Reasonable Size & Weight for a Loaded Sled When Walking?

I’m a rookie trying to put together an ice fishing kit to maximize our enjoyment on the ice. My goal is as much about family time and memories as it is about catching fish. I’m going to be limited to a single sled (due to vehicle space), hauling it out on foot. It has to take care of 1 – 4 of us with most times probably being 2 – 3 (adults and teens). I’ve got an Otter Lodge Hub, a Helix 7 ice rig, a 13 Qt. Engel Bait cooler, a Partner Steel single burner stove, a 20 Qt. soft cooler, 2 hand augers and four rods. I will be adding 5 – 10 traps, at least 2 more rods, chairs, a Buddy heater and who knows what else.

I’m looking at the Otter Pro Medium and Kodiak XL sleds. Will these be big enough? Too big? How much weight can I comfortably pull? (I’m 6’1″, 220 lbs., 59 and in reasonable shape). Are these big enough for what I want to haul? We probably won’t be going more than a mile out (probably less) but to be honest I really don’t have a clue.

Thanks!

If there is no snow on the ice you can pull a heavily loaded sled with one finger…if (when) you get snow that’s when the grunting begins. I am a year older than you, average in health, and of similar size and pull an Otter XT Pro Cottage with all my gear and auger in the sled…estimated total weight is somewhere around 135 lbs. Even at that weight it can be a chore at times pulling it alone on snow covered ice if I have to go any distance.

U need a smitty sled. Makes it easy to pull in most conditions

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PmB wrote:

U need a Smitty sled. Makes it easy to pull in most conditions

I made mine exactly the same way….this is what you need! DK.

Smitty sled and a harness.You will appreciate it when you get that first decent snowfall.A lot easier to pull with arms free.

And when snow is involved,just bring what you absolutely need.We all know the guys that take a mountain of stuff,and not use much of it.

Thanks for the feedback. A Smitty sled is something that I have been looking at and considering. My biggest concern regarding that is transporting it to and from the lakes. As things stand right now I’m going to have to load the empty sled on the roof of the car and fill the back with everything and then load it into the sled upon arrival. I will have the loading all figured out in advance, hopefully setting things up in a sort of modular way so that I can just quickly drop things into place.

Has anyone devised or seen a collapsible Smitty sled? I’ve got a couple of ideas in my head but I tend to over engineer/over build things….

Snowhunter wrote:

Thanks for the feedback. A Smitty sled is something that I have been looking at and considering. My biggest concern regarding that is transporting it to and from the lakes. As things stand right now I’m going to have to load the empty sled on the roof of the car and fill the back with everything and then load it into the sled upon arrival. I will have the loading all figured out in advance, hopefully setting things up in a sort of modular way so that I can just quickly drop things into place.

Has anyone devised or seen a collapsible Smitty sled? I’ve got a couple of ideas in my head but I tend to over engineer/over build things….

Please post when & where you will be doing this. I don’t want to be around. You might want to buy a old pick-up or a small trailer for the car.

If he has roof rocks and properly straps it?… You see canoes everywhere are you scared of all of them too?.. I’m not, just wondering

Please post when & where you will be doing this. I don’t want to be around. You might want to buy a old pick-up or a small trailer for the car.
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I put a runner kit on my sled and it helped a ton

Packs up nicely

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It will be on the roof rack of a VW wagon, upside down and secured. Our kayaks haven’t been an issue.
I fail to see why this would be a problem. We’re in the Adirondacks and have a lot of lakes to choose from but I don’t expect to be traveling more than an hour in most cases, in fact I’m hoping to keep it under a half hour in most cases.

If there are 2 or more adults I would get 2 sleds…

I’d have 2 sleds and stack them for the roof mount. If you can’t get all your gear in the back get a small hitch carrier.

Easier to have 2 that are lighter than one that is overloaded.

I’d also skip the buddy heater. Too big and bulky and heavy. Get the small propane Mr Heater model. You don’t need much heat in a shack.

I made my smitty sled wide enough to put the hub shelter next to the the tub. And it comes apart like the picture above.

The beauty of a “true” Smitty sled is that it easily disassembles for transport. If the hub doesn’t fit in the back seat or trunk, strap it to the roof and pile your other stuff in the car. You don’t need a tub type sled at all, just use a plastic tote for your loose gear.

I would stick to right around 100lbs or under for pulling…

catnip wrote:

I made my smitty sled wide enough to put the hub shelter next to the the tub. And it comes apart like the picture above.

X3,4,5,6 on the Smitty Sled. I use a smaller otter sled with a hub shelter so it’s a bit different than what you’ll have with the cabin or resort, but I made my smitty quite a bit wider than the sled; like catnip mentioned. From there I made an auger rack on one side of the sled and added tie downs on the other for the hub. Getting that extra width will help to haul some extra gear, especially if you bringing multiple augers.

Smitty sled thumbs up here too but here’s another variant for walking out. This is a cheaper, lighter option I use when I don’t need a shack. In my case my buddies would only need to carry their rod bag/bucket.

