I had a 6×12 enclosed trailer I insulated and use to camp in. I had a portable ac in mine also. I recommend if you put a portable ac in it then get one with the 2 pipe system. One is exhaust and one is the intake. I had a single pipe system and it sucked. It wouldn’t keep it cool because it sucked all the hot outside air in the trailer.
That would suck. I have one I used in our first house that seemed to work ok. I’ll keep this in mind if my current one doesnt work. Thanks
Yea it does add up! Ive spent about $7,000 total on this. A little more than I wanted I admit. Trailer was basically new, but if a guy could find a used one, that would cut price quite a bit. I had alot of trouble finding a 7×12 single axle with the extra tall roof for this.
What really made me build this vs drop down ice house is how many different ways I can use this. Hopefully I can load it up with snowmobiles for a weekend trip or atvs for summer playing. Load up the kayaks for a weekend fun with the family… I plan on using a spare catch cover and cut holes in it to vent out a portable air conditioner unit as its wired for this to beat the heat!
For heat I use a 20k btu wall heater. I also installed a carbon monoxide sensor that has never went off for 4 tanks of propane. There are two 2″ or 3″ wall vents in trailer that first builder kept open so theres plenty of air flow, but you never know, one can get plugged up with ice or snow! Safety first people!
I fished in the -30 temps and turned heat up to 3 out of 5 on settings. Usually it’s at 2. So it has plenty of insulation for extreme weather.
I really hope this post can help someone out in any way! I’ve spent countless hours searching ideas about using a enclosed trailer for fishing with little feedback.
Now for fishing I just simply take the rims off and let the leaf springs sit on a 2×4 on ice. The front tongue jack I set on a 2×4 and lower it completely down and the trailer seems to be perfectly level. I just use a handyman jack on each back corner and impact drill to take the lugnuts off. Takes maybe 5 minutes to unhook from truck/atv and set down for fishing…
From the floor to water is about a foot. Not ideal, but I’ve caught plenty of nice walleye and pike with zero issues being 12″ off water line. We’ve had enough snow so I haven’t had any issues banking the outside with snow, but would probably invest in hole sleeves if there wasn’t. Drilling a bunch of holes for ice clippings sounds just exhausting! It’s about 6-7 inches from ice to trailer side for banking up.
Now I’ve been a little scared having the axles set so close to ice for flooding and then freezing down, but I’ve been pretty lucky that hasn’t happened… yet. Once I’ve had it flood and the leaf springs were covered in ice, but a minute of chopping with chisel with added pressure from front jack and it popped right loose.
The jack stores very nicely in front cabinet next to the battery. I use a small bungee to secure it is all.
I purchased a 5 watt solar charger and hooked that up to battery so I’d never run out of light. Honestly I would go bigger if you fish alot at night… I’ve never had to take battery out and charge, but I dont fish much after dark and maybe 2-3 times a week and have led lights.
20210221_163807.jpg
20210221_163827.jpg
20210221_164114.jpg
I installed a bunk in the rear for stretching out on using two 3/4″ black steel pipe and heavy duty painter’s drop canvas. 6x9ft that was folded in half 3×9 now and sewn together. I’m 200lbs and 2 kids added up to 260 held us all just fine. Now I used some lumber brackets for the x track to hold the pipe frame in place. I can move anywhere the x track allows and can set tension a little bit this way too simply placing brackets closer or farther apart. The best part is I can simply remove the front pipe and place it on top of rear pipe making it totally out of the way for more floor space. You can also use the back corner rattle reels as the canvas sets just next to them while set up! The x track is long enough to put 2 bunk sets like this on and is believe plenty strong for holding 2 people. Another idea I had was cutting a 2×4 for each end, placing them far enough apart and run 2 bunks side by side lengthways for double bunk. Should still be able to use rattle reels in back corner but dont think the middle ones would work… I’ll probably take out the old car bench too and get a futon for another bed/seating…
20210221_163246.jpg
20210221_163348.jpg
20210221_163354.jpg
There is x tracking along the side for tie downs that is 4ft from floor. I modified some rattle reels onto a loop tie down that simply removed the ring and used a bolt to fasted to the x track mount. The front ones I used rattle reels with larger arm so they are centered in holes.
20210221_163745.jpg
20210221_163443.jpg
20210221_163449.jpg
