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[crunchie]

While we're on the ice thickness and travels, thought I'd share this with the board.

[puckster_guy]

 It's a 1980 Safari with the 377 motor. I'll stick to the main lake and stay away from narrows or just do land trails. I'll see if I can find someone to show me around a bit. This should be fun. I'm thinking a good suit is a good idea. It gets cold up there. Do I need a balaclava under a helmet? This is gonna be interesting...

[puckster_guy]

 Hey LC I'll have the computer up with satellite internet working so you can reach me at camp. Let me know when. I'll get the bbq going for lunch if you like. I hope to see you up there.How much snow do we have on the ground there?

[crunchie]

It's a 1980 Safari with the 377 motor. I'll stick to the main lake and stay away from narrows or just do land trails. I'll see if I can find someone to show me around a bit. This should be fun. I'm thinking a good suit is a good idea. It gets cold up there. Do I need a balaclava under a helmet? This is gonna be interesting...

All clothing is geared to what the temperature is, or will be.  Balaclava in January and February is probably a good idea, you can always remove it if you're to warm, but if you don't have one with you, then you're of out luck.  Always prepare for the worst in a sense, you can always adapt afterwards.  And always carry matches, always.

[Fort Wisers]

It's a 1980 Safari with the 377 motor. I'll stick to the main lake and stay away from narrows or just do land trails. I'll see if I can find someone to show me around a bit. This should be fun. I'm thinking a good suit is a good idea. It gets cold up there. Do I need a balaclava under a helmet? This is gonna be interesting...

Good little machine Joe, the 377 is a workhorse, cheap and easy to wrench on.

Agreed with @crunchie on the balaclava and matches.
Better to be looking at it then looking for it.....

As for snow depth, when I was at our place last (about a week ago) there was 1-2 feet (wind blown so the depth was variable).
More than enough to run a sled on, that's for sure (I ran ours up and down the hill a number of times dragging various loads from the truck to camp).
I'm sure other folks who are up more often can chime in with something more accurate / current, as things can change quickly this time of the year.

[puckster_guy]

Thx for the help guys. I'll let you know when I head up and/or am there. I'll do some short runs up and down red pine rd. till I get used to operating this thing. I'm thinking I'll go up about once a month this winter. A major priority next summer? Insulate under the floor. I got R20 in the walls and R30 under the roof. But that floor gets cold....

[Fort Wisers]

Hey Joe!
I think you'll have a lot of fun with your new machine, it's a nice way to travel and see stuff you wouldn't normally see in the non-snow season.

Agreed on the floor, we are now finished 3/4 of the floor insulation under our little cabin and it's made a big difference.
We insulated and then covered from the underside with 3/8" ply to hopefully keep the critters out, so far so good.....

The last 1/4 that is not insulated is under the bathroom area and still has some plumbing work we need to get done before we can close it in, all in good time.
Inside the cabin, on really cold days the non-insulated section actually forms ice crystals on the subfloor nail heads, no matter how hot we get the inside temp.

Good luck on getting yours done, I'm sure you'll find it to be a big improvement.
In the mean time slippers work LOL.

[puckster_guy]

The last time I was there. It was -7C outside. If you spilt water on the floor it froze lol. What R value did you use? Is spraying a better option? I'll deal with that next year. Can't wait for spring...

[Fort Wisers]

The last time I was there. It was -7C outside. If you spilt water on the floor it froze lol. What R value did you use? Is spraying a better option? I'll deal with that next year. Can't wait for spring...

LOL, i could see that happening on the cold floor, wait until you hit the -30 to -40 days.
Our floor is 2x6 so the insulation was likely R-20, it was a John Mansville fibreglass batt product.
It went on sale one week at a local Rona so we picked some up and went to town.

I have no personal experience with the spray foam (other than the little cans for doing around doors and windows) so I can't really comment.
For us, the batts and plywood method worked for our needs, it was fairly simple to install and pretty cost effective.
Even on the coldest days we can walk on the insulted portion without slippers.
Foam may be a good way to go, I just can't comment without having used it myself.

