Hardside shanty plastic ski skins freezing back to the snow on lake?

Hey Everyone,

For those of you with aluminum hardside skidhouses that have the plastic bottom ski skins, do you find that they freeze back to the surface snow on the lake pretty quick after stopping? I now carry a couple 3″ diameter cedar posts that hang off the back of my shanty to frequently pop loose the shanty after I’ve stopped for more than 5 minutes. If I stop and pull back away within a few minutes, I’m good….but anything more and guarantee it’s not worth the effort to see if my Polaris Sportsman 600cc twin ATV (with tracks) will pull it loose. It’s kind of a weird condition, but all I can think of is there is just enough friction and heat built up to cause the ski skins to bond back to the snow pack? I’m wondering if others have the same thing happening and if they’ve tried something to get rid of this kind of annoying part of a trip on the ice….especially if you’re trying to move a lot to scout out the fish. Thanks for whatever you guys can offer……

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I use countersink screws to mount downhill skis to my one-man shacks. They get pulled mostly by hand, and it makes them super easy to pull. When I stop walking, they’ll often slide up and run into the back of my calves. I have them on two Otter Hideouts at the moment.

I have noticed the heat friction issue, too. Often I have to give them a little sideways tug to free them from bare ice because they melt to the ice a tiny bit. On snow, it never presents an issue, only on glare ice in the early and late season. One thing that has helped a little is to run a Dollar Store candle along the underside of the ski to wax them. That’s obviously not feasible with a big shack.

Thanks Bass Thumb for the feedback….confirming you also see a heat friction thing happening is helpful. I may be changing out the plastic ski skins before next winter, as I need to raise the underside clearance of this shanty. It currently has only 3″, and gets pretty sketchy as the snow gets deeper. If I do it, now would be the time to go to a different ski skin material or thickness if it would make a difference in the heat buildup of the ski skins in general.

Another thought would be wait one minute and the give your shack a little tug to one side on new snow or ice and it should be good.

Mike

Thanks Mike for the feedback.
I kind of was thinking the same thing…..try slowing down a little early as I approach my spot, and then maybe sit on the atv for 30 seconds, then bump it ahead a little. The hard part will be training myself to sit still and wait!!