<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
Would you buy a nice boat and only use it for only 2 months? Heck no.Yet the average boat gets 12 hrs a year put on the motor. People making bad decisions keep the economy going!
Are you serious?! That’s like 2 or 3 outings an entire season! Come on dude.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Joe Scegura wrote:</div>
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
Would you buy a nice boat and only use it for only 2 months? Heck no.Yet the average boat gets 12 hrs a year put on the motor. People making bad decisions keep the economy going!
Are you serious?! That’s like 2 or 3 outings an entire season! Come on dude.
That’s what the boat dealers I’ve talked to state. It blew my mind when I heard that.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bob clowncolor wrote:</div>
…if you were smart enough to buy one with full bath…We use our house year round but I would never get the full/shower toilet setup. You have to winterize it each year, but most importantly I’d have to drag it around the ice half the year. For us it’d be a waste of space.
The fact we have a dry place to sleep with a great AC unit while camping already feels to cushy.
I have on good authority by someone who has actually seen the evidence more than once that a growing problem is people with the rv units use their tanks on the ice and then dumping them on the ice as they leave. Apparently there was a guy on the ICOG forum bragging about how he drilled a hole outside his house and ran his sewage and grey water through his dump hose right in the lake! Often times when you bring the wife and kids for the weekend water and a working bathroom are a must to get the wife to go along.
I’ve known some gals that would go out a pee in the snowbank right with the guys (at night at least) others won’t even use a bucket with a seat have to have a real toilet.
I’ve got a pretty nice house. We use it year round. Hand pump sink. No toilet, or shower. We use campground facilities, and are bucket squaters in the winter, chemical toilet that I drain into my septic in the summer. Menards bags make good luggable loo liners!
others won’t even use a bucket with a seat have to have a real toilet.
Here’s how my buddy feels about going on the ice 
What are friends for…. 
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That’s a great deal if it had insulated floor and spray foam walls. Those add on’s are expensive.
I did add the spray floor for $400, so it was $15,300 total. We skipped many amenities that add cost and weight. Non-RV model, no AC (window AC worked fine in my Sport Angler), paneling instead of cedar/pine interior, no TV hookups (nothing on the roof, hopefully never have to worry about leaks).
I have wanted a wheel house for years. The itch has been real bad after 2 different weekend rentals this winter. In looking through craigslist and dealers websites, I have noticed a few things. Unless you come across a rare deal, there is not much incentive to buy used than new. Even dealerships do not seem to have a lot of used units available. Does that mean they hold their value or is it just the fish house market? Dealers still seem to sell a lot of new units so does that mean there are that many more consumers entering the market?
They do seem to hold there value well. Given the explosion in popularity, it wouldn’t shock me to see a significant drop in value in a few years when the market is flooded. I bought two used Ice Castles and ordered one new one. I’m glad my wife and I tried the cheaper used models prior to buying new. We figured out what we wanted/needed.
When we bought a used Ice Castle last spring and the deals seemed better. That shack was rear-ended three weeks ago. When I was looking for a replacement I noticed there were plenty for sale but not much for deals. They will eventually come down in price, some have been for sale for a long time.
Duplicate post
So is cl the best place to look for used houses?
So is cl the best place to look for used houses?
That’s one place or Facebook market place. There’s at least one listed in the classifieds here. I think a lot of nice used ones are sold privately between family members or friends but there are plenty out there to be found.
I would do a “Wanted to buy” ad on every site.
I went from this to this. As far as pooping out on the lake, the dry peat moss compost method is by far the best. Pooping in a water toilet seems barbaric, lol.
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That’s one place or Facebook market place. There’s at least one listed in the classifieds here. I think a lot of nice used ones are sold privately between family members or friends but there are plenty out there to be found.
I see lots on facebook market place. I have also been selling a lot of unused items/junk the last month or two, listing everything on both craiglist and market place. I would say 85% of what has been sold has been on facebook. I probably like the facebook one better too, you can look at their profile and get an idea of who you are dealing with.
We bought a ’16 IC about 2 years ago; we have 2 young kids that love going out to it, like Joe says though, we use it all year round and have made alot more trips now that we have it. As soon as the state parks opens up to camping in April, we head out there, then use it til pheasant season.
Don’t need to wait until thick ice to ice fish, can still use portables and walk out then start winter camping.
If a new one is within a couple of grand of a used one (it was 2 years ago when we looked)–I would go with a new one as you know the axles are new and you know they have not been misused (I learned the hard way after a trailer alignment).
They are a PITA if there is alot of snow and you are limited to plowed roads. Its not in my nature to follow the crowds, so regardless, I always try to break off the main road just to stay away from the crowds-last year it didnt work so well…
**And please pickup your garbage and dont sh*t on the ice, use a bucket; makes all ice fisherman look like lazy pigs
*I also suggest not to buy from Monahans marine in Little falls…
If a new one is within a couple of grand of a used one (it was 2 years ago when we looked)–I would go with a new one as you know the axles are new and you know they have not been misused (I learned the hard way after a trailer alignment).
