I'm living up north for the first time in my life and figured ice fishing would be worth trying out.

There are some plans available online for DIY tip-ups but I wanted to ask the folks on here if a homemade one is going to be any good or if I'm better off just picking a dozen up at the store.

A lot of good options- by the time you buy the pieces it’s probably more than a new one. I run Beaver Dam tip-ups and they have served me well.

Lots of used ice fishing stuff for sale .
If you look for it

My nephew scored 15 used jack traps ( quality stuff ) for 50.00

I have made several different types of tip-ups and most only cost twice as much as I could have bought them for and almost worked. Where are you that you can run a dozen lines?

Beaver Dam Tip ups work very well. Last year I ran a Jaw jacker hook setter and caught a lot of fish with it. I bought two of the Snapper automatic fisherman to try this year and after two days of trying to set them up decided to return them and buy another Jaw Jacker. Never could get them to adjust to go off without heavy tension to set them off.

I made one out of plywood. it's a square box to keep the hole from freezing over. I put one of those blinking lights on it so I can use it at night. It worked really good but it was to big to cart around on the lake.

Pick up a dozen? Where do you fish? How many lines can you use at one time? I have several tip-ups with different lines on them.

Here we are allowed Seven lines total.Most will use two poles and set out Five tip ups.

Are you sure? That doesn't sound right to me.

He is right and in Pa it is a total of 5 rigs. Just recently the jaw jackers are allowed also......jk

If you want to get by with cheap, simple, but effective, you might want to try the Red Lake commercial fishing set up. Take a two-liter pop bottle and attach enough line to the neck for the depth you will be fishing plus about 10-20 feet. Set your depth with the bottle standing 10-20 feet from the hole. When the bottle tips and starts tumbling across the ice, fish on. The buoyancy of the bottle will keep it from going down the hole. Lots of walleye taken with that set up on Lower Red Lake.

broken hockey sticks make good tip up frames, if you can get them from a rink free.

Very nice link fireplug

In NH ...on lakes managed for salmon and lake trout ,we can only have 2 holes ...one for jigging and one for a tip-up...or if you like beer like me..I just put tip ups in each hole.

On other non lake trout lakes we can have 6 holes.

And we can not take Salmon through the ice

Yo cannot beat a beaver dam tip up.

I corrected it.Its a total of 7 lines not 8.