Wood Platform for Eskimo Pop Up?

Hi guys- I bought a 6’x12′ Eskimo pop up ice shelter this year, and absolutely love it. One issue I’ve been running into is how slippery the floor gets once my heater begins to heat up the inside. When I have 3+ guys in there it gets dangerously slipper. Has anyone ever built a wood platform for their shelter before? Mainly interested in doing something like this for a spear house set up, so nobody is slipping and falling into the hole. But I’d like for the boards to be used in an ice fishing set up as well.

I have access to tons of OSB board from new construction, and I was wondering if I would be able to use this? I’m mainly concerned about the ice underneath melting, becoming wet, and my OSB board soaking it up. Do you guys think this would be an issue? Or should I prop the boards up with some treated wood beams? I want to keep it as light at possible.

I attached my proposed set up, with hole covers fitted with hinges and door latches for easy transport. Thoughts? Better ideas?

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   Fish-House-Platform.jpeg
   

The red lines are where I’d make cuts. Ideally I’d like to have 6 pieces, so I’m not lugging around 6′ wide boards.

a good pair of ice cleat

Aaron wrote:

a good pair of ice cleat

X2
My thought exactly
Cheaper and lighter too without all the extra hassle

Just so you know, unless you seal the heck out of that wood it is going to soaked through and one heavy beast at the end of the day.

munchy wrote:

Just so you know, unless you seal the heck out of that wood it is going to soaked through and one heavy beast at the end of the day.

That’s what I was wondering. Is the ice really going to melt that much underneath? The only ice that really ever melts right now is the ice in front of my Mr Buddy heater. I could always lay some vinyl underneath and staple it to the bottom of the wood.

Honestly thinking I might just do this for a spearhouse set up. To constantly lug the boards around for regular ice fishing would be tiresome. Might just pick up some of those cleats

Tom Druk wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Munchy wrote:</div>
Just so you know, unless you seal the heck out of that wood it is going to soaked through and one heavy beast at the end of the day.

That’s what I was wondering. Is the ice really going to melt that much underneath? The only ice that really ever melts right now is the ice in front of my Mr Buddy heater. I could always lay some vinyl underneath and staple it to the bottom of the wood.

Honestly thinking I might just do this for a spearhouse set up. To constantly lug the boards around for regular <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>ice fishing would be tiresome. Might just pick up some of those cleats

Yup. The moment you lay it down in the warm house it will transmit the heat and melt the ice underneath. Try putting a 2×4 on the ice while fishing. At the end of the day there will be a rectangular divot in the ice a 1/2″ or so deep.

If you reeeeealy want to try this, modify the idea a bit. Take a sheet of 1/2″ or 3/4″ blue or pink styrofoam and glue it to a sheet of 3/8 plywood. Then cut your holes and hinge points and try it out.

The foam will act as an insulator keeping the house/feet warmer and keep the melting to a minimum.

I suggest foam ‘puzzle’ play mat. I picked up a 4 pack from the local Menards for around 5 bucks. They work great and stay together nicely. They don’t get stuck in either and make it so that there is a nice barrier between your boots and the slippery ice. I am still trying to find a good layout in my Eskimo Flipmo 2, but it was by far one of the better investments I made this year for my house.

Don’t forget about the possibility of some of the flooring freezing to the ice when you go to break down and pick up for the night

I’m completely in same boat. Trying to figure something out, not necessarily for myself but for when the kiddos come along.

If you’re familiar with dricore, imagine that but with the modular foam on top with some kind of vinyl cover. Leaves room for air underneath so hopefully won’t melt into ice, yet incredibly light and thermal for the feet. Not sure how to create it though.

@Munchy- Thanks for the info, didn’t think the wood would transmit that much heat. I’ll try some styrofoam on the bottom and see how that goes, it’s pretty cheap.

Completely off topic here, might make a new thread but I fish mostly on water in northern MN with 15-16ft clarity and it’s insanely clear for spearhouse fishing. Ideal conditions in my opinion.

Water down around the cities in MN is murky, and some farm land waters are 5-6ft clarity. Would I even be able to see anything around 10-15ft in that crappy of waters in a spearhouse?

Tom, I hear you guys up in the northern stated always talk about a lighter load so it is not too heavy. Structure Strand sheathing? really? First the screws will never hang on more than a few trips, second Heaver Than He Double LL!
Polystyrene and bead board will be broke in a Winnepege second, blue or pink board unless it is 2 inches or so thick same thing. What about flame? Kiss your sweet toots good-by!
jao

How about the woven camper trailer large mats folks put out under their awnings? Still flexible a way lighter weight than other items and easy to layout and fold back up, but also still a poly material so there is a melting issue, but,,,,?

One thing you might try first is get your heater up off of the ice. Buddy heaters and the heater/cooker style heaters throw all their heat directly onto the ice and melt it and you end up with the predicament you are in. I use a sunflower heater that screw’s into a 20 pounder and it will eventually start to melt the snow and ice, but it takes alot longer.

Ryan Pahl wrote:

I suggest foam ‘puzzle’ play mat. I picked up a 4 pack from the local Menards for around 5 bucks. They work great and stay together nicely. They don’t get stuck in either and make it so that there is a nice barrier between your boots and the slippery ice. I am still trying to find a good layout in my Eskimo Flipmo 2, but it was by far one of the better investments I made this year for my house.

This is what I do as well. They are light, they don’t soak up water, it’s much easier on the back if you stand up a ton, they provide good insulation, and they are cheap. Plus you can configure them however you want. I picked up two packs of those things for my Clam Base Camp (same size as the Clam Vista) and they work exceptionally well. I tried laying other stuff down but it soaked water up and was a pain to handle when it froze. The foam anti-fatigue mats don’t soak that water up. They are pretty much the same weight when you put them in as they are when you take them out.