new sled in the makings

[davetclown]

as most of you konw, I tend to fish off my quad, but as luck would have it, I cant take my quad everywhere I go, so i need a new sled. the cost of one that will fit the bill is a bit out of my budget. So I have decided to build my own from other peoples rubbage.

Yep, I am going all green on this one, every thing will be from recycled materials, I have gathered a stock pile already, from these photos you may already get a picture of my sled comming together.






now I havent decided how all of this is going to go together, but every thing in these photos are picked up from the road side on garbage night.

Like this photo on facebook or make it your favorite thread to watch so you can see how this project comes together.
[signature]

[davetclown]

I havent made any headway yet on my new sled, I am looking for some sort of a quick mount for the skis. its that or I will have to cut them down to fit the design, I still have some time so there is no desperation in actions.. "yet"

further inspection of the skis shows that that the bottoms are in desperate need of hot-waxing. good thing I never pass up a free candle.[:p]
[signature]

[davetclown]

dispite the rains and 60 mph winds we had over the weekend, I did manage to put in an hour on my new sled, thought I would have gotten further but as I feared the nuts and bolts on my one handled wheel barol were rusted fast.

being plastic and they are carrage bolts, torch and bruit strenth was out, my only option left was to use a hacksaw to cut them off behind the nuts. Yep long process but concidering the cost of a new sled, it is well worth the effort.

my next step is to refurbish the plastic barol, using a stiff brush to wash it out them using some armorall to restore the luster and protect the plastic from further weather damage.
[signature]

[davetclown]

nothing but wind and rain for the past week has keept me from my apointed task. But it has given me time to think about what I want to incorperate in my new Green Sled.
[signature]

[davetclown]

I finaly got my barrol disasembled, and gloated over delusions of all the things I wanted to put on it, and decided that simpler would be the best way to go.

I had planed on placing a box on the back side so that I could turn it up right and use it as a wind sheild, I sat in it for a while on a pile of stacked pallets and dicided that the plastic radiated to much cold for my likings. and I thought about the added weight I would have to drag and lift and I scratched that plan in a hurry. Another reason I disided against adding the bottom platform is the total lenth, Yes it would fit in to the back of my truck, but should I get more than one other person to go fishing with me there would only be room for just one more sled in the back of my truck bed, the same if I were to go with some one else in thier truck. Mi main goal is to have a portrable sled to drag mainly my gear and auger to get on and off other lakes other than the one I live on.

I got around to cutting the skis down to size, and am now looking for half dozen flat head wood screws and half dozen button head screws to mount the skis to a peice of scrap 2x2x24 that I found in a scrap pile from a construction site. "2x4x24 cut in to two pieces".

I am still concidering adding a couple peices of pvc for rod holders, but we will see how that fits in to my fishing style as to weather or not that is going to happen.
[signature]

[wiperhunter2]

Looks like quite a process Dave, are you taking any pics of the step by step work on your new sled? How is the weather in your neck of the woods? Any ice yet?
[signature]

[davetclown]

the weather is worm and sunny. That is if your a hard water man, other wise it is damp and rainy with no sign of ice.

I finished up my sled yesterday.

I contemplated the idea of putting on lots and lots of stuff on my sled. and as I got around to actualy doing it, I kept reminding my self that this is my porta sled for when I cant take the quad. And that I made a couple rules about fishing many many years ago.

When I am the mule,
[ul][li]Keep it light[/li][li]Keep it simple[/li][li]Keep it compact[/li][/ul]
This being said there were a lot of things I omited after my original plans were thought up.

I had plans on putting a box on the bottom so that the sled would double as a wind block, I can still make that modification in the future if and when the wind ever becomes a factor to me.

I omitted putting on pvc rod holders yesterday after the sled construction was done. I had already started cutting the pvc when I remembered that I already have protable rod holders on my boat and the side walls of my sled is sturdy enough to handle the rod holders. So I figured there is no sence in making more work for my self.

All in all I spent more time thinking about what I was going to do and when it came down to time to actualy do it, I got the job done in less than 30 minutes labor.

