Ice fishing sled
 

Anybody here do hard water fishing what do you use for a sled to carry out all of your Chit?

When I was a kid I did allot of Ice fishing,we would pile the toboggans up with traps,shiners,food,skates & a hockey stick and that worked fine back in the day,well now that I've grown up a little and have a bit of a brain I figured I'd build one.

I thought about making one & build the frame out of wood then thought of a metal one and finally decided on PVC with some plywood.I sketched up a plan and made a stock list.I designed a sled that would hold the normal stuff for a day on the ice, like a bucket of shiners,some extra clothes,a cooler,a 20# bottle of propane,portable gas grill and a deep firer,yeah so what I went a little over board:hihi:

On the way home from work I stopped @ Homies and picked up most of the stock and started to build once I got home.I worked until it got dark out & made some good progress,I'll take some pics tomorrow,I hope to Finnish by Friday cause the maiden voyage is Saturday with my Son.
I'll post pics as I go & the final ones on Saturady with my son.


So in the mean time please post some pics and show off what you've made and give me some idea's on what I can do to make mine a little better.

Bob, did you see Kevin's (TDF) Sled? He started a post on it. I got to see it at the Sabbit and it was very well designed and crafted. Pretty much just use a plastic jet sled but want to do something with my old skis.

I use a big Rubbermaid tub with a rope through one side as a handle! For $15.00 you can't go wrong!!

Ahhh, you should really check out the Ice Caddy, as in Cadillac, not bag hauler

Homies sell a nice cement(mixer) sled, check it out
it's the way to go

Fish Tote...you can stack another on top.pick up some old skis at the dump cut to fit,couple of blocks to raise them from the bottom.:uhuh:

This is the one that I just made.......i also made a removable rack out of electrical conduit that I can bungie the auger too also...Might give you some ideas

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...ng-sabbit.html

TDF wow great looking sled nice work on the main cabinet and weather sealant stain Finnish,man your not to organized:grins:

I was going to use ski's but I couldn't find any kicking around the house,I think ski's are the best base for a sled.

I thought about making a frame out of aluminum but I didn't have any and not to mention fire up the welder,without a garage there was no way I could finish it by Saturday morning.

So PVC it is,I've built most of the base and without a garage I have to work quick,I don't mind the cold it's just the cement doesn't cure to well in it.
So tomorrow night after work I hope to complete the base and then bring it to my neighborers garage and put the wood on it and maybe some dividers in it.

The front of the sled isn't finished I need to put on 2-45 degree fittings to give a blunt nose and between the two fittings will be a Tee going back to the main frame then put plywood on top of the base and place some sides on it.

Day 2

The base is 3" PVC and the uper part is 2" & the front part is just dry fittings just to show prespective.

It has the look of a dogsled sled, but I would be concerned that it could (probably never will, but COULD) come apart if you have any weak glue spots and encounter serious vibrations while hauling across the ice.

Have you tested the base on ice yet, just to make sure that it will glide easily?

I may have to put a homemade sled on my "to-do" list for later this year, when skis can be plucked from the trash with pride.

TDF, that is one fantastic sled.
As the sayings go: "Fortune favors those that are prepared!"
and "It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!"

It will tow fine as long there is little or no snow. But with a couple of skis added it should do snow just fine.

It will work,, just be careful - PVC get brittle in the cold,,,,, and is not UV resistant

I would also suspect that the edges of the joints would need to be ground down, or they will scrap on the ice and be a constant drag while pulling.

Well the base is done and I attached a 4'LX2.5'WX16"H cabinet & it's not a 100% done.I plan on building a cover with hinges but for now it's the best I could do in the time constraints that I had.
Over all it seems pretty ridged and with the wood cabinet attached it will help it from torquing over uneven terrain ,I dragged it over my grass to load it on the truck and surprisingly it seemed pretty smooth and above all it's fairly light,but tomorrow will be the true test.
I'll take pics of it and the kids with fish,my Son can't wait for the Derby & to hang out with his Buddy's & the deep fried food:drool:

I'll post pics and give my report of the sleds maiden voyage,thank you for all of the feed back on the sleds.

My Next One
 

Thoought this was really cool

FT good call on the fittings catching!Those fittings were catching on frozen ice chips,snow and every other God dang thing out on that lake and to top it off I didn't have ice cleats so dragging the sled around was tough to say the least,but on open ice it was a breeze.
The cabinet was large enough to hold a 20# propane bottle,Colman road trip grill,deep firer,cooler,ice traps and extra clothes for the kids, so that aspect went well,not to mention the frame held together considering it was being pulled & dragged over every obstacle out there.
I think the first step is to snap on 3" 18 guage galvanized flue pipe with & out any fittings,I'll have it bend up over the front forks,this should make it glide over uneven ice pockets & snow,i hope!

As for the fishing report.........There was eight of us and we didn't get a tap in 5 1/2 hrs.The snow squalls & wind kept up all morning & the temps musta been in the mid-lower teens,but the kids hung in there, they skated around playing with hockey sticks and tennis balls,and checking out other fishermen who were lucky enough to pull a fish through the ice.

As for pics on the sled....Well it's just not worthy after yesterdays hastle,so until I finish the top and galvy runners no pics.

Maybe try to attach a set of ski's to the bottom of the PVC.

Most of the Guys out there had ski's on there contraptions some had sheet metal on the bottom between the skis to help prevent hang ups,I saw one Guy he had water ski's on his and the main cabinet was a textile bin with the wheels knocked off and a cool paint job.

I thought about putting skis on it and I'm going to keep my eye's open for some in the trash but in the mean time I'm going to Homies for the last trip and get some flue pipe and try it out in two weeks for a second chance.

it's huge!! need dogs

Tip to tip it's 6.5'.Dude we had close to 100# of Chit in there & it held up LOL!

I have a harness for my sheperd

We're going to build a 6'X3' monster for the TABBIT!

good stuff 5/0. That was a really fun day. DEEP FRIED TWINKIES!!!!!!!


See ya out there again this year!?:uhuh:

I'm actually thinking of making this one w/ my son this winter.....very similar.

Need skiis? I have two recycled pair. Keeping one pair. The other is free.