I’ve owned both and prefer the buckets because of the otter sportsmans caddy. It’s nice having an armrest, place to put a coffee and not having to dig down to the bottom of the tub to access a bait box or anything else I store in it.

I owned both until just recently.

I kept the Helix 7 and sold the LX7 because I prefer a faster scroll speed and I had trouble seeing the screen on the LX7 when not in the ice hut and fishing outside.

I use an enclosed trailer. I don’t know what type of front bumper you have on your sled but I just installed an HD bumper with a receiver hitch on it.

I’ve seen some guys mount the digger auger carrier on a piece that they insert into the receiver hitch so its easily removable when not in use. It may be worth looking into so that you could remove it easily and put your cover on.

It depends on your snowmobile setup I think. I’ve seen some fellows on here that are creative and have some good ideas for equipping their sleds.

The box itself comes with u-bolts. I used them to attach the box to my atv rack but it is not an easy off situation so I just leave it on. My snowmobile has the lock and ride rack so I use plugs from Grip Pro so I can put it on and remove it in a couple minutes.

Some snowmobiles have racks. Theres probably even a way to use the ski-doo link system.

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The small buddy heater will fit standing up. The medium and large size will not.

I have been using the FXR Excursion jacket and bibs the last few years. I can only compare it to my mustang integrity suit. The FXR is much warmer and much more flexible. I really notice it on long runs with the snowmobile or ATV.

I bought my fiancé the woman’s version after the first time I wore mine. She loves it also.

Padded knees, waterproof and a bit of floatation. The sales team explained that the outer material in the Excursion suit would hold up better with ice fishing than some of their other jackets. I have no regrets with it.

I prefer a snowmobile. Quicker for long hauls, warmer to ride compared to my ATV and I find it safer for crossing pressure cracks and slush beds. It has a back up pull start which is nice and it is a utility machine with high/low and lots of room for 2 people and to mount accessories for storage etc.

I understand the year round use argument but the way I look at it is that if I cannot ride the snowmobile in the summer, then that is time that I’m not putting on extra miles and wearing it out. If you buy one in decent shape and only use it for ice fishing it should last you a very long time.

Hi Jamin,

I own an Otter Cabin with a hitch pivot installed. I’m unable to take a measurement because it’s currently in storage but one thing I can say is that you can pull the hitch back when folded so that the pivot sits flush with the front of the ice hut as it wraps around. It will not sit there on it’s own but you could pull it back and slide it into your trailer.

The only additional length to your cabin would be the inch or so width of the metal bar the pivot is made of.

Not sure if this makes sense but I’d say you have room with the extra few inches.

Otter does sell a bracket to mount your own accessories to the monster box. I will likely have to bite the price tag for one of these new rod lockers but hoping I can see one in person prior to ordering. They seem a bit heavy too. I do not like folding down the handles on my reels and I like 42″ rods for lake trout where I fish. It looks like these new ones will allow for both.

Otter Box, and Otter rod case with Digger up front.

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I use a Rhino Monster Box and the attachable bucket holders. For the auger I use a digger auger carrier on the front rack. Some have said the Kdrill does not fit the Digger that well so you could attach Kolpin Rhino grips to the Monster Box or front rack. I did this but mainly use them to carry a shovel. Lots of options.

Today when using my Helix 7 Ice G2 I set up in 27′ of water and I couldn’t mark my jig. I thought it was because I was fishing closer then normal to my buddy. I adjusted some settings but still no luck. I can’t explain why but for whatever reason I lowered the transducer to a foot below the bottom of the ice and it worked flawlessly. Like I said I can’t explain why that made a difference but it did.

Hi Duluth,

Polaris sells a HD Front bumper with a receiver for a hitch or hitch accessories but I don’t know if it would fit your sled. I am sure there are options out there if you want to go that route.

I have a bumper similar to yours and what I had to do was add a piece of 1/4″ aluminum rectangular tubing underneath the front of the digger auger carrier so that it would sit level on top of the bumper then I secured it with 2 u-bolts to clamp it down. It is not a quick release system but it is solid.

