A
Just returned home from our annual ice fishing trip to Canada and of course that guy Murphy had to appear once again!
To start the trip off I noticed when loading on the trailer that one of my a-arm brackets for the tracks had snapped. I was able to take it to a family friend along the drive to attempt to weld it. It worked for a few days but the weld eventually didn’t hold. I believe the bracket is cast.
Also on the trip up two of my windows from my CEC enclosure shattered. Best guess it was due to the cold temps and wind. I believe it was around 15 below and a 30 mph headwind. I was only towing around 65-70 mph. So much for the heater I installed a couple weeks prior! CEC will stand behind it but may be faster for me to take it to a local shop.
Speaking of the heater...I still need to do some more investigating. There’s a leak somewhere. I believe it’s in the core itself since all the connections look good. The leak ran down the reservoir which I believe allowed air to get into the system. Started to overheat in negative 30 temps. Luckily I had extra coolant along in case I never got all the air out from the heater install and was able to burp it on the ice and keep the reservoir full.
Of course with the minus 30 temps it didn’t start that morning. Had to jump it with the pickup. It did start the following morning in minus 15 temps though.
I was also plagued with the stinger freezing up. I’ve had this happen before so was prepared with my heat gun. Just another delay in trying to hit the ice for the morning bite.
Also the first first spot on the ice my starter froze up and wouldn’t crank. Again I’ve had this happen before so was prepared to put a little heat under the unit. Didn’t take too long before it started again. Just left it running the rest of the day. No issues the remaining trip. Sure would be nice to prevent this from happening again.
Overall it’s par for the course. We’re usually wrenching on something on this trip and we’ll be going again next year. I guess we’re gluttons for punishment! We did manage some nice fish but not the numbers as the previous year.
AVKO
To start the trip off I noticed when loading on the trailer that one of my a-arm brackets for the tracks had snapped. I was able to take it to a family friend along the drive to attempt to weld it. It worked for a few days but the weld eventually didn’t hold. I believe the bracket is cast.
Also on the trip up two of my windows from my CEC enclosure shattered. Best guess it was due to the cold temps and wind. I believe it was around 15 below and a 30 mph headwind. I was only towing around 65-70 mph. So much for the heater I installed a couple weeks prior! CEC will stand behind it but may be faster for me to take it to a local shop.
Speaking of the heater...I still need to do some more investigating. There’s a leak somewhere. I believe it’s in the core itself since all the connections look good. The leak ran down the reservoir which I believe allowed air to get into the system. Started to overheat in negative 30 temps. Luckily I had extra coolant along in case I never got all the air out from the heater install and was able to burp it on the ice and keep the reservoir full.
Of course with the minus 30 temps it didn’t start that morning. Had to jump it with the pickup. It did start the following morning in minus 15 temps though.
I was also plagued with the stinger freezing up. I’ve had this happen before so was prepared with my heat gun. Just another delay in trying to hit the ice for the morning bite.
Also the first first spot on the ice my starter froze up and wouldn’t crank. Again I’ve had this happen before so was prepared to put a little heat under the unit. Didn’t take too long before it started again. Just left it running the rest of the day. No issues the remaining trip. Sure would be nice to prevent this from happening again.
Overall it’s par for the course. We’re usually wrenching on something on this trip and we’ll be going again next year. I guess we’re gluttons for punishment! We did manage some nice fish but not the numbers as the previous year.
AVKO
