# My new Shanty



## RJohnson442 (May 14, 2013)

Well I started the build at the end of last season and have tinkered around with it here and there over the off season .What I wanted was a shanty that was easy to transport for one person, big enough for two people and would fit in my trooper with minimal problems. It all started when I got ski's for the last shanty I made and kept going from there. All wood construction was with 1x6 and about 6ft of 2x4. the seat and bucket hole are 1/2 ply and the top and storage box is 1/8 ply reinforced. I started with the rough framing of the base and adding the skis to the base. At first I was going to make them detachable from the base to fit in the car but resolved the problem by making it narrower to fit inside the wheel wells of the back instead of having to jump over them to load and unload. The top at first was going to fold in and pop up but decided that also was going to be a pain to set up and now went with a telescoping system from 1-1/4" PVC as the base and 1" for the extensions. This way I get a hard top table in the down position that will slide into my trooper and a way to carry gear on top out on the ice. As for covering the sides I'm still playing with the idea of using a painter tarp like my last one or having a friend sew me some sides out of a better suited material. So far on the inside I've fashioned a beer er um... coffee and bait holder and scoop holder on the front a 12 volt meter with acc. outlet and a battery. and a place to mount the buddy heater
Now for the fun part you see hanging off the back. I plan on using the axle off an old electric quad 2 6v motors with gearbox's inside attached with a shock in the back. For controlling it I'll use and old car relay with switch and also a deadman switch depending how fast it'll move. Studding the tires with sheet metal screws should do the trick for clean ice. I think I have something that will work for snow as well but will see about that... as it sits now it's about 40 pounds and I was able to ride the quad before it got dismantled. Now I don't plan on riding this thing,I wan't to use it to be more mobile when fishing. lugging everything around gets old fast. So let me know what you guys think?


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## lovin life (Jan 2, 2010)

Hummm. Will definitely have to see that thing. I would tend to focus on moving thru deeper snow, cause with clean ice you can pull anything with literally no effort. Ill give you props from design though. With deeper snow, just like a car, narrow tires. 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk


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## Ruminator (Apr 6, 2004)

Great post RJohnson, very interesting design.
I like how the top drops until you reach your spots, and the hard top.
What are its projected length, width, height up, and down?

Other thoughts:
- are you planning to use your shanty on inland lakes and/or Lake Erie?
- your bolts extend far enough in that I would consider buying some vinyl, or plastic caps to prevent snagging things. Or you might take advantage of their length and fashion some brackets to hold things.
- following lovin life's thinking, any larger dia. rims and tires available that would raise the drive motors more to reduce dragging it through some snow?

I hope it works great for you.


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## RJohnson442 (May 14, 2013)

It's 40" wide by 58" long and 34" down/ 60" up. I plan on trimming down all the bolts and screws once I get all the pvc glued up. I'm just going to go with a painter tarp this season before investing in fabric to see how it goes first. I only plan on using it on inland lakes also. For the deep snow I plan on adding PVC cut in half's to the tires to make a track tire(Oc, O is the tire C is the PVC) Ideally I'd like to find another axle set and rig up a sled track system. But that will have to wait. I've looked into sprockets and chains and go cart axles and large saw blades and the cost is really not worth it on this level of sled to be honest. No matter what deep snow sucks hoping for a smooth lake this year!


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## Ruminator (Apr 6, 2004)

I like your attention to detail. Like lovin said, I hope to check it out sometime on the ice.
What lakes do you like to ice fish?


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## RJohnson442 (May 14, 2013)

You'll usually find me out on Nimi any frozen Sunday.


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## Erieangler51 (Sep 24, 2012)

That's lovins favorite lake


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## RJohnson442 (May 14, 2013)

Well today was the maiden voyage out on Nimi from the south main ramp out to the mouth of the first south bay. This morning was also the first time trying to put it in the truck completely built I don't think I could of made it an inch bigger or it wouldn't of fit in my trooper. Set up and break down was pretty smooth I made a quick disconnect to add/remover the tries quickly. As for moving ability it was almost moving faster then I could keep up with it on clear ice! I used the tow rope from the back mostly and would pull steer with it instead. On snow cover there was a little slip and cut the speed down to a walk pace but kept moving and in the drifts maybe 3-4" it would slip out but a little hand push would get it going again. On the way back I actually rode it for about 100 yards on clean ice. I could definitely get use to this no heart attach for me this year. As for a fish report few perch in the AM but nothing worth keeping 6-7 fow. on the bottom. Then I moved around a few more times and nothing else left around 1:30.


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