So much for the ice being thick enough!

[MossRoad]

Real ice fishermen cut their holes by hand using muscle power, not fossil fuels.

.

Grandpa ate food from lead cans, too. :laughing:

 

[lucky llama]

So will you trade me your tractor for a wheel barrow and shovel. I will throw in the rake and snow shovel for free!

Now that's funny:laughing::laughing:

 

[keeney]

Funny Canadian story. We were visiting relatives near Edmonton , Alberta one winter. Went out where the boys were ice fishing and saw a bunch of cars on the ice. My BIL asks his uncle.."how do you know the ice is thick enough for a car?" In true fashion without hesitation uncle says" when you see another car out there" True story and still funny.

Here in Minnesota, we always wait at least two weeks after the last report of a car going through the ice...

Another true story - we had to pass an ordinance here in the City of Prior Lake to regulate parking on the ice because some of the hot fishing spots were getting too crowded and a bunch of cars and trucks parked too close together were enough to sink the ice even though it was theoretically "thick enough" to drive on. You need both sufficient strength to spread the load over a wide enough area, AND that area has to encompass enough volume of ice to provide the necessary buoyancy. Ice is 91% as dense as water, so each cubic foot of ice only gets you about 5 lbs of buoyancy. Each 5000 lb vehicle is going to need its own 1000 square foot area of ice a foot thick to stay afloat.

 

[Bird]

Many years ago, my youngest sister and her husband went to Alaska to visit our brothers. The younger brother raced snowmobiles, so he pulled his 32' fifth wheel RV onto the lake with his one ton Chevy for the weekend of racing on a course cleared on the lake. My sister said she had a hard time relaxing or sleeping n that RV knowing it was parked on a lake.:laughing:

 

[Egon]

Ever seen "Ice Road Truckers"?

The real hauling is just a little different than the Entertainment Show.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Back in the early 70's I was up on the Moose River, not far from where it flows into Saint James Bay. (on the tip of Hudson Bay) We were riding in a boat going over to the camp ground and I saw a 2 1/2 ton truck with a fuel delivery body on it in the middle of the river. The river is about 1/2 mi wide there and I asked how it got there. The Indian that was sitting beside said that was the first trip of the year and they thought the ice was thick enough. He laughed at the look on this Va. boy's face when he said that. As a teen I just could not even think of having the nerve to do that. Ed

 

[oosik]

Fortunately, there is no vehicle access onto my little lake. Its 80 feet deep out in the middle and tapers to 15 feet deep on the open water at each end. The big lake is only about 6-8 feet deep at the max.

I would NEVER take my tractor out on the big lake. The situation I have here is that both lakes are spring fed. While the ice can be 14" or more on most of the lake - it can be only 1/2 inch thick or less over the spring areas. With a snow cover over the entire lake it is not possible to identify the spring areas until you have broken thru.

Many years ago I broke thru a spring area on the big lake with my ATV and it became, very quickly, a life & death situation. Both myself and the ATV made it out OK but it could have easily been otherwise.

 

[MossRoad]

No ice here in Northern Indiana yet. Heck, I still had snapdragons blooming two days ago, December 16th, 2015! It finally dipped below 32 last night. There's a tiny patch of ice floating in the puddle on top of the swimming pool cover this morning, but that's it.

 

[PILOON]

Don't know how thick the ice was, but as a teen we had an area where we could drive onto the river easily.

Boy did we learn how to drive on icy roads as we'd skid, slip turn spin to our hearts content.

One big thrill was dragging a fellow on a flying saucer with a 50 foot rope and try to dump him, sort of like an inner tube behind a motor boat only ice is harder then water.

Must say that we did learn good driving techniques doing that.

 

[Egon]

And then there was the odd time the lake would freeze over on a still night giving a glass smooth surface. When it reached thick enough lotsa fun practicing.

The roads didn't see salt or sand either. Made sure you never parked nose down and at times had to get out and push at the stop sign.

 

[MossRoad]

And then there was the odd time the lake would freeze over on a still night giving a glass smooth surface. When it reached thick enough lotsa fun practicing.

The roads didn't see salt or sand either. Made sure you never parked nose down and at times had to get out and push at the stop sign.

My father in law and I once went to a lake about 22 years ago that froze completely smooth AND clear. That was creepy. It was 8" of completely clear ice with no snow on it, as it was so smooth, any new snow would not stick, but just blow away. And, it was a very shallow lake, only about 4'-5' average, so the fish could see you and wouldn't come closer than 4-5'. You could see everything on the bottom. Rocks. Weeds. Cans, bottles, sticks, fish. It about a 80-100 acre lake. We finally made our way down to an area with lily pads sticking through the ice that caught snow snow and we caught some really nice perch. But, it was about 22 below 0F, so we only stayed out an hour or so because he was getting cold. But what a great thing to see once in your life. :thumbsup:

 

[bcp]

Skating on clear ice.

Bruce

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Here in Minnesota, we always wait at least two weeks after the last report of a car going through the ice... Another true story - we had to pass an ordinance here in the City of Prior Lake to regulate parking on the ice because some of the hot fishing spots were getting too crowded and a bunch of cars and trucks parked too close together were enough to sink the ice even though it was theoretically "thick enough" to drive on. You need both sufficient strength to spread the load over a wide enough area, AND that area has to encompass enough volume of ice to provide the necessary buoyancy. Ice is 91% as dense as water, so each cubic foot of ice only gets you about 5 lbs of buoyancy. Each 5000 lb vehicle is going to need its own 1000 square foot area of ice a foot thick to stay afloat.

Shucks two days ago I dropped a tractor wheel through the ice trying to nab a deer carcass that somebody had winged during the hunting season that ran over to my property and then expired trying to make onto my point. I'm tired of my two dogs trying to naw on the thing and it will make a stink bomb come spring.