Ice safety info

[jcrayford]

I've been looking here on AO. Saw a chart last year/year before that on ice thickness for walking/atv/vehicles, but can't seem to locate it. I'm hoping someone has it and could post it again please?

I'm wondering what everyone feels is the SAFE working ice thickness for a 1000 pound ATV (ATV itself weighs 1000#). I seem to recall from said chart that 4" of ice was good for a single person walking, but can't remember the rest of the chart.

Just thinking ahead for the hard water season.

Thanks in advance.

J.

[57charlie]

AO link from Jan/2021: (scroll down to Moose knuckle's post)

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...fishing+safety

ice thickness.jpg

[mapleleafman3]

Godzilla needs 100 inches of ice to fish. hehe
https://www.pennlive.com/life/2020/0...it-safely.html

[Scott N]

Judging by some of the overnight temps, this is a timely reminder for some lakes.

[AlbertanGP]

Keep in mind the ice thickness varies substantially early in the season from one spot to the next, especially if the temperature varies a lot as it did last November.

My first trip last year I went out and scouted a local stocked pond on a Friday afternoon, spudding my way to my spot to make sure it was safe. Temps were mild that evening (as they were in general early last year). The next morning I was the first person to arrive at the lake, in the dark with my little headlamp on following the trail I scouted the previous day. All was going good until I got about midway to my spot in 10 fow and the ice chisel went through in one whack. I slowly turned my sled around and went back the way I came and fished there for the day. I did have my Striker Predator suit on and the ice picks equipped. But who wants to go for a swim in the dark all alone at 6am...not a good start to the day.

TLDR: It's going to be a long time before quads can go on the ice. While I'm often the first to walk out on a body of water, I almost always let someone else try with a truck/car/UTV/quad first. Too many variables (varying ice thickness, underwater vegetation shallow, travelling speed on the ice, etc.) come in to play when you start taking a vehicle on the ice. Stay safe.

And WOOHOO!!!

Back to ice fishing season. Open water angling is just a means to bide time waiting for the real season to start.

[AlbertanGP]

6" is generally considered safe for a quad btw. But people should think about the points I made above before going out on 6", especially if you don't have a lot of experience on the ice.