Ridgeline or Yetti fish house

I was wondering about likes and dislikes trying to decide on which one.

Yetti are nice, but don’t like the cables. I own a Firebrand.

Not to muddy the waters but I’m pretty close to pulling the trigger on an unfinished 8X16 Firebrand. The boat repair shop in Dorset by my cabin sells them and I’m heading up next Thursday. I’ve chatted with a couple guys here that own them and the reports are good.

They do come finished as well.

My wife almost let me pull the trigger on a wheel house this year (i’m hoping next year). I did a lot of research and would have chosen Firebrand.

I’m bored with all my 80% complete projects so why not take on another one…

hoping not to hijack this thread too much. But if you see a finished fish House out there that is what you would almost if not exactly want to duplicate, I would item by item calculate the cost that it would take for you to finish it and you might decide to buy a unit that’s already finished. unless you love woodworking, and I mean love there’s a lot of detail that goes into these.

castle-rock-clown wrote:

hoping not to hijack this thread too much. But if you see a finished fish House out there that is what you would almost if not exactly want to duplicate, I would item by item calculate the cost that it would take for you to finish it and you might decide to buy a unit that’s already finished. unless you love woodworking, and I mean love there’s a lot of detail that goes into these.

I’ve done a lot of item comparison on these and while I’m never 100% sure of anything I would enjoy doing this. We had our lakehome built three years ago and did all the interior work minus the rough in plumbing and HVAC. Just my wife and I. Framing on the lower level starts next weekend.

I’ve been looking at these fish houses as a project for five years and have followed blogs and the like. Plus…I’m retired. I’ll probably get more pleasure from building it than I will from fishing in it.
I also apologize for the hijack.

The place in Dorset is Johnsons on the water and they have a pretty nice used Yetti for sale

I have seen the firebrand houses on line but not in person and was wondering how the axels worked are they electric or hydraulic jacks to set it on the ice.

electric, I believe according to their site

6.5 wide models come standard with manual crank jacks, 8 wide models have electric.

I was going to buy a new Aluminum shell and finish the interior myself. It would have been a fun project but when I found a very nice used Ice Castle for the same cost as a new unfinished shell, I couldn’t turn it down.

Besides, it’s my first permanent and I know I will learn more of what I want and maybe have the “best” fish house with exactly what I want someday.

I really wish I had a fully spray foamed house & already had to remove the window trim on the inside to caulk/ spray foam around them to prevent mini snow banks inside the house. Ya get what ya pay for, but it works.

I plan on getting a steel galvanized frame and building, or getting a Firebrand shell. The Yetti houses are nice, but the Firebrand is basically just an improved Yetti. The designer of the Yetti and CEO of Voyager are what I believe to be co-owners of Firebrand, and have made some changes to improve the houses. I’m not 100% but I believe some of the older Yetti’s had some issues with the axles making the Firebrand an upgrade with new torsion axles. As far as Rideline I don’t know as much other than the information from their website, but they look nice, are lightweight, have an easy lower and lift system, and have independent torsion axles. Only downfall I see is size options but that’s just me. Hope this is somewhat helpful.

I know this is an old thread, but I’m looking at getting a firebrand house myself and would like to know how they are holding up? I’m leaning towards a 16 ft Miltona with the rear ramp

I’ve had my Firebrand for just over a year now and I’ve used it 5 times as a hunting cabin, twice as a moving trailer, and about 6 times (weekends) on the ice. No problems except for one corroded rear ramp door lock cylinder, easy fix. So far I love it and would recommend. Oh, and I hauled my new Indian motorcycle home in it.

I was diaspointed with the quality of my Firebrand shell. 2 windows cracked before I got it home, one leaked the following summer forcing me to re-do some wood work, entrance door fit poorly. It didn’t pull well with its extra height. Dealer fixed broken window. Manufacturer ignored my calls which spoke the loudest for me. I sold it before it got thru its 1st year. I don’t like bad mouthing companies but them not responding to my issues should be noticed by prospective buyers.

My brother custom ordered a Yeti with the drop down rear door to haul his RZR. The bearings got smoked the on the first trip out last year. He than weighed the rig with the Polaris, gear, food ext and it was over the axel rating ext. My brother was going to haul 1500 lbs of items in the rig. The fish house empty weighed what the gross sticker said and that was with no load in it. When he talked to the main jammers at Yeti they wouldn’t stand behind their product or work with him on a solution. Ice fishing is my brothers main hobby so he spared no expense to order the fish house the way he wanted for retirement. All i can say is Yeti was fortunate deal with my brother instead of me.

It’s not Yetti’s fault your brother smoked the bearings by overloading it? Just because he spent a lot of money on a new shack doesn’t mean he can ignore the weight limits and expect Yetti to fix HIS problems for HIS ignorance.

