Large permanent tips, best skids, loading, etc.

[akjw7]

Hi all, looking for some tips before I start on a large permanent fish house. I've got a 10x7 now on wood skids (4x6), 2x4 framed floor, 2x2 walls, but the thing is a pain to load and in the past I once cracked a 4x6 skid trying to winch it up.

The next fish house will be bigger (have to have room for a big family)  maybe 16' or larger and as wide as I can get on a trailer (inside fenders on a car hauler or over if skids are tall enough)  - and yes we have several feet of ice for several months so it's no problem on that front).

But before I get going on that I have to have a better frame/skid design and a simpler way to load.

I'm not able to do a drop axle, too complicated for my welding skills and too expensive to buy a trailer frame. Plus I really need the trailer to be multi use, when it's not the two times a year the fish house needs hauled.

Is a steel or aluminum frame and skids where I should be going? How stout? (More concerned with winching to load on the trailer and not bending/breaking anything)

Is UHMW the trick to getting it to load fairly easily? Rollers are a possibility too, but what I've learned with my current house is that loading i have to jack up the front to get it sitting on ramps, then often I have to jack up a corner or move it a bit to get it lined up on the trailer. I'm thinking rollers would definitely require a way to jack up parts of the house and insert or remove rollers and adjust positioning on the trailer. Simple skids maybe in a track kind of system (couple 2x4s screwed to the deck could keep skids in line?)

A deck over trailer would be nice but it would b way up in the air - not sure how big Ramps would have to be to make loading possible with those angles...

A car hauler trailer seems easiest (especially if it were a beaver tail or tilt deck) but then I'm width limited...can I build the skids up enough - or even better crib the skids up only when on the trailer so the house stays low to the ice when in use?)

Looking for tips and advice from others. For now I'm thinking a steel frame (or aluminum but my spool gun MIG is limited to 1/4" I think) with very solid anchors for winching and some type of jack pockets for maybe trailer tongue jacks to help with London or adjustments. Steel skids of some kind with UHMW. Thinking a car hauler trailer with maybe a removable "track" for each skid, this could be several inches high to allow a normal skid height to still clear wheel wells ona car hauler type trailer. Maybe the skid tracks would be lined with UHMW too. The tracks could be removable for other trailer uses (screwed to trailer decking). Trailer would have a permenantly installed winch at the tongue to make loading easy. May or may not have to build some custom ramps (maybe incorporating rollers of some kind) to solve loading angle issues.

Welcoming all advice, pictures, frame designs, skid designs etc!  I've done a lot of browsing the forum, but it's hard to search out these items...I know I'm missing smart solutions!

I'm also thinking this isn't just an ice fishing house kind of issue. Companies building and deliver sheds or other semi portable buildings (food shacks, coffee huts, construction offices etc) probably do this kind of thing. I've even thought of hiring a slide back tow truck! But not sure if find an operator willing to venture onto the lake!

Thanks in advance

[NHGunowner]

Mine. 8'x16'. Large skis, built inboard of the sides, with sufficient height to clear my car hauler fenders.
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=320568.0
Another excellent, large build. My skis are similar to his.
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=318108.0

[Incognito]

4-5 Hardwood dowels make loading a big heavy shanty a dream.  I can do it with a standard boat winch and one hand.

Inc

[campingonh2o]

 You can buy a cheap pontoon and remove the pontoons and add ski's. You would have an alum frame with front eye to hook to your winch. I made this as my property floods in the spring, my Shanty slash cabin floats so i dont have to move it all the time.  And I can "Ice Fish" in the spring/summer LOL

I cant build a permanent cabin due to local laws so i did this instead.

[akjw7]

NH - yours was one of the builds I saw that gave me some good ideas, thanks for posting it!

[NHGunowner]

You can buy a cheap pontoon and remove the pontoons and add ski's. You would have an alum frame with front eye to hook to your winch. I made this as my property floods in the spring, my Shanty slash cabin floats so i dont have to move it all the time.  And I can "Ice Fish" in the spring/summer LOL

I cant build a permanent cabin due to local laws so i did this instead.

OMG that thing is awesome!
I hope you've put an outboard on it, that would top the cake!
The pontoon was an idea I had kicked around, yours is the first I remember seeing complete. Nice work.