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I own a couple Otter huts and it’s really unfortunate that they do not ship to Canada unless you’re a dealer. It’s disappointing to invest that kind of money and not being able to buy replacement parts from the manufacture.

I own both and prefer the helix 7. When you say you cannot get the settings dialled in what issue is it specifically? Someone here may be able to provide feedback if we know the issue you are having with the helix.

Don’t get me wrong the LX7 is also a good unit but there are some nuances with the unit. For example must set depth manually or you can run into issues with the screen freezing when a fish appears and poor screen brightness for fishing outside in the sunlight.

There are pros and cons with both units.

Yes thanks for the info. I’ll be looking into it as an option for sure. I have a one man hideout that would work slick in something like that.

Looks ideal.

On another note I looked at adding a couple sets of snowmobile ski wheels to the hut to flip down when running the road but they seem very expensive and I’m not sure if they could be adapted to fit. I’d be interested to see if anyone has tried this.

Photos are below. I took one picture of the inside of the hut so that you can see the bolts come right up through the bottom like the hyrax kit.

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I live around the same distance as you from a lake that I fish and run into times when the snow melts off the road. I bought 2 sets of snowmobile runners with carbides and put them over top of the otter high fax kit on my otter cabin. I only put them on the outside runners and not in the centre. I cut the one set down so they run the entire length of my tub and bent them a bit so they contour perfectly to the front of the tub. As an added bones the hut does not fishtail down the lake on glare ice. The one downfall is that it does leave scratches in my driveway and is hard to pull by hand without snow or ice. I can post pictures at a later time if you’re interested in this option.

This is my snowmobile setup.
2018 Polaris Titan Adventure.
The accessories for ice fishing I added include:
Studs
Ice scratchers
Rhino Box
Digger Auger mount
Handlebar Ram mount for HDS8
Rhino Grips for shovel/spud
Rod Holders

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This is my ATV with the ice fishing mods listed below.

2009 Suzuki King Quad 750
Highlifter rear HD springs
Rhino Box
Digger Auger Carrier
Studded Maxis Zilla tires
Handlebar Ram Mount for GPS

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Yes I used the U-Bolts that came with the box and it’s solid. The only issue is they are a bit long and depending on where you mount them to the rack they may scrape your fenders. You can trim them down or you could always have the nuts on the inside of the box I suppose with the u-bolt piece under the rack. I used all 4 (2 per side) and put a couple right up near the front of the box so it’s nice and secure.

I have no need to remove the box on my ATV otherwise I would have added some brackets on the rack to accept the “grip pro” 1 inch lock and ride plugs designed to fit polaris racks. This is what I used on my snowmobile because I like to remove it once in a while when I’m not fishing and just riding.

I owned both. The auger is more secure on the digger mount. I found that the otter tube flexed when on rough terrain and seemed to bounce a bit. I sold it which freed up space on the monster box for the otter rod holder on one side and bucket holder on the other.

Hi Kebeck12,

I’m sure some others will chime in but looking at your sled rack one idea that comes to mind would be to first cut your auger rack off. Put it up front depending on your bumper or add something to the monster box to carry the auger or use the otter auger tube.

To mount the box I’d begin with 2 pieces of square tubing mounted either crossways or length wise on your rear rack. You can do this with u-bolts. The otter box can then be attached to the tubing with the included u-bolts in the same manner it would be bolted to an ATV rack.

You could also lose the rack and 2 up seat and mount it on the tunnel of the sled. It’ll sit a bit higher then the seat and act as a back rest for the passenger. Not as comfy as a 2-up seat but thats how I have it mounted to my sled.

It was a bit of a chore. The problem was that the grove in the bottom of the otter box is curved so you can’t slide it back too far. Bending the bar solved the problem so that the bar on the rack is still in the grove but you gain a couple inches. Its still a bit tight getting the seat off. When you unlatch the back of the seat you still need to slide it back a bit to remove it from the front so you need a bit of room.

I took a pipe wrench and bent the bar on the rack back a bit to gain a couple inches. This helped me gain enough room to remove the seat etc.

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