Rainydaze customized Ice sled

Well I finally put my wants and needs for the ultimate in Ice fishing trasnportation into one of my guide sleds. For some reason I wasn’t able to capture a very clear picture in the garage, but you’ll get the idea guys. Front Auger mount and square box for my electronics. Note that I built the box to hold the LX-7, so a bit large for the LX5. The front bracket system pivots forward all the way to allow the hood of the sled to extend forward completely withtout touching each other. On the back side I have (2) 5 gallon pail brackets along with a bracket that holds (2) Otter Rod cases and a cooler. All the bracketing sytems has been painted and outfitted with reflector strips. The bracket on the backside doesn’t interfere with my built in sled storage compartment.

All in all the systme can carry multiple flashers, multiple rods,Scoops, my Auger, bait, fish, lunch, and misc. guide gear on the sled itself. GPS or my H20C will be mounted on soon. Not sure if I will bracket a holder for that or not…. Exploring options there. I’ve had some issue reading the H20C while moving when mounted on the dash of the sled. So I look to possibly hard mount this on a pivoting bracket. If there are any parts of this design that guys want a closer pic of let me know. Very very happy with how this has turned out. I will get better pics of the pivoting systems on the front when it’s on the ice for you. Suppose we’ll have any snow now. This allows me to take all of my essential gear directly into our garage and gear up for the nexts days work.

I expect to modify a design for simple gear carrying on my other sleds and not have it quite so elaborate.

Need to meet customers in 30 minutes!!

Very nice Chris, looks like it will work good.

From Jeff

Nice rig. Does your sled have the 550 fan cooled in it? How do you like it?

Great job!! Did you make the Rear Bucket holders or purchase? I want to add something similar to my rack. I think they make bucket holders for cows and horses that are much cheaper than anything designed for ATVs.

I am curious as to how the sled handles with the weight up high. Let us know if it gets “tipsy”.

T

chris,

are you just fishing on the ice, or are you pulling your otter’s along also??? if you are pulling otter’s, how much equipment are you putting in the otter??? it looks like you put alot of thought into that project and it turned out really nice. the problem that i found with putting brackets on a seld is that over time and miles, welds tend to break. as good as the suspention systems have come on the newer sleds, 25 to 35 mile round trips here on mille lacs take there toll. we found that customizing the otter is by far a better option. the only thing i now carry on my sled is the minnows and the gps. it looks like i carry everything that you have pictured plus a 20lb lp tank and a sunflower heater and aqua view. sitting back in the tub with your feet inside the tub is just plane warmer. your holes are closer to the tub so the heater isn’t in your face. with 2 people, you get the 4 holes spread out a little more. i ditched the h2o a while back due to the size of the screen. i have a 5 inch unit mounted on the dash that is easy to see even at 50mph. i am having thoughts at putting the old x15 on it this year so i will have a 7 inch screen. the weight of that unit is the only draw back as the fiberglass might crack/break due to all the vibration and jaring from the drifts and crossing the plowed roads on the lake. it is always nice to see what others are doing to make things easyer/better. thanks for the ideas…..tom

i have the same stereo in my garage with a set of dlk mod1 speakers attached for a little extra volume

Very nice, looks like its ready to go fishing

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I am curious as to how the sled handles with the weight up high. Let us know if it gets “tipsy”.

T

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Really hardly any weight high. The Rack system is light itslef, and the auger is just above the hood and of course light in comparison to the motor…. Bucket holders are low and rod case/cooler is of course light. Should handle great. Of course……No snow on the ice now!!

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Nice rig. Does your sled have the 550 fan cooled in it? How do you like it?

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So far so good Chris!!

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Great job!! Did you make the Rear Bucket holders or purchase? I want to add something similar to my rack. I think they make bucket holders for cows and horses that are much cheaper than anything designed for ATVs.

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Everything was custom made piece by piece.

Thanks CG. For the record – I have mod’d lots of equipment for winter lake trout running…the harshest running and gear pounding I have ever encountered. Your rigs and mods look great….and keep an eye on the welds and joints. i am impressed!

