Setting up the homemade ice eater duck hunting rig can literally end up being the difference in between a limit plus a long, cool walk back to the truck whenever the temps fall. There is nothing more soul-crushing than driving two hrs for your favorite marsh, hauling a dozens of bags of decoys through the mud, and realizing the whole pond froze over while you had been sleeping. While the particular guys using the $800 commercial units are out there slinging steel, you don't have to crack the bank to join them. You may build something simply as effective within your garage using a trip to the particular local hardware store and a bit of shoulder grease.
Precisely why bother with a DIY ice eater?
Let's be honest, duck hunting is already costly enough. Between the particular shells, the fuel, the waders that always seem to leak at the worst time, plus the fancy coffee, your wallet is most likely feeling pretty slim by December. Industrial ice eaters are amazing tools, but they're priced for people with far more extra income than many of us. The homemade ice eater duck hunting setup does the exact same thing: it moves relatively "warm" water from the bottom of the particular pond to the particular surface to avoid ice from forming.
Water is densest and warmest at the base of the pond (around 39 degrees Fahrenheit). By pushing that will water up, you aren't just burning the ice; you're making a localized present that keeps the particular surface from actually catching. Plus, the ripples it creates make your decoys appear alive even upon those dead-calm days. It's a double whammy of efficiency.
The primary components you'll require
Before you start hacking away at PVC pipe, you should choose what's going to influence your rig. Nearly all guys go one of two ways: a heavy-duty sump pump or an old trolling motor. For most apps, a 1/2 HP or 3/4 HP sealed for underwater use sump pump is the gold standard intended for a DIY construct. You want something which can move a lot of gallons per minute (GPM) without burning out after three hours of runtime.
Aside from the pump, you're going to require: * About 10-15 feet of just one. 5-inch PVC pipe. * A handful of PVC elbows and T-joints. * Stainless steel hose clamps. * A heavy-duty outdoor extension cord (if you might have power) or a peaceful generator. * A "puck" or some kind of float if a person want it hanging.
Building the particular frame
The biggest mistake people make with a homemade ice eater duck hunting rig is just tossing a water pump into the drinking water. If that push sits on the bottom, it's heading to suck upward silt, weeds, and discarded shotgun shells, which will smolder the motor in about twenty minutes. You need the cage or even a body.
I love to construct a "sled" design frame out associated with PVC. This enables the pump in order to sit about six inches to a feet off the bottom. You basically develop a rectangular base along with two uprights that hold the push in a 45-degree position. Why the angle? Because you don't just want the drinking water going straight up; a person want it pushing across the surface area to produce a larger gap. Occurs stainless steel clamps to obtain the pump towards the PVC frame. Don't become stingy here—you don't want the torque of the electric motor flipping the whole rig over once you turn it upon.
The electrical side of items
This is the part where I have in order to be the "dad" in the room: drinking water and electricity don't mix. If you're operating a 110V sump pump out of a generator or the blind outlet, you absolutely must make use of a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter). Most modern portable generators have them built-in, but when you're plugging in to a house wall socket or an old unit, get a plug-in GFCI adapter.
Also, make sure your extension cords are rated for that amperage your pump motor pulls. If a person use a slim "indoor" cord, it's going to obtain hot, lose ac electricity, and potentially kill your motor. Invest the extra thirty bucks on the high-quality, cold-weather rated 12-gauge cord. You'll thank me when it's -10 levels and the cord isn't as hard as an iced rebar.
Placing it up within the marsh
Whenever you actually get in order to your spot, positioning is everything. You want to established the ice eater up so the current moves with the wind flow if at all possible. This assists push the slush and broken ice chunks away from your opening and downwind. If you're hunting a permanent sightless, you might desire to run the ice eater for hours. However, if you're just doing a morning sit, obtaining there an hr early and allowing it run may clear a gap big enough regarding a decent spread.
One pro tip: don't place your most expensive decoys right ahead of the aircraft. The constant vibration and current may cause them to apply against each various other, which wears away from the paint quicker than you'd believe. Use some old "beater" decoys in the high-flow area and maintain the nice types on the sides from the pocket.
Trolling motor options
If a person don't have an electrical generator and you're hunting somewhere you can't run a long cord, you can go the 12-volt route using a trolling motor. It's the same concept for a homemade ice eater duck hunting rig, but you'll end up being lugging deep-cycle electric batteries rather than gas can.
The particular upside is the fact that it's silent. The downside is that will batteries hate the cold. You'll need a big Team 27 or thirty-one battery to obtain any decent runtime, as well as then, you might only obtain 4-6 hours upon a high environment. If you move this route, installing the trolling engine to some floating PVC "H-frame" is usually the easiest way to keep it at the right depth.
Maintenance and storage space
Once the season ends, don't simply throw the rig in the back of the wooden shed and forget about it. These penis pumps are created to stay immersed, and the seals may dry out or split if they sit with muddy water inside them all summer. Spray the whole thing straight down with fresh water, apparent out any tangled pondweed from the impeller, and probably give the metallic parts a fast spray of WD-40 or perhaps a similar protectant.
Is it worth the particular effort?
You may spend $150 upon parts and a new few hours of your Saturday putting this together. Compared to the $500 to $900 price tag of the big-name brand names, the savings are massive. However the real value comes when you see these mallards circling the 20-yard hole of open, rippling water while every various other lake in the state is locked upward tight.
The birds want to be right now there. They need that water for resolution and for resting, and they can discover that movement through a mile away. When you're seated in the sightless, warm coffee in hand, watching the steam rise away the water your homemade ice eater duck hunting rig is churning up, you'll are aware of it was worth every second of the build. It turns the "stay at home" day into the "limit by sunrise" day, and you just can't put a price on that.