looking for an ice breaker for the front of my boat

T

Tom Blume

New member
I am looking for some advice. Does anyone have any type of contraption for the front of their boat to break ice when everything freezes up? I was on a duck hunt last year and we were breaking 1 inch ice with the front of the boat and we actually cracked a weld on the boat. I would like to come up with something that could take the brunt of the impact from the ice. Any advice?
 
I let my buddy take point in his boat.

Other than that, when the boat starts breaking, you know you have exceeded it's limitations. While I also, have broken a lot of ice with my boats over the years, they are not designed for that purpose.

Some designs will hold up better than others. The best way to break the ice is when your hull will climb on top and the weight of the hull breaks thru. If your hull tries to push it's way thru, it probably will not work well with out damage to the hull.
 
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Some designs will hold up better than others. The best way to break the ice is when your hull will climb on top and the weight of the hull breaks thru. If your hull tries to push it's way thru, it probably will not work well with out damage to the hull.
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Boats designed to break ice use the above method, climb on top and used the boats own weight to fall down thru the ice.
You need a better constructed boat if your welds are not up to the task. Quite a few boats have extra material overlaped and welded over the potential contact points to help when breaking ice.
My current boat G3 2072 and my older 17' Lowe Rough Duck both had the extra aluminum extruded angles welded on the bows running all the way back.
 
This One will take care of any ice you will run across....( : ) I got to work on the Mac many years ago. Worked on the hydraulics for the steering. The Mac is now retired and so am I. That ship has quite a history.

In braking ice with your boat keep the bow up and go slow. The ice breakers did a wobble like a duck. Large gyro's helped with that maneuver. The bottom was shaped like a football and had hundred of opening which they pumped either water or air. The propellers were very tough they chewed the ice like a daiquiri.
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An 1860 or larger Phowler .125 AL hull with angle stock welded over the center weld for protection. It will go thru anything that the weight of the boat will break thru with no damage. Once the ice gets thick enough to hold up the weight of the boat.........ur done.
 
I wouldn't break much ice with your common aluminum boats, just not enough boat. FG holds up much better. We break a LOT of ice with our Carolina work skiffs, plus it gets the bottom clean at the same time!
 
I run a 1648 Mod V jon that does a fine job of breaking ice. It has a U shaped channel welded over the center line to protect the weld. It rides up on the ice and breaks through. When you look behind the boat it looks like ice cubes. I have never stopped to measure the ice for thickness but sometimes it is surprising how quick it builds. I have yet to be out in ice I couldn't break. That tells me the boat has more guts than I do. LOL

As noted the key is to go slow and be cautious! You don't want to be swimming in amongst the ice flows.
 
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