Tim

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chris,
are you just fishing on the ice, or are you pulling your otter’s along also??? if you are pulling otter’s, how much equipment are you putting in the otter??? it looks like you put alot of thought into that project and it turned out really nice. the problem that i found with putting brackets on a seld is that over time and miles, welds tend to break. as good as the suspention systems have come on the newer sleds, 25 to 35 mile round trips here on mille lacs take there toll. we found that customizing the otter is by far a better option. the only thing i now carry on my sled is the minnows and the gps. it looks like i carry everything that you have pictured plus a 20lb lp tank and a sunflower heater and aqua view. sitting back in the tub with your feet inside the tub is just plane warmer. your holes are closer to the tub so the heater isn’t in your face. with 2 people, you get the 4 holes spread out a little more. i ditched the h2o a while back due to the size of the screen. i have a 5 inch unit mounted on the dash that is easy to see even at 50mph. i am having thoughts at putting the old x15 on it this year so i will have a 7 inch screen. the weight of that unit is the only draw back as the fiberglass might crack/break due to all the vibration and jaring from the drifts and crossing the plowed roads on the lake. it is always nice to see what others are doing to make things easyer/better. thanks for the ideas…..tom

i have the same stereo in my garage with a set of dlk mod1 speakers attached for a little extra volume

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Hi Tom,

The guys that I know that have built similiar systems Swear by them. I’ve broke more than I care to share in portables heading to and from fishing destinations. 60 mile roundtrips are not uncommon for us. Welds will have to be checked on occassion, but a weld repair is minimal for the advantages of this system. I’ve wanted this design for a number of years, and yes we run Otter portables daily. We’ll be carrying gear in them still no question, but taking some weight out of the portables and on the sled. I also can fish and scout with sled alone. This is strong as heck, and I would doubt we’ll have any issues. With that being said we run moderate speeds and don’t fly down the lake with gear. 30mph is plenty fast.

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Very nice, looks like its ready to go fishing

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Ready to rock and roll!!

Definately will keep an eye on the welds………..I’ll report back after a year on the ice with them.

Looking good, Chris!!

Looks nice lots of thinking there. Thanks for shareing.

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Looking good, Chris!!

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Thanks Jim!! Very excited to put it to use. Lots of thoughts and planning went into the design.

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Looks nice lots of thinking there. Thanks for shareing.

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Thanks Bee!! Time will tell how well it holds up. I’m pretty careful when transporting, so my assumption is it will be more than fine. I do know if it isn’t it will be much easier to recognize a problem, and doing a quick spot weld than uncovering my Otter to find some mystery broken plastic from expensive equipment!! I also have constructed a gear sled (Otter) with interior framing to transport customer gear. Every year we do this we take smalls steps to further our overall efficiency. I believe this season we took a giant leap.

Chris–Nice looking sled. At some point, I’ll have a sled to go along with my ATV. Getting electronics and other more fragile gear over suspension is a bonus. Seems like there would be a small market for a cargo sled with suspension, yes?

Really a nice job done Chris.

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Chris–Nice looking sled. At some point, I’ll have a sled to go along with my ATV. Getting electronics and other more fragile gear over suspension is a bonus. Seems like there would be a small market for a cargo sled with suspension, yes?

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After hammering thousands of miles on lakes and portages I’ve come to the conslusion that both electronics and augers belong on your sled or atv. Not all will agree and everyone needs to do what works for them. Many ways to skin it I’m sure. Otter sleds are tougher than nails; Few anglers question this, but the rest of our gear is not built for a pounding. Cargo sled on suspension? Might work. I’ve seen them on snowmobile suspension systems and ski’s.

Thanks guys.

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Cargo sled on suspension? Might work. I’ve seen them on snowmobile suspension systems and ski’s.

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Here you go: http://www.eqnx.biz/boggans/brute.html

I think it would work great. You could add wheel kits to the skis to make it easier to get into the garage fully loaded.