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I wish the new digital units came in a more compact package. I have no complaints about my LX5 and therefore I can’t justify a switch.
Ditto. I used my stepsons LX6 and really liked it, REALLY liked it! But not enough to justify moving on up for me.
Good advice. Thanks for posting!
REgarding the phone, I now use LifeProof case, which is waterproof, and this is one reason why… just in case. Also have floating jacket and bibs, hope to never need them. (I did test them though in summer, and they work)
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They are heavy and fast. Not good for kids. If it is to be used for fishing, there are better sleds out there. Sell it, take the profit and buy a late 80’s early 90’s wedge style chassis Polaris.
I traded an old canoe for a 1988 Polaris Indy 400, with 4k miles, and it has performed flawlessly for the past 5 years! Tows fishing sleds, serves as kids learning and beating machine, and even still hits the trails for the guy with the youngest kidney 
It ain’t smooth, but starts great, runs, great, nice and light and even still pretty durned fast! 70+ on the speedo with a fat guy, but gets pretty bumpy, haha! 
I would also add in the Wirsbo tubes, even if you don’t get boiler right away. I have it in my cabin basement (love it!), but I didn’t put it in the attached garage floor and I regret it.
Also when I built my 28×36 detached garage at home, I didn’t put in tubes, and regret it. Doesn’t cost much for the tube and insulation, and you can decide later.
I have an old home furnace in my garage at home, and it works great. Takes up more space than a hanging but the price was right
I will put a 75k hanging in my cabin garage once I insulate it, and move there, and when I build a huge detached there I will for sure put in tubes and use another off-peak boiler to heat it.
Best of both worlds is to put use tubes to heat floor and keep at 40. Then have hanging furnace for when you are out there to heat it up quick.
Good luck! 28×36 is real nice, GREAT, size, but you will want more eventually, haha! I do!
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Otter cabin could not fit 3 people.
Maybe it is the Lodge. I just remember it saying 3 person when I bought it. Never tried 3 people and to be honest I like it for just myself. Plenty of space for multiple holes and gear.
I have Otter Cabin and you can do 2 adults with a kid in middle if you have bench seat, but it is tight. Works fine for two people, but the holes must be stacked. I often would use an extra hole in middle of them all if only one flasher, and you can see all jigs. It works awesome as a one man, lots of room!
You can pull it over through snow pretty easy if the auger is not on it and not tons of stuff. I pull with sled or atv now, so it doesn’t matter. You can also get it into the back of truck by yourself, if you remove auger first, and maybe heater. The Lodge I never could lift by myself, or not without hernia
For Room I would rather have Lodge (I have a Voyager and the slightly larger size is nice), if you have sled or atv to pull it with. But the cabin works fine for one or two.
Good luck.
Not a very good pic but all I have… Have auger rack on front, can’t recall name, but I don’t think they make it anymore. Works great though.
Rear drop basket which I love. Three buckets, or cooler and <add your gear here>. I can take it off quickly but I have not found reason to yet in a few years. On top of the front part is a black rear bag luggage which works awesome to keep things dry, non dusty, cushioned (three LX5s fit width wise, or any variation of electronics). Also is nice as second person can kind of sit on/in front of and it holds them there nicely.
Weight in the rear basket so far back can make it light on the front wheels for steering though, so have to watch that a bit. I have an Otter rod box that fits in the rear rack along with buckets, but I have to strap it down a bit.
I have both (Foreman, and three sleds) and I gotta say I really liked the ATV with my rear drop rack and front auger auger carrier it is an ice fishing machine I loved my sleds before I got the ATV for ice fishing, but will also add that the first year I had the ATV we had little to no snow, after three winters of deep stuff.
Last year, we got to where I could really only the sleds unless I stayed to the packed areas or roads, so I loved my sleds again When the fish aren’t biting, a sled is much more fun way to pass the time than an ATV as well! ha!
I do have a windshield on my ATV and would NOT be without one ever again.
For cost reasons, a 12 year old $1500 2-up sled will work perfect for ice fishing. Try to find a decent any age ATV for that… no way. Good luck 
Technically you need I think 16″ inches of reflector on both sides and back. I just put DOT red/white reflector tape on mine, but I think one of my shacks had some fall off. You only need rigid tow bar if you have people in the shack/sled/tub.