Given your proximity to the lake, you may want to consider a skirt around the front underside of the cabin to break that cold wind coming off the lake from blowing directly under your floor.
The winds off the lake can be brutal, as you know, only adding a windchill effect to your floor heat losses.
I know of a few guys who have done a skirt alone and it's made a decent difference.

Really though, I believe you're going the correct route insulating.....just my opinion.

[limacharley]

Hey Joe,

If you're out sledding that means others will be out there too. It's a pretty busy place in winter, even down your end of the lake. More so on weekends. So if you break down chances are someone will be along any minute.
Nonetheless, always good to carry emergency supplies with you. Maybe get a saddle bag for the back end of your sled. That's what I got. I keep a tow rope, booster cables, a jar of Vaseline coated cotton balls, matches and lighter, chicken soup powder, extra mitts and a map in my bag. Some guys even wrap their sandwiches in foil and place them near the engine so they always have a "hot lunch". 

A balaclava is definitely a must or you'll get frost bite on your neck. Helmet with full face shield is best. Oh by the way, you should always bring your phone with you but you can't just put it in your coat pocket. You need to keep it close to your body so the cold doesn't kill the battery. 

As for insulating your floor, I heard the spray foam stuff is not recommended for horizontal applications. I don't know if that's true. I also heard that there's a ROXUL product that mice don't like because it's made with basalt rock and slag. No need to enclose it.

I'll talk to my buddies and get back to you about visiting when you're in. Cheers.

[puckster_guy]

 I'm not planning any long trips this winter. I've never been on one these things before so I gotta figure out how to drive this thing. I used to have a DZ lic and have driven anything from cube vans to dump trucks. This should be a piece of cake lol. I'll put that safety kit together before I go up. I'll wait till my next trip before I plan an ice fishing trip, not set up for that yet either. One thing at a time I'll get there.

[T-Bone]

Tons of videos out there on "building" a winter survival kit; this guy (Joe Robinet) is based in the Soo area I think and he makes a lot of great videos, though they are typically long. I think his sole source of income is YouTube, so you know he's popular and makes engaging vids. He has his haters though...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akezrF9Ry58

I have a small pack I take in the boat whenever we leave the dock on Kipawa; it's built basically around "if something happened and we had to spend the night out in the bush, this is what we'd need". Thankfully I've never had to use it (yet), but we access it often on the trip as it's loaded with almost anything to MacGyver a fix together for nearly any situation.

Great project to keep you busy Puck...good luck with the sled.


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[crackers42]

Puckster,

nice you got the sled prior to red pine being built up you had to come by sled from the main road which was a little challenging.

You will notice some marked trails on kipawa make sure to stay on them. Certain parts in the lake never freeze overly well especially this year with the snow on top

I noticed you mentioned Sheffield lake, not sure if you are referencing above red pine chute but if you are that area doesn't freeze the best I wouldn't suggest venturing too far up that way in the winter.

You will also want to find out but I think the turn past birch creek (above red pine before you get to Sheffield) is zec you want to look into it.

If zec is open to ice fishing in the winter I would strongly suggest going up to clear lake for lake trout or gordon lake.  Mckillop is also easily accessible in the winter and has some very large pike and pickerel in it.

[crunchie]

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[puckster_guy]

 I'm still waiting to pick up the sled from the shop They're waiting on a brake caliper to arrive from Ottawa. I'm hoping to have it on friday and come up on sat morn. O/W I'll make the trip later in Jan.
Hi Crunchie, when I mentioned Sheffield I was referring to this area, https://www.google.ca/maps/place/46%C2%B048'50.0%22N+78%C2%B033'31.8%22W/@46.81389,-78.5610227,598m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d46.8138899!4d-78.5588343
I understand there's a trail that goes out that way. and the ice is safe enough. However I don't need to go for another swim, I'll err on the side of caution. The purpose (for now) of the sled is to get into camp and get to some local ice fishing holes. A little bit of touring as I learn to operate this thing. I'm looking at google earth and bing maps looking for trails and roads and there's lots out there. I'm gonna try to get to Mckillop this winter It's close enuff. Pisses me off no end that I got a great spot in front of my camp and I can't fish it. nuff said...Are the logging roads useable? or is it best to just follow everybody else's track? I got time, retirement looming, I'm looking forward to spending more time there, between grand kids and camp I got lots to do...