2 Cheap toboggans, https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/gracious-living-66-in-mega-boggan/0000000044634?bc=10873|10912|12366|12367 Tip – add rope or straps to cinch a load down

Assuming you have a 60/40 split in that wagon. Put the 40 down, stack the 2 sleds together, and should fit tilted on their sides. You still have room for four people and put the youngest in the middle seat. This is way cleaner and faster than dealing with stuff on the roof.

Backpacks, rod bags, 5 gallon buckets can also be carried by those with you to limit the weight dragged.

Now if your teenager is of the strong athletic type, have them pull the sled with that big Otter lodge

Since you’re partners are plenty old enough split up the weight into the two sleds instead of one big one.

As always, thanks for all the great advice and suggestions!

First off, I said that I had looked at the Smittys but I obviously didn’t look into them enough as you can tell by my “collapsible” question. I guess I did more picture browsing than anything else. It sure seems like the consensus is that a Smitty is the way to go. I was hesitant as a co-worker who gets out a lot around here seemed to think that most of the time it wasn’t necessary and could even be a negative. I’m starting to wonder why……

In terms of keeping a low profile and ease of access to everything I can see mounting the hub next to the sled on a Smitty. My key concern here is balance….I would think that that configuration would result in the hub side being heavier and that it would impact the towing of the Smitty. Maybe I’m over thinking this.

Most times out I expect it to be just my 13 yr old son and I. Hopefully I will get my wife and 15 yr old out there with us occasionally. The 13 yr old is almost as big as me at 6′ 165 lbs and athletic (athletic but a bit clumsy too which makes the stability of the small heater a concern of mine). He will definitely be sharing the load so to speak but at the same time I would prefer to carry the main share of the load (at least as long as I can). All this said, two sleds is something to consider (my buddy at work claims to take FOUR with is crew of kids) but I see multiple sleds as opening the door to over packing, etc. I don’t want to travel minimalist but I don’t need a full kitchen, lounge chairs, etc

Dutchboy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Snowhunter wrote:</div>
Thanks for the feedback. A Smitty sled is something that I have been looking at and considering. My biggest concern regarding that is transporting it to and from the lakes. As things stand right now I’m going to have to load the empty sled on the roof of the car and fill the back with everything and then load it into the sled upon arrival. I will have the loading all figured out in advance, hopefully setting things up in a sort of modular way so that I can just quickly drop things into place.

Has anyone devised or seen a collapsible Smitty sled? I’ve got a couple of ideas in my head but I tend to over engineer/over build things….

Please post when & where you will be doing this. I don’t want to be around. You might want to buy a old pick-up or a small trailer for the car.

In Sconi, they put sleds on their cars so……

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eyeguy507 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dutchboy wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Snowhunter wrote:</div>
Thanks for the feedback. A Smitty sled is something that I have been looking at and considering. My biggest concern regarding that is transporting it to and from the lakes. As things stand right now I’m going to have to load the empty sled on the roof of the car and fill the back with everything and then load it into the sled upon arrival. I will have the loading all figured out in advance, hopefully setting things up in a sort of modular way so that I can just quickly drop things into place.

Has anyone devised or seen a collapsible Smitty sled? I’ve got a couple of ideas in my head but I tend to over engineer/over build things….

Please post when & where you will be doing this. I don’t want to be around. You might want to buy a old pick-up or a small trailer for the car.

In Sconi, they put sleds on their cars so……

Saw this on the news.. It was a Minnesota car or driver!!

Snowhunter wrote:

It sure seems like the consensus is that a Smitty is the way to go. I was hesitant as a co-worker who gets out a lot around here seemed to think that most of the time it wasn’t necessary and could even be a negative. I’m starting to wonder why……

Extra stuff of any kind is a negative if it doesn’t add really good value. No need for a smitty when there’s little to no snow. Now if the snow starts to get deeper and as much stuff as you want, then conditions are appropriate for a smitty. Also, if it’s only a short walk from shore, may not be worth it.

Snowhunter wrote:

All this said, two sleds is something to consider (my buddy at work claims to take FOUR with is crew of kids) but I see multiple sleds as opening the door to over packing, etc. I don’t want to travel minimalist but I don’t need a full kitchen, lounge chairs, etc

Like I learned in backpacking, whatever the size pack you will fill it. The more stuff you bring the less portable and more hassle there is. The secondary option I gave was using two smaller sleds so same or less capacity as one big sled. This suggestion doesn’t work well if you are solo and need a shelter.

As suggested go with two smaller sleds I have a cheap Frabill one and my buddy has a smaller otter and we split the weight up and both pull one. With a small car I would buy two of the same model so they stack nice and load your stuff into those in the car. Then at the launch pull it all out and split it up. Trust me it works better. If solo I usually don’t even bring a shelter and don’t stay to long.

This is something I came up with. Gives a couple of crates for locator and heater. Fits in the back of my Dodge Nitro. Rod case and hub style shack in the bottom of tub and auger sets on top . Pulls very easy.

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When I go with another guy, one of us pulls the collapsible otter sled, the other uses one of the big toboggan sleds talked about above. The smitty can literally be pulled with one finger, especially if there is little snow. It’s night and day how little friction you have.

There is a thread on another forum that has gone on for 10 years, and maybe people consider to be the start of Smitty sleds. Tons of ideas and pictures and lessons learned. https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=103927.0