I have my heart set on an Otter Pro xt1200 Lodge. My only concern with it now is the weight. A few of the places we fish are not accessible by 4-wheeler, so you have to pull your sled in. It’s roughly a 3/4 mile walk with a few hills. The lodge weighs in at 124 lbs, plus gear. Am I getting in over my head or am I over thinking this? Do any of you who own the lodge pull it by hand? Thanks for the input.
The only way to pull a lodge by hand is to use a Smitty Sled to put it on, unless it’s glare ice.
You can see one here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCXKm3_ayjQ
+1
Or else always have an 18yo football player pull your sled around.
I’d get some ramps to load it on the truck too
I don’t even like lifting mine into the truck, I wouldn’t consider pulling it anywhere !
I’m looking at mounting a 12V ATV winch in the bed of my truck with a battery and putting a couple of 2 X 8’s or 2 X 10’s on edge that run the length of the bed with cross braces. Then cut a taper on the tailgate end of the 2 X 8’s. I will winch the shack up a ramp into the back of the truck and up onto the 2 X 8’s This will allow the shack to go over the top of the winch and sit just above the top lip of box.
I have a topper on it so everything is enclosed, the Lodge is about 1/2″ too long to fit in the bed of my Dodge, this should allow it to fit and give me room to mount the winch with some storage space under the shack as well.
Now to get building!!!
The only way to pull a lodge by hand is to use a Smitty Sled to put it on, unless it’s glare ice.
You can see one here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCXKm3_ayjQ
CJ
It would be a heart attack waiting to happen if there is any snow on top of the ice. Glare ice maybe ok
Over the past few years I’ve become an expert at pulling an Otter Lodge by hand… I’ve done it to get into some back country lakes with James up by Ely, early ice on Mille Lacs prior to ATV travel, into some back country trout lakes, and even for over 3/4 a mile up Superior in both the Duluth and Bayfield areas where I just didn’t feel safe on an ATV. The good news is that if you really crunch the numbers an Otter Lodge is actually lighter than virtually all comparable models as the lightweight seat mounting system makes up for the more rugged sled and canvas. The bad news is that you’re probably missing at least another 50 lbs in gear assuming you will be bringing an auger, rods, tackle, and some type of heater.
The short answer is yes, it is absolutely doable to pull your lodge in by hand. The long answer is that it is very very hard work especially if there is anything more than an 1-2″ of snow. Adding the hyfax to your sled helps quite a bit, but even then if there are more than a couple inches of snow and the hills are anything more than just a very gradual slope you will probably need to a a) either take all your gear out when you pull it up the hill or b) have a 2nd person pushing from behind. The shmitty sled works awesome on flat surfaces but you better have a well built shmitty sled and a way to strap your house tightly to the sled if you want to use it going up and down hills.
Now that Otter came out with the hub style houses this year I will be adding a hub and smaller Otter sled to my arsenal so that I can go lighter weight for exactly these types of trips.
Will
Thank you for the replies. I already have a nice hub shelter, but was looking for something a little easier to relocate. I think I will still get the Lodge, but will look for something lighter for those trips that have restricted ATV access. Again, thank you for all of the replies.
I had an XT1200 Cabin and I tookout the seats and used folding chairs that fit perfect in the sled slats. I think I weighed it and it was around 50lbs. I could pull it easy.
I use a 1 man house for those type of trips. As I get older I’ve figured out its too much work to haul all that heavy gear even with a buddy. It’s easier to each pull a 1 man house each then 2 guys pulling 1 big house full 2 guys gear. Also it’s easier to cover water and spread out to figure out what works then move onto the bite when you get dialed in.
The other option would be what will said and get a hub and small sled to pull your gear in. That also works well and I’ve done this on several hike in trips to hard to get to locations with success.
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