I did not take step by step photos on how to do this but I did take pictures of the finished construction. I will give step by step instructions for any one who wishes to copy this heavey duty Green sled.
[signature]

[davetclown]

here are the steps to building a Green Sled

[ol][li]Find materials for a body. in this case I used a plastic wheel barol found on the side of the road. Any thing can be used if you put your emanination to it, a wood box or even two milk crates will make a great green sled.[/li][li]Find material for skies. I was fortunate enough to find a pair of cross contry skies, again any thing can be used from wood slats with nothing no them or plastic covered bottoms to keep wet wood from freezing to the ice.[/li][li]Find materials for excessories or borrow them from your other seasonal rigs.[/li][li]Take what you compiled and look at it. think about how it will go together and make a game plan. I had a basic idea visulized in my head to start with but did not put it on paper. Putting it on paper will help you with your project especialy if you want to make something elaborate with lots of bells and wistles.[/li][li]First you need to constuct the body of your sled. In my case I had to compleatly dismantle the wheel barol. "the hard way because the wood was rotted and the hardwear rusted.[/li][li]Turn your sled bottom side up and measure for ski size. you want the skies to come up past the front of the bottom and at least near to the end of your sled, I made mine come out further on the front because I have extra nose room and the flexibility of the skies will help it to climb up on top of deap snow. I left my skies long on the back to help suport the weight on my power auger and keep the back side from grinding on any curbs I may have to trek over. Too much hanging out the front can lead to unwanted crashes as well.[/li][li]With the sled turned bottom side up, measure where your skies are going to be placed, use a stimpy marker to draw the outline of where every thing is going to go. You can achive your lay out two easy ways, use a square if you have one, if not use your math to make sure every thing is square.[/li][li]Now is the time to figure on your hardwear - screws, nuts bolts, zip ties and any other type of fasteners you may need to assemble any excessories. Try to make only one trip to the hardwear store. [/li][li]I used a spacer between skies and sled. I cut my spacers from one peice of left over preasure treated 2x4 from a construction site. When I made my spacer, I took in to concideration that the skie thickness from front to back is different. I also took in to concideration that I wanted my sled to drain because I do fish in the rain a lot in my area so I added another 1/4 inch to the angle of my spacer. There was a 1/4 inch differance in the ski thickness. Thus when I cut my spacer I had a total of 1/2 inch differance from front to back. Because the 2x4 is so short to begin with I suggest it be nailed to something before taking a circular saw to it. or use another cutting tool following all safety rules. [/li][li]I first mounted the skies to the spacer drilling my counter sink first then my though hole in to the bottom using 4 - 1 1/4 flat head wood screws. I pre drilled smaller holes for the wood screws in the spacer to allow for a smooth tight conection.[/li][li]With My sled upside down using the lay out I drew on the bottom, I drilled my through holes for 6 pan head wood screws with fender washers. I utilized the front two holes. [/li][li]I drilled the pilot hole in the front of spacer placing the front of the ski where I wanted it to be. [/li][li]Turn the sled over mounding the skies to the bottom usin only the front hole on each ski and lineing the bottom up according to plan [/li][li]drill the remaining 4 pilot holes and placing the wood screw one at a time. "Being sure not move skies from true position. [/li][li]The drag rope should be placed in the mid section horizontaly of the front or lower down. This will help to give lift to the sled when dragging it, helping it to climb on top of the snow or uneven ice.[/li][li]Use a square knot to tie your handle to your rope. this will help especialy on long drags, folding the rope over double leaving room for a large loop using one square knot will suffice. Wood dowl or pvc will work just fine for handles. this is realy a users choice, loops hook on to the pack of equipment just fine. [/li][li]I drilled two holes using knots on both sides of the holes keeping the rope from moving around, I also used an aluminum plate to help reduce any buckeling that may accur from dragging heavey loads. This plastic barrol may not need any additional body strenth, but I figured what the hey, I have it why not use it.[/li][/ol]

Now comes the excessory stuff. and this is pretty much where I quit because I had remembered I have portable excessories that I use on my other styles of fishing. For the most part my sled is finished other than giving it a good clean out and hitting it with some armorall / maybe, I may decide to paint it with plastic paint so I will hold off plastic treatment for a week or two. But then again I may not because I didnt want to spend as little as posible on this.

I grabbed my rod holders that I use on my boat and on rails when I am cat fishing on the board walk and throw them in my bucket. I put one on the side for show in the picture, it mounts anywhere on the sled I want it to. Otherwise I would have gone with pvc rod holders.

In the next couple weeks when I do my ice fishing inventory I will do a pratice setup on my sled to see how every thing fits and rides. I will take another photo at that time. then make any ajustments that may be needed to make a secure ride.

