Whatching IDO i see alot of the time they are on the ice no shelter, and able to move easy. Would a snowmobile, 4 wheeler or a tracked side by side be the best way to travel on the ice. (early and late season) Then what to pull behind it or is it better to have all the containers mounted on the vehicle?
I would like to know what is easiest to use and most versatile throughout the season.
Snowmobiles are a must if the snow is deep or if you have slushy conditions, even the tracked out vehicles can struggle in slush, as well as a sled, but they offer the best floatation of the 3 options. The downside is that you won’t even pull a wheelhouse with a sled, and they also don’t do as well on glare ice unless you got a big track or studs. Same goes with a four wheeler but chains are pretty easy to put on. Side by sides are awesome, especially with tracks, but they are spendy. A buddy of mine has a ranger with the cab and heat, no tracks, and it’s surprising how much they can go through, the problem is, if you have slush on the lakes, it could be a nightmare. If you have a bigger wheel house the side by sides are the cats meow. Again, one of my buddies had to hook up to the rzr 800 to get started and move the house off the spot, but after that, the wheeler was able to take it where it needed to, as long as the snow isn’t deep. Sorry for the lengthy response but I hope this helps, there’s a lot of scenarios to play out and they all have a time and place. Unfortunately, that costs a lot of money.
Lake Speed, Funny you asked what to pull behind. I asked myself the same question and I am in the process of building a pull behind – well I don’t have a name for it yet, but it will be 36″T x 72″L x 34″W and on skis. It will carry a passenger, hub style house, and all the accessories. I drew up the plans a couple weeks ago and have been refining ever since. I have a boat seat ordered and when that gets here I will start the build.
I plan on pulling it with my Grizz 700 and I have chains on all four. I was up on LOW early season pulling a heavy trailer and it pulled pretty good.
I’m hoping to have it built so I can use it yet this year.
I’ll post pictures of the fabrication in process.
P.S. I think I have a spot for everything I would need out on the ice, but if someone has a suggestion on a must have, I’ll figure out a way to incorporate it in.
Oh did I mention I’m pretty stoked for the build! 
In another post I proposed mounting the hoop frame and fabric from a flip shelter to a large platform sled. Sled outer dimensions would be 4 x 8 to fit in back of pickup or side of 2 place snowmobile trailer. The sled would ride on snowboard skis and be towable with sled or ATV. Seats would be on deck of sled with gear wherever it fits on the deck.
I use a wheeler if no snow and a snowmobile with snow. I can pull an Otter cottage 75 mph with gear in totes and have no problems. Gps mounted on dash and you don’t get more mobile than that!
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75 only, you need to get that lead sled up to at least 100 with your gear…don’t mind me I’ll just be picking up anything salvageable you might leave behind.
Snowmobile or wheeler depending on the snow conditions.
For power fishing, the question of what to pull is simple… NOTHING.
Decide what you actually NEED for fishing and put it on the sled/wheeler. For me that’s auger, rods, tackle, flasher, gps, and miscellaneous stuff like food/drinks, tools, ropes/bungies, etc.
Here’s a picture of my snowmobile… Auger holder, two pvc rod holders, flasher in the green bag for long moves and on my lap for short moves, gps on the dash, and tackle and misc stuff in the saddle bags. The snowmobile is light enough that I’ve had no problem going through slush as long as I’m not pulling anything and it’s fan cooled so it won’t overheat if there’s no snow. I got it for dirt cheap and it’s a little 340 so it sips gas, 50 mph on the lake is plenty fast for me. Gotta keep it simple to eliminate downtime when fishing 15-20 spots in a day.
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Are those auger blades sharp? 
I had a snowmobile setup and then sold it for a quad setup. The ability to use the quad year round was the biggest factor in my decision, if you get big/wide tires on your quad, it’s rare that it can’t go where you want it to go (Obviously there are situations where it can’t go, but honestly how often have you been in that predicament?) The quad’s winch can also get you out of alot of sticky situations that you’ll spend hours digging a snowmobile out of…
My setup:
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The biggest seller for me on a snowmobile is safety for travel. I fish Lake superior all winter, so crossing cracks and pressure ridges is a guaranteed thing. For this situation a snowmobile is the much better option.
Hmmm funny my version is on foot. Only two lures each one on a european ice-rod a backpack with an intergraded seat and a foldable hand auger, in one hand and a GPS in other.
No gas
No engine problems
No noise
And a thinner waist line lol
I was looking at an Articat Bearcat a little longer and wider track, or yamahas version of that.
Thanks for all the in put fellas
Bearcat’s are nice because they have solid mounting locations and can even get hitch adapters that bolt onto the frame, but you’re rolling the dice with Arctic cat reliability imo.. Skidoo’s Tundra model handles hauling too..
Wilcraft.
Wilcraft.
I saw one of those on a 100 acre lake in the DL/Fergus Falls area this weekend. Really cool concept… It’s the atv, shelter, and sled all in one. And it floats!
Sounds cool I will have to check that out.
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