchor the shelter to the base I just used carriage bolts on the shelter straps (where anchors would normally go) and routered "key hole" slots in the plywood to insert the carriage bolts.

When it was set-up it was nice but it was heavy and a pain to get to the lake.  Used the shelter today without the base and, because of slush, wish we would have brought the base.  Once set-up on the lake I could pull it around with the Ranger while the shelter was set-up so it worked pretty neat.

When the base was folded there was a lot of room for the collapsed shelter, auger, etc but I had to cover it with a tarp and bungies or the "roost" from my ranger tires made a real mess. 

I built a nice permie on a pop-up camper frame last year and we didn't use the portable base any more.  I may use the base to make a quick down and dirty permie for next year.

If you can build the base lighter than I did and figure out a way to get it to the lake easily, it actually works pretty well.  I did have some issues with it "plowing" snow with the front end since I only had 1.5" of side runners (2x6) and the front 2x4 frame would plow snow.  I may have posted something on here when I built it - I'll look and post if I find it.

[T-Hawker]

https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=327646.msg3456760#msg3456760

Hopefully the link above works - this is the post I did when I built it includes pics and a video.https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=327646.msg3456760#msg3456760

[32footsteps]

I built something like this last year. Used it once and then took it apart and used to wood for other stuff.

I built a wide sled and had three pieces of plywood that would be the floor. Nothing was hinged. It pulled harder than dragging a dead elephant up Mt. Kilimanjaro.

There has to be a way to build one that won’t kill you when dragging it by hand. My hope was to turn a small hub into something with the portability of a flip. A few ideas are rolling around in my head but it won’t be until next summer before I’ll take another stab at it.

[mboss13]

I did the same thing, with sandwiched Styrofoam and sheet of heavy plastic for the ice side (used for around bathtubs) with 1/4" ply facing the shantt. Worked wonderful and made it warm and cozy in the 4x4 hub. This year I got a 8x8 otter, so I just got those puzzle floor foam pieces, as I don't want to drag two sheets of heavy ply with and I suppose the floor mats might achieve the same effect. The nice thing with the ply was that the buddy heater dried up the floor and it did feel like a more permanent shanty that way with no cold from the feet, I even thought about bringing a change of shoes as I was getting too hot in my boots. If the mats alone don't do a good job, I might have to rethink it and I guess I would do two 4x8 sheets that fold into 4x4, and drag those out. My previous ones also fit on a smitty sled and all small items fit right into the holes in a bucket so the entire thing was able to be dragged effortlessly. I would avoid making the skis a permanent piece of the entire setup, as I think you'd get better results from the wood sitting right on the ice. With a Smitty Sled the whole thing can be about foot off the ground so you can clear snow.

[eriksat1]

I think the key to the puzzle is a good ski setup that will pull easy. I would never try and pull it by hand but with snowmobile or 4 wheeler. I like the warmth and dryness of a permy but still want to be mobile. I know on a real windy day you would still need to anchor the hubs on the wind side. And if I had it on a base like that I wouldn't be afraid to leave it in a spot for a few days.

[lynng]

Here is a pic of another one that was posted here.  I don't have a link to the thread.