How much ice for 1 ton truck.

I understand no ice is safe ice but if one was to drive out with a Full sized 1 ton only hauling fishing gear what do you recommend for ice thinkness. For my 1/2 ton I won’t do less than a foot but taking the boss’s 1 ton out tomorrow And don’t want any problems.
Thanks

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I have a 1 ton diesel. I feel comfortable on anything over 18 inches. I’m a wimp. I usually wait until all the resorts have been plowing their roads for a bit with their big 3/4 and 1 tons. Then I don’t go off roading all over the lake either until well after that. Once again I’m a wimp. Safe ice, as you will see here or on any site is in the eye of the beholder. Might 14 inches or less support a big truck…….maybe, but I’m not one to find out.

Matt

I just bought a one ton Ford and was wondering the same thing. A f150 weighs 5,200lbs and I wouldn’t drive that on any less than a foot of ice. A F350(one ton) weighs 7,000lbs. I am gonna need at least 16″ to take mine out.

Not sure where you are going, but I was on White Bear last night with an ATV and there wasn’t 16″ of ice. 12-14″ at best.

I agree with Matt M

I won’t drive my Dirtymax out on less than 18″

the one ton ford that went thru on mille lacs the other day, reportedly 18 inches of ice

shefland wrote:

the one ton ford that went thru on mille lacs the other day, reportedly 18 inches of ice

He also drove into a 3 foot wide crack…

Ice Road Truckers haul 80,000lb loads on 20 inches of ice. I think you’ll be ok on 18″.

realize, the Ice truckers never leave the plowed road and the road is constantly being monitored and check pointed for proper spacing of vehicles… that hardly happens on any lake I know of. Plus spreading a load over 18 or 20 wheels versus 4… but yeah, I would say 15″+ of good ice should be good.

I let my friend take my 3/4 Cummins into Isle (from our shack)
I told him several times to follow the ice road and not veer off, as there was at least 16 inches of ice. He left the plowed and marked road and dropped the front of my truck into an ice crack.
Needless to say, that is the last time I lend a vehicle.

I would be comfortable on 14-16″ with a truck that size. If a truck finds a crack and drops in it, it doesn’t matter if there’s 15″ or 30″, it’s most likely going down. Taking things slow and watching for cracks is the key to ice safety during vehicle travel. It’s generally careless or over-confident drivers who end up on the bottom of the lake.

I like to have 15″ but I have been on 12″, 4 door long box, sitting close to 10,000#. It’s all what you are comfortably with.

General rule of thumb is 1″ of ice for every Passeree. Which is a little tough to calculate in my head, so I normally just roughly translate that to 2 tods of ice for every 100 sarplers.

philtickelson wrote:

General rule of thumb is 1″ of ice for every Passeree.

You got me… I looked up passeree. Turns out it is approximately 10.3 lbs. My F350 weighs 8000 lbs. looks like I’m using a sled until we have 776.699 inches of ice.

Thanks for the heads up.

I had no idea the wide range a 1 ton weight comes in 3 tons to 5 tons. My 1 ton comes in at 6000 pounds with me in it. Granted its an old 1997 2 door chevy 4×4.

My 2500hd is 8,000lbs truck with topper.

Now add another ton to it when I get in and fill the tank!

So, back to the question. My Toyota Tacoma comes in around 4200, plus my 160 pound frame in it. 12″…or more?
I ask this because I got on a good walleye spot with 12″+ last Monday before the snow…but it’s a 1/2 mile trudge out to it. Now, with 10″ of snow on top, I’m feeling nervous about driving to it. This is a 500 acre lake that had little snow cover prior, and temps in the single digits with -20 lows since then.

Thoughts?

-Rev

I wouldn’t even hesitate unless there are known springs.

reverend wrote:

So, back to the question. My Toyota Tacoma comes in around 4200, plus my 160 pound frame in it. 12″…or more?
I ask this because I got on a good walleye spot with 12″+ last Monday before the snow…but it’s a 1/2 mile trudge out to it. Now, with 10″ of snow on top, I’m feeling nervous about driving to it. This is a 500 acre lake that had little snow cover prior, and temps in the single digits with -20 lows since then.

Thoughts?

-Rev

Reverend, refer to the chart above, for your Tacoma that would be a NO @ 12″! You need at least 15″ imho. The snow on top will hurt the quality as well.

18″ clear black ice for my truck is a minimum and I would prefer 20 and better!

The chart above says 8-12 would be fine for a small pickup, i.e.Tacoma.

Fish or pay the 20k for a truck to be pulled out with fines, etc…. it’s good to get some exercise! IMO I would walk out:)

O’Meara Outdoors wrote:

Fish or pay the 20k for a truck to be pulled out with fines, etc…. it’s good to get some exercise! IMO I would walk out:)

I split the difference and borrowed my buddy’s four wheeler.

I’m with Denny…I pucker driving on two feet. Besides, a guy dropped his truck through a lake 3 miles from me Saturday…a bay guys had been driving on for two weeks.
And I DO need the exercise!

I feel safe in 14″ with my 1500, I can’t say much for bigger trucks. Check this site out, This is for SAFE CLEAR ICE So the best possible ice you can imagine

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ice-thickness-safe-loads-d_1566.html

It seems a little thin for me…