Fishing in morn and considering taking my 19 ranger 500. Walked out and checked ice and had a consistent 6.5-7 inches of decent looking ice. Mayb half inch of snow cover. Any opinions would be appreciated.
had a consistent 6.5-7 inches of decent looking ice.
Depending on where you are, this season’s has been anything but consistent. The lakes around me had 6” of ice before the lakes opened back up about 1/2 way before referees and 6” of snow. You can find consistent 6” across about 1/2 the lake and about 3” on the other half.
I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t think it’s as consistent as you think. I’d personally wait til we get another week of cold weather.
little iffy ice, I hug the shoreline, if I figure its safe. With the quad. Then CK ice where you are fishing , lot less drilling.DK
It’s the Petenwell flowage. In central Wisconsin. Never frozen over on this years first cold snap so no thawing and re-freezing. Also minimal snow cover. It’s a channel based lake so I wouldn’t drove over the channel, just out to it. Walked over channel tonight and had 6.5 inches.
Also numerous wheelers out. Some of the bigger wheelers weigh as much as my lil 500 ranger.
No right or wrong answer, and it’s all up to you. 6″ will hold it. But you don’t know where that thinner spot is. Personally, I’m a bit of a scaredy cat when driving on the ice. I always assume somewhere is a spot that is half of what the average is, and I don’t want to find that spot. I’ll go a consistent 10-12″ with my Ranger. If the recommendation is to drive a truck on 12″, then I want 24″, because somewhere out there is a spot of 12″. Which means lots of years I am the only one parked on shore still…
I think it’s more about the quality of the ice, 7 inches of crap white ice and you might fall through, but 4 inches of black ice and you’ll be totally fine.
If you’re worried, get a nebulus.
let me put it to you this way, are you a risk taker, do you have an extra 8,000.00 to 12,000.00 to shell out if your unit goes in? you will be fined by state for pollution, plus dnr will also fine you if you destroy any beds or weeds when they tow you ranger out plus the tow co. will hit you hard…
I am a scuba diver I know… are you made of money… I say if you have to ask then go for it… sorry but some questions are pure stupidity…
In this case the poster HAS checked for himself and has given accurate ice condition reports. He’s asking what is safe based on the weight of the vehicle he has. So basically, he has checked the ice himself, and is now doing his research to determine if his side by side is ok.
Your comments about stupidity are a little ironic.
If that voice in your head questions it, don’t risk it.
I’m curious to. on what people think is ok for a sxs. I got a rzr and never had it on the ice,want to use it as my fishing rig. But unsure how thick Ice should be. I will check just what is recommended
I feel comfortable with 10-12” of ice.
first thing I would suggest is knowing the weight of the vehicle.
If you’re worried, get a nebulus.
I second this. remember that with a side by side you might want to run two of them as they are only rated for 1000 pounds each and a SxS has to be close to that or just slightly over that. My 570 Sportsman comes in at around like 705 LBS with out the fishing gear and plow on it. I run one Nebulus on it but if I had a SxS I would be running two packs.
It is best to error on the safe side but good ice is quite strong. As the ice gets thicker its strength multiplies. For example 2″ can hold 200lbs. 4″ can hold 800lbs. And so on. I have had my rzr on 6″, I took a truck on 6″ without a problem before, I prefer 8″ for a truck but have done less when I was forced to.
It is best to error on the safe side but good ice is quite strong. As the ice gets thicker its strength multiplies. For example 2″ can hold 200lbs. 4″ can hold 800lbs. And so on. I have had my rzr on 6″, I took a truck on 6″ without a problem before, I prefer 8″ for a truck but have done less when I was forced to.
Forced to take a truck on less than 8 inches? Did you have to rescue a drowning victim?
I believe that 8 inches of solid clear ice could support a pickup, but that sounds pretty sketchy to me.
I prefer to not be the first one to test conditions with my UTV. I’ll follow someone else if they have driven out.
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