I had simialr issue with my worn out springs on my 98 k1500. I put in Timbren SES – google it and you will find their site. Cost is about $180 and you can do it yourself in about an hour – take off old bumper stops, put in the SES. Pretty easy. Cool thing is that it just sits there as normal until you add weight, then the rubber kinda takes over. My prob is that my springs are so worm out and weak that my bed is always sitting on the SES even when empty. So I guess I should get new springs… Doing it again, I might do the air bags right from the start, but at double and then some the pricing, you gotta plan for it
Good luck.
Have a 97 150efi that gets used a lot, and lots of trolling as well. The efi’s are as bulletproof as they come, and hve always been. Any research will show that.
However, given the choice between the two, I would take the opti any day, it is just newer tech, and the 150 opti was always good. We would have opti, but it came out in 98…
But our efi is so good and strong and trouble-free that its not worth us upgrading. And I guess Idon’t find the efi to be a gas “hog”, but I spose if I had a opti to compare to I would
Good luck.
I was on the “saving” end of a boating mishap several years ago -May and 50 degree water. We came around a point and saw a boat circling a guy at WOT. We got to him and pulled him out (he was actually on outside of circle, no idea how he flipped out – but he wasn’t drinking and it was nice day with no real wind), and when he go to hospital his body temp was nearly 90. He has no idea how long he was treading water, and without his glasses had no idea which way shore was. He thought he was dead man, and didn’t even see or hear us come up on him.
We now wear pfd’s AND use kill switch on big boat when driving or at night, but I don’t on pontoon… I know I should…
This thread is good reminder and proof that “real men do wear pfd’s” especially those who want to make it home safe.
FWIW, we have Shorlander trailer and have a short somewhere. We traced it to the port side and not brake lights… but with fender markers, and the center three gang, there is alot to ry to trouble shoot. I went to our dealer and just wondered offhan if they have shorlander kits – they do! You can buy just the sections you need, and they have the rubber plugs and all ready to just plug and play! Makes it easy, and just like factory. For one side it was $15 for the main run, and $12 for the fender marker light run, and $12 for the center the gang light. So a bit spendy, but once you figure in the wire and heat shrink and connectors, the $35 doesn’t seem so bad…
If this was a smaller trailer with fewer lights, I would just wire away, but its big with lots of lights, so using the pre-rigged official wires maks sense. Just thought this might help some folks who have shorlander trailers, but I bet it is same for several brands.
I am not 100% sure, but I think with lifetime you don’t have to pay to get duplicate if you loose one. Does anybody know for sure? I can’t really tell from the DNR website.
Ilost my lic. once it costa ton to have get duplicate, as they nick you for item at $2 a pop. I just got my lifetime sportsman and getting my wife a lifetime angling pretty soon. I will still have to do the stamps and deer license though each year. But worth it. I wish I had done it when it came out…
FWIW, I got a 2002 Polaris XC 500 (liquid cooled Liberty)and a 2002 two-up Yammie Venture 600 (liquid cooled triple) before last season. Both are great starting, great riding sleds, but the Polaris takes longer to warm up.
The Polaris is also more for “go fast” use. My wife loves the Yammie. Electric start, reverse, infinite thumb and hand warming settings as opposed to just two on many sleds.
The Yammie rides the trails great, electric start is nice, but on a two up reverse is necessary, IMHO.
I would like the Polaris two-ups with the 500 liquid cooled engine and reverse also, and electric start would be a bonus.
I got mine and they were showroom floor clean, and with a covered trailer, for less than a new sled. So far so good for me, I am looking forward to snow and pulling the shack around with the Yammie, and hitting the trails again Wife and I had a blast.
oh yeah, I traded a canoe for an old 88 Polaris indy 400, and it runs great and is a great ice fishing sled or extra for the kids or rookies It is so much lighter than either the 600 or the 500 that it is almost funny
Well, it isn’t in the same league as the tannerite…
But my buddy said this while out in the boat on Mille Lacs, we were young and after a night of Schlitz’s…
“What will you give me if I sh$# in my hand and throw it?…”
FWIW, I just did a neo angle in my bathroom (small bathroom) and used a glass pan but tiled up the walls. I put a mortar bed under the glass pan, and it is solid as concrete, unlike my last one that had cracked.