This is where my dilemma comes in. For a couple thousand more, go with a new, for a couple thousand more, a little bigger, for a couple thousand more add this, for a couple thousand more, add that–and there I am doubled (or close to tripled) the price of the basic used house I was looking at. But the piece of mind knowing that it hasn’t been abused or misused is worth something I guess….
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Joe Scegura wrote:</div>
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
Would you buy a nice boat and only use it for only 2 months? Heck no.Yet the average boat gets 12 hrs a year put on the motor. People making bad decisions keep the economy going!
Are you serious?! That’s like 2 or 3 outings an entire season! Come on dude.
That’s what the boat dealers I’ve talked to state. It blew my mind when I heard that.
Kind of unrelated but hours on the motor and hours fished from the boat can be two very different things. Pretty easy to fish a 500 acre lake for 12 hours and only put 10 minutes on the motor. Different story for the guy that exclusively trolls the great lakes for walleye or salmon and trout.
Would you be afraid to pull a 21 footer (approximately 7000 lbs) with a half ton? Looks like my 2016 Silverado has a towing capacity around 10,000. I like to be well within limits and not push them.
I have to believe that most houses built in the last 5-6 years, except maybe IC (and even they finally got smarter), are not going to have axel or frame problems. You can see what you are buying, measure them.
We bought a used one last fall after we moved up north. We found a lot of 17 footers in the 15k range but due to some joint issues and a bad broken shoulder a year ago I didn’t want to crank one up. A new one with hydraulics is in the 27k range and that is a pretty basic model. We got a 2016 21′ dual axle for 19k at Smokey Hills. It has the Berkon frame, non RV. The previous owner polyed the cedar and added some really nice features. Have taken it to LOW five times this winter and love it!
Ice Nutz and a drill are great alternative to cranking, but nothing beats hydraulic.
Ive said this in various posts all over the site – I am a fan of getting as little as you can manage screwed down to the house. I personally just have an open floor plan with electric and insulation. Everything is removable: cots, heat, a/c, poo bucket, etc. Even my battery/inverter can be removed to free up floor space.
Love it, and more importantly use it often all year.
Ive said this in various posts all over the site – I am a fan of getting as little as you can manage screwed down to the house. I personally just have an open floor plan with electric and insulation. Everything is removable: cots, heat, a/c, poo bucket, etc. Even my battery/inverter can be removed to free up floor space.
Love it, and more importantly use it often all year.
i do like your setup. ive seen pictures before. what do you use for heat while you sleep? electric?
Saw the guys from “Core” ice out on a lake in ID with 2 of their units very impressed with the guys and their product. Not in the market for like my otter but the construction of their units were impressive both pulled around very easily with a tracked Sportsman.
Tindall, what are your thoughts between a ridge line wheelhouse verses a skid house 6.5X12 or 6.5X14. I could pull it with a Can Am quad 500cc with fire chains or a Ski Doo wide track Skandic rated to pull 1,500#. I thought of having them build a skid house with a ramp door so I could haul it to the lake on a snowmobile trailer with a toy inside. I just do not care for a low carding capacity of their wheelhouse ‘s. Do you think a skid house that size could be pulled in a lake with less than a foot of snow?
Just picked up our 2021 Limited Edition Ice Castle yesterday. It’s very basic house, $15k brand new. Tough to find a used one cheaper. I looked at used houses for a while, depending on how many bells and whistles you want, it made much more sense for us to go brand new.
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I have a 2016 MilleLacs I’m selling for 15k. Spray foam in the walls and floor, AC unit, and a 12V inverter with many extra outlets. (I can run off a battery with tv going all day) Samsung TV already mounted to the wall. Rattle reels already mounted. Many other little extras as well. Hard to find this house anywhere near 15k new or used. The cheaper ones are generally missing a lot of the extras.
My family and I are getting a larger one. We’re definitely going used. Nice thing about used is all the work is already done for you. Some people enjoy that type of work though. I know I put a lot of hours into this one.
Whether you go new or used to make sure you get what you want. There’s a lot of options out there.
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Hey Joe I may be interested in your wheel house. New to the site, kind of, so not sure how this works. You can text or call me. 763-913-4870
Thanks, John
Just picked up our 2021 Limited Edition Ice Castle yesterday. It’s very basic house, $15k brand new. Tough to find a used one cheaper. I looked at used houses for a while, depending on how many bells and whistles you want, it made much more sense for us to go brand new.
Outdoorsman
Can I ask where you picked it up at, I’m in the market now or soon.
Thanks
I got asked by a neighbor the other day how often I used a fish house on wheels in SE Wisconsin. I went and looked through the calendar and between camping on our land and ice fishing, it was 41 days. Not including having buddies staying in it during their visit during the Milwaukee Motorcycle Rally. It has air so the wives are happy and they can use our shower and bathroom so it works great. I think 41 times a year is well worth the investment. This coming year it will be more now since the wife is comfortable staying in it when we go up to work on our land. I had to buy an outdoor shower for her.
Unfortunately, I think there’s gonna be a flooded market on the houses and people are gonna get rid of that payment
Al-wichman
Not to hijack thread how was Cascade fishing. Ice conditions hold up. Any ones worth bragging about
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