What is the minimum ice thickness you would take your quad on to use it for ice fishing?

I've had this discussion amongst my friends...they are saying that the footprint of the quad is less psi on the ice than a human!...although the numbers say that is so (in some cases), I just don't see it. 600 lbs is still more than 200 lbs.!

 

I imagine the snowmobile and a ATV would be the same. These are "parked" thickness , a sled moving fast needs much less ice thickness then a human standing still.

Source http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/ice_fishing_safety.php

 

That's a cool graphic! Thanks! And I agree 100%. 6" is about my minimum thickness that I trust my quad on.

 

someone was just pulled out of a lake in MN where the ice was just over 4"; rescuers found the hole near the man's atv. not sure how he's doing today in the hospital. i'd use mine between 6 and 12", when it isn't safe for my truck but easily supports the quad. i don't take chances on foot or in/on any vehicle. but we're really really close to that now!!

 

Ice scares me, because the thickness can vary so much over the surface of a lake or river. Even fish schooling beneath the ice can make it thin at that spot. A friend of my daughter's drowned a couple of years ago when his snowmobile broke through. People were riding all around him with no problems. His motor died and as he worked to get it restarted, the ice gave way beneath him. They found his body the next day. I don't know if they ever got his sled out. It would seem to me that a snowmobile spreads it weight over the skiis and track, which would make it less likely to break through the ice than an ATV which concentrates it's weight on the tires' points of contact.

 

I just remembered something that can be more of a problem than the thickness of the ice. The ice may be plenty thick, but a heavy snowfall can create a major hazard. The weight of the snow can force water up through cracks and holes drilled by ice fishermen. There can be several inches of slush hidden beneath the snow. Try riding on that and you'll be stuck big time. A rider got stuck on a lake near here a few years ago. He bottomed out in the slush and the temperature was dropping toward zero. As slush continued to build up and start to freeze, he had to move fast, or have his running gear encased in ice. The only way he got out was to call a tow truck, which winched him out. The closest the tow truck could get to the bogged quad was a boat landing a half mile away. By the time enough cable was obtained and the quad slowly winched through the slush, several hours elaspsed, running up a huge tow bill. AAA wouldn't cover it.

 

Winter is when i do most of my riding. I love going out making the first tracks down the trail.
I also do alot of ice fishing and crossing large bodies of water to access remote locations.
I personally like 12" of ice but I have crossed shallow ponds on much less just keep on the throttle.
Very good point about the slush we get alot of that here with heavy snowfall changing to rain. I have been stuck in it more times than I care to count but i was always able to get out with the aide of a shovel, long rope or strap, a few 4' long sticks, or an axe.

Sometimes I put the sticks down in ruts created front of the bike and walk it out of the hole.

One time I was breaking the trail across 2 large ponds with large areas of slush. I would drive along fine then I would feel the bike sink so I would quickly jump off so the bike would stay on top.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzvinn...7601130152028/

 

I like the idea of using sticks in the tracks to get through slush. I'm thinking that guy with the big tow bill I referred to previously could have saved himself a lot of money if he'd just kept picking up sticks behind his machine and laying them down in front to slowly get off the ice. I'm going to keep a half dozen 2x4's handy. That would probably work for snowmobiles, too. My grandson got one of my snowmobiles stuck last winter, but the slush was only about 6" deep and four guys were able to lift the sled out. If nobody had been available to help, maybe I could have just slid 2x4's in front of the track.

 

I've done that - but never in water over my head!!!!

 

This morning's news reports three ATV'ers went through the ice near the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior. All were rescued. Apparently just one went all the way under. The others broke through just enough to get trapped. The rescue team up there has a large hovercraft they use in these situations.