I am not contractor, but tiling was easy and kinda fun, but really messy. If you do it get a tile saw, that worked great. My brother had one, so cost was nothing for the saw.
If you tile, make sure to do your best to make the wall as flat as you can. We used 12×16 on walls and 12×12 on the floor and it all matched up nicely, oooks great, and wifey is very happy
The TileShop is extremely helpful, and I recommend them over the big box stores if tiling. They cna walk a rookie through it, they did for me
Good luck!
I’m fairly new to sledding, and got a HJC Symax modular with my sleds. Doesn’t fog up (has that breath-deflector “fighter pilot mouth piece”) and I really like being able to lift the face mask up.
Hope some folks can get in on a little action and good eating on those lakes
But winterkill isn’t really a bad thing on some shallow lakes. They are often good waterfowl lakes if they are shallow, and winterkills help keep down rough fish, if it kills good enough, which in turn help the lake waterfowl wise. Carp and bullheads are horrible for a waterfowl lake. Not sure of all those lakes, just saying that winterkill is good on some lakes.
Stay warm, and good luck!
-Box
Very slow for me out of Ramsey, since Sat, but did get one nice eye. But that is about it. I am driving out there in truck.
Hey Thinice,
I shot you back a PM. Shoot me an email once you get that.
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I have a cabin on Obrien, and yep, they closed the access on us. The Lake Assoc is fighting to get a public access, but so far the DNR can’t find the land… it is going for too high a price, or the sellers don’t want to sell to DNR. Actually, the DNR just sent letters to all owners who have fairly level lots/yards, and a buddy of mine is thinking about selling his cabin to them, if they give him enough…
Anyway, I fish it every weekend I can. I love the clear water, and even though you would be amazed at how the traffic increased, it still isn’t bad, especially in the morning.
We get some nice fish, but “nice” is different definition from the bigger and better known fishing lakes. If you have fished the lake much, you know what I mean 
But I do see plenty of surprises, again you would know what I mean if you fished it for those many years
I love the lake, and it would take some pushing for anybody to get me away from that little lake. It is tiny, a nice cozy lake. I bring the bigger boat up and hit withefish or North Long or Pelican when we want bigger water.
-Box
I agree. I would not like to have the speed limit imposed, since it won’t stop the irresponsible anyway.
I fish the Croix a fair amount (live in WBL) and our boat doesn’t go that fast, but over 40. It is nice a on flat day to be able to cruise down the river fast for a long stretch without powering down.
And as was mentioned earlier, the big boys will push more wake when plowing at slower speeds. My boat makes almost no wake at wot. I doon’t mind no wake zones where needed, but I don’t like speed limits, although an after-dark limit probably would be a good item. Minnetonka has it…
-Box
I’ve done it, and it worked. Key thing is to get good connection on the interior wire (easy to do) but then also get the shield wires connected, and try to keep them around the core as much as possible.
I’d vote for getting new xducer, but it does work, although you need an extra set of hands to help with the splicing, as it gets tough to do and keep it clean.
-Box
The Vantage 74 weighs about 60 pounds, I think, and a Yamaha t-8 (a great kicker!) is about 100#. We were thinking of the t-8, but at $2200 is more than the Vantage 74 at about $900 by twice. So we are going to try the Vantage. Have talked to people who love it. It also has a “flip the head” feature that turns it into a backtrolling unit in mere seconds.
At 24 volts and using slower speeds, it should hold up for a good 6-8-12 hours no problem, if our other 24 volt bow unit (lesser thrust, so higher speed needed) is any indicator. At faster speeds (like 2 mph) I bet it would only get about 4-6 hours tops, if even. But then we can use our outboards.
And your thought about the outboards making noise is correct. A couple years ago we found eyes pretty shallow, and were catching lots. Then our electric died (last day of the trip) and we had to use an 7.4 hp kicker… no more fish after that. We spooked them out of the area. The electric was the ticket.
I’m in White Bear, so still aways before I get the boat out.
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Hey Bill,
Did your cat look like this?
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/4796/catfish.gif
oops, I guess they don’t let me do that anymore. Anyway, it was a 35″ guy, if memory serves me.
found this one down off of Afton State Park a few years ago. It was fun!
-Box