I overload my Firebrand all the time probably to the tune of 5000 miles on it so far. Tires are always kept 5 psi over max, bearings are checked for lube and tolerance, every stop gets a hand check of the hubs…never more than even slightly warm, hand check for temp the treads. The drop axels and receivers are well built. I haul with a 2012 Silverado 1500 and forget it’s even back there while cruising freeway at 65 mph. While the trailer is overloaded as per trailer gvwr sticker, I’m still under what the axels and tires are rated for. Happy Shopping.

McCord Stowater wrote:

It’s not Yetti’s fault your brother smoked the bearings by overloading it? Just because he spent a lot of money on a new shack doesn’t mean he can ignore the weight limits and expect Yetti to fix HIS problems for HIS ignorance.

He said it was a toy hauler. Pretty hard to haul a “toy” when it’s already at max weight, empty. Not sure I would call it ignorance loading a utv in a toy hauler thats purpose is exactly that.

“He said it was a toy hauler. Pretty hard to haul a “toy” when it’s already at max weight, empty. Not sure I would call it ignorance loading a utv in a toy hauler thats purpose is exactly that.”

Bottom line, NEVER believe a salesman when it comes to what a product will do, You have to do your own research.. Unfortunately it’s a buyer beware world out there.

IMHO the Team Lodge fish is the best built in the fish house industry.

Yes they are a little more expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Smellson wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>McCord Stowater wrote:</div>
It’s not Yetti’s fault your brother smoked the bearings by overloading it? Just because he spent a lot of money on a new shack doesn’t mean he can ignore the weight limits and expect Yetti to fix HIS problems for HIS ignorance.

He said it was a toy hauler. Pretty hard to haul a “toy” when it’s already at max weight, empty. Not sure I would call it ignorance loading a utv in a toy hauler thats purpose is exactly that.

You can easily go to Yetti’s website in 15 seconds and see that ALL the 8×16’s that they make have a GVWR of 4,500lbs. They also have each model’s weight listed (max model with ramp option – 3,720lbs). Of course if you want to add all the options such as a 100lb air conditioner, 25lb fridge, awning, or anything else, then you obviously won’t be able to tow more inside. It’s pretty darn easy math, 4,500-3,800 = 700 pounds of load. You can easily fit a smaller “toy” such as a 4-wheeler inside. Obviously, since their shack was at the 4,500lb max and it was a custom job like he said, it was the decision of the customer (not the builder) to have many extra accessories added. You can’t have your cake and eat it too, either you pay for all the luxurious, heavy add-on features and leave the heavy UTV at home or you sacrifice some comfort and throw the UTV inside.

This also sounds like the type of customer that would complain about the burnt bearings, the suspension system going out, or cracked welds when they cruise down the interstate going 80mph when there are stickers listed everywhere on the shack saying “do not exceed 55mph” or haul across a lake going 30mph hitting every crack, drift, or heave as hard as they can.

Firebrand and Yetti are both very nice shacks and not having to worry about rust is very nice. That being said, Lodge also builds a very nice house and is comparable in price to both Firebrand and Yetti (lodge is a little more but in the same ballpark). I’ve fished out of all 3 and the best one yet was hands down a lodge. The nice part about Yetti or Firebrand is that you have the option to buy just the shell and finish it off how you would like, which I am currently in the process of doing myself before the ice starts getting thick.

Before I bought my Firebrand I looked into Custom Cottage, very nice, but more pricey although outfitted nicely. They also have more designs that may or may not fit an individuals needs.

Yeti waS given the gross weight spec in writing. Profits ahead of customer needs.

Never been a fan of the ramp models, once you load and unload for awhile the door has a tendency to warp slightly and then you lose your seal, but that is personal preference I guess. I have to agree with the others, you have to be aware of your loads and what you add in gear subtracts from your toy capacity, sucks but that’s how it is….

I was all set on buying a yeti shell and then found out bout firebrand. After doing my research I never looked back!

I bought a 8×16 firebrand shell last summer and finished it myself. I haven’t had any trouble with it and used it a ton last winter….personally mine has held up well. I like the fact that there is no cables or leaf spring suspension. The torsion axles allow it to travel more smoothly and those bumps don’t transfer so bad into the truck as they have on other rigs I’ve experienced. I have never had customer service problems, the guys in savage where I bought mine have been great, any questions or concerns they always had a solution. Overall, my money is on firebrand!

So, what was your brothers final resolution? Fix, sell, park,???

Why would you have a ramp door if you have a trailer that drops to the ground?

So you don’t have to lower it every time you want to take something in or out. To do that without a ramp door now you have to drag ramps with you, or jack it up and down then up again. And even with it lowered there is still an 8″ step if frame is 2×6 aluminum and the thickness of the insulated floor.
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