Sled Houses

Got my new power auger and plan on being more mobil from here on. The shack I have is an older one, hard to setup, and has little use for storage. It can be down right comical setting up by myself in the wind. Most of the time I fish by myself but will need a 2 man for times when the wife or buddy wants to come along. The sled house I’m looking for must have room to hold the power auger, flashers, heater, tackel, poles, and so forth while moving on the ice. I’ve looked at new flipovers while they were setup but not sure what sort of storage areas they have while on the move. What do you guys think?

otter medium cabin

I got the bench seat instead of the singles… great for when I’m by myself and roomy for two. The tub is large enough for all the gear you’d need to carry.

It’s pretty hard to fit all your listed items in a 2-man
sled no matter who makes it.
The seats are always in the way and you really don’t want
to bury the auger behind the seats under the tent material.
It is the first thing you need when you get to the next
spot and you don’t want to waste time setting up the shack to remove the auger if there are no fish present.

If you’re pulling by hand I would strap the auger to the
top of the house. If you’re fishing with someone else
bring a second sled, I bought an Otter “Wild” medium,
and throw the auger and minnow bucket in that.

I have a Clam Yukon and will take one of the seats out
if I’m going solo. I still don’t have enough room to
put my auger inside it with all my other gear.

There are some great deals on fish houses right now!!

Are you hiking this fishhouse out?
I’ll tell ya, my Otter Lodge has plenty of room for everything, and then some. Auger, (2) 5 gallon bucket, 20lb propane, Mr. Heater (cooker w/12′ hose), rod bag, Marcum and I even fit my friend’s large gun case filled with his rods and Vex inside. Never had a shortage of space in the Lodge. If you can’t fit it in, you don’t need it…

I pull this behind my snowmobile/ATV with ease…everywhere I need to go it. This package never lets me down. You don’t want to pull this buy hand though.

Oh, setting it up is a breeze even when you are alone.

You don’t have enough room in your Yukon sled? I was looking at a X2 and wondering how that sled was for space and weight? Anyone have an X2 that can comment?

I guess I should have let ya know that I’ll be the horse pulling this thing across the ice/snow.

X2 Post

I could get my auger in my Yukon if I wanted to. It would
be a hassle as I would have to put it behind the seating
and have to deal with the tenting to get it in back there.
Or I could put it in before folding it down but like I said it’s the first thing you need at the next spot and
why unfold the house to retract the auger if you don’t have to.
I haul my auger on an ATV but if I am walking I just set
it on top of my house.

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If you’re fishing with someone else bring a second sled,

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Very good advice, I couldn’t agree more

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I guess I should have let ya know that I’ll be the horse pulling this thing across the ice/snow.

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I just got rid of an Eskimo QuickFlip III because it was just too hard to pull by myself. I don’t have a snowmobile or ATV to pull my house so it is just me during early season ice. My Eskimo QFIII weighed over 100 lbs and then when you add the equipment it was just a snow plow going through the snow. I think you will find just about all of the Otter and Eskimo type deep sled houses to heavy for pulling by hand any long distance.

After a lot of looking around I bought a Frabill Hideout which weighs about 45 lbs. It folds up flat and just glides across the snow when I am pulling it. You can load all your equipment on it and it is not that bad to pull. Frabill claims it is a 3 man portable but it fishes 2 people comfortably with all the equipment in it.
The Hideout is 6′ long and folds flat and fits perfectly in the back of my Ranger pickup. It is easy to load and unload by yourself. Because it is flat I store it standing on end in my garage and it doesn’t take up any room at all. It is a great little house for the angler that has to pull his shelter and equipment by hand. I had to search around to find one and ended up at Cabela’s. I got it for $300 with some money off using Cabela’s coupons.