Old Skool prepping for Ice fishing

[the_experience03]

I'm surprised you guys have good ice that far south. We have plenty of ice thickness for a bus, but there is just so damn much snow and water weight on the ice that I might be nervous...not to mention it's difficult to navigate anywhere that hasn't been plowed since the very beginning of the season.

[phillbus914]

I'm a big fan of ice road truckers and all but I wouldn't drive my bus onto the ice.

If it falls through you HAVE to get it back out. It's several (even 10's) thousands of $$ to get a regular size car or pick up out of a lake...

[swinada]

Hey if you are adventures enough why not take your bus on the ice. I have taken my pick up many times on the ice and i have seen logging trucks and tankers cross the ice, but we do live way further up north then you do.
Just be prepared to pay for rescue mission if it fails. Here you can see how the Russians do it. http://englishrussia.com/?p=1835#more-1835


My advice, dont try it, because all the cars and pickups and people on the ice plus your great added weight, might just be to much, and you could be injuring someone else too when it goes down, or sink a whole fleet of cars in the process. It would be cool yes, but i would not risk it. Park it on shore and have it as a central party place and warm up booth.

[bus-bro]

Please, Old Skool--take pictures and post 'em.

[paul iossi]

I droped the front axle of my blazer thru the ice on houghton lake many years ago, cheap adrenalin rush, anyhow, 40 inches of ice with about a 3 foot snow drift that had been there for about a month, 6 inches of water under the ice. I was trying to open up a road out to a concession booth that had been used for the ''tip up town" ice motorcycle races, the ice was rotten under the snow drift, when the plow broke thru the drift the rotten ice gave out under the front tires luckly the snowplow cought on good ice and the rear end stayed on the ice too. we put some 3x12 oak planks under the front end and pulled the blazer out with another winch truck for a happy ending.

if you don't have current personal experience with the ice, you want to drive on DON'T DO IT with your bus, just borrow a vehicle from whoever says that the ice is good and safe enough for your bus.

[Redbear]

I thought of the same Russian picture series that Swinada posted from.

My concern is the weight per square inch under the tires. The ice may support five 5200 pound cars (26,000 lbs.) parked bumper-to-bumper in the space of one 26,000 lb. bus, but the weight would be spread over 20 tires, not six.

[Michael Merbach]

Old Skool, Are you still on for the fishing trip.?

I am in Appleton and I am debating if I should run my skoolie out on WInnebago or not.
I have been out on the west shore for the Ice races and there is full size tractor trailers sitting side by side at the county park off of county hwy A.(on the ice)

Our fishing club, plows the ice roads off of stockbridge with a IH straight truck with a massive block of concrete on the back.

Good luck I hope they are biting.

Mike

[Michael Merbach]

[/quote]

I have seen the big rigs... I grew up in Oshkosh.. Did you take your bus out on Winnie? I drove down Hwy 151 yesterday and still alot of vehicles and shacks out there on the east shore and way way out towards the middle... for those of you not familiar with Lake Winnebago, google it.... It's HUGE!!! and I have driven across it from west to east and back... back in my younger days of course [/quote]

I have not had the bus on the Ice. I would be interested in a link to the Corp of engineers data.

I was one of the shanties you saw though. I am a spearer.

I was on a construction job in the late 90's and I watched concrete trucks drive off of county A and go to that little Island off of the County park in Oshkosh on the West shore. they did not stop and they had a expediture/manager timing the runs out to the island.
The shore line is going to hell now, Maybe next year.

In regards to prepping for fishing your original Title, I was prepping the bus for a run to MO for a Rally race and I gelled up last tuesday, I was pissed, I was told the fuel was Blended when I filled up in NOV. It took an hour to get to a Gas station, I could only squeeze in 7 gallons of Gasoline but that and four bottles of Diesel treat did the trick. That snow storm on thursday forced me to switch to hte quigley van for the Trip but as I said earlier maybe next year.

Mike

[Michael Merbach]

That is amazing. on the 30 inches of Ice we could park the busses quite close.

I can't wait to go weigh the bus.

thanks Mike