Ice Hull??

[tahquamenon]

Ice Hull

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Greetings,
Would like to know if anyone knows about construction of, or modification to an existing hull to build a small 14-16 foot ice breaker capable of 3-4" of ice? With an outboard motor.
I have a remote piece of property that I would like to gain access to during the early part of the winter.
Thanks in advance...
TC Collins
tc_collins_99@hotmail.com

[B. Hamm]

I'd suspect a couple things, one a boat that size would have to be prohibitively heavy to work as an ice breaker. They work by "climbing" up on the ice and breaking it from their weight. Secondly you'd likely very quickly destroy the outboard trying to do this, the ice doesn't disapear it's broken into pieces that travel under and around the boat, the prop would kill itself trying to run thru it.

If the ice is 3" to 4" why not just go over it?

[tahquamenon]

Thanks for the reply...
The ice is on a river and thus may be 3-4" and may be 0-1" so I cannot safely travel the river on the ice.

For the outboard, I will need some sort of a protective cage or something to shield the ice from hitting the prop and lower unit.

[B. Hamm]

Actually if you dig around there have been sucessful boats built that will travel on the surface of ice and the water when they break thru. They tend to look more like a swamp buggy than a boat, but they have worked just fine.

Bill H.