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/17253/cat/574"][/url] To show spacer, Ske lenth, rod holder

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/17255/cat/574"][/url] To show drag rope re-enforcement plate, rod holder

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/17254/cat/574"][/url] To show knots used in fron of the sled, skies to climb on top of the snow

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/17257/cat/574"][/url] To show mounting of skies to spacers, placement of skies, drain hole for sled

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/17256/cat/574"][/url] To show knots on inside of sled, drag rope re-enforcement plate, Mounting screws to spacers
[signature]

[davetclown]

after finishing up my report on my new green sled, I got to thinking,

a new drag sled cost double what a new plastic wheel barol cost.
[signature]

[wiperhunter2]

That is an interesting setup Dave, do you think the sled will remain upright with your gas auger on it?
[signature]

[davetclown]

I am positive it will, the motor will sit on the inside and the auger will hang out the back. Should I choose to allow it to over hang the front, I have allowed for that with longer skis comming out the front.

I will do a dry run setup in the next couple weeks to show how every thing will ride. Right now all I have is grass dirt and open water to walk on. We got just a few flakes and a little bit of ice covering puddles around here. Wormer weather expected tomarow just in time for deer season, Rats !!!

I was using my wagon on lakes where I cant get my quad to, it worked just fine over snow and open ground and pavement and such, but at the end of the day when I get in a hury to go home, tying down the wagon in the pickup bed did get a bit combersom. not to mention its weight. Other than that it worked great, this too I resqued from the road side trash pickup, sanded and repainted and redone the tires. There was one other drawback to the wagon, that was the sides could nit handle a pike hit with my rod holder with out mounting a plate across the side.

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/17267/cat/574"][/url]
[signature]

[wiperhunter2]

Except for our special hunts, our gereral hunts are over for this year and people are getting antsy for some hard deck fishing. We have had two storms that has left us with over a foot of snow but that could melt by the weekend, if the weather stays clear.
I was just thinking that the auger blades and shaft could weigh as much as the power head depending on your model. I suppose if it were a problem, you could always add a counter balance weight of some sort but hopefully it won't matter and your new sled will work the way you want it to.
[signature]

[davetclown]

I finaly got on the ice this past week. I have been fishing from thursday to yester day, and I plan on getting out on the ice today. I hope.

things are treturous at best,

I did manage to take the new sled on the ice today. not enough ice to warent taking out the power auger, we have any where from a crust to 4 inches.

Here is a photo of my new sled in action, Note you will see why it was nessasary to use a wheelbarowl.[:p]

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/17371/cat/838"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/17383/cat/838"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/17381/cat/838"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/17370/cat/838"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/17382/cat/838"][/url]

Just kidding, it works great, it rides nice, it goes over humps and bumps on the ground like a champ, I am looking forward to putting my auger in and seeing how it will ride with that.
[signature]

[wiperhunter2]

Sweet and good looking pike too. How large was it?
[signature]

[davetclown]

of the pike I caught, there are two. one in the barrol with the gills is 29 in 9lbs, the other by it self is 38in 15lbs. the 38in is the one I am holding.

the other two pike held by other anglers is 30in 10lb and 33in 11lbs.

[wiperhunter2]

Nice, those are some very good fish for your first hard water trip of the year. Is that normal for first ice or was it a better than average trip?
[signature]

[davetclown]

those in the barrol were actualy satruday and sunday, the one with the gills being on a sunday.

A bud and I was out thursday and fryday before the weekend. Where I took a dozen or so gills each day, we were in the same area as where I caught the pike, I figured they were in there chasing the gills away the first two days.

saturday and sunday was the maden voiage for the sled. I have been off the ice now for almost 2 weeks waiting for the ice to mend it self.

---

[wiperhunter2]

[quote davetclown]
I have been off the ice now for almost 2 weeks waiting for the ice to mend it self.

---

[/quote]

The ice to mend? did it warm up an melt?
[signature]

[davetclown]

yep, wormed and melted, refroze and melted again today... hope to be back on this weekend...

still no safe ice in michigan.
[signature]

[davetclown]

ok, bad news, the skies failed.

some one decided to drag it back and forth several times on a gravel road grinding the balsom wood to nothing.

next upgrade will be enylon ski bottoms cut from a 1/4 inch thick 55gallon drum.

I will heat a curl at the end to make it climb up on the snow.

I will soon be mounting my colors on my sled soon []