Ice rink time!

[larboc]

Finally getting around to getting a rink going this year and decided to go a little bigger.
I decided to use the building site I've been working on hauling fill for all summer since it's there, flat, and why not. I started by grading it all flat with the tractor and then pulled any roots or rocks up that could poke a hole in the liner, then I pushed up a berm around the edge.

Then I laid in a piece of silage bag I got from thepanzerfuher last year.

Then I waited for about a month, hoping for a rain or a snow and melt. Neither happened.

 

[larboc]

So today we finally fired up the water pump, rolled out the hose, and flooded. Ended up having to make the berm higher and the ground was frozen so had to busted it up with the mini-ex. Also rigged up some ebay leds in the tree with some scrap thhn connecting to the 455 to keep them lit.
The top of the ice has snow chunks with sand in it so I'll have to scrape off high spots and flood again but at least it's a start. It's 4-12" thick all over so far. Hope to be skating by next weekend.

 

[Mr.Ratbastard]

Thst's pretty cool.

 

[Raygoddamn]

Looks like a lot of work but it'll be worth it when it's done. The kids will love you.

Making skating rinks is easier if you have a lake or river

​

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[larboc]

Lake or river rinks aren't all that common here, mostly because of the snow on the smaller bodies of water, and due to jagged or thin ice on superior. I've tried to make a rink on one of my ponds before but you have to keep the snow off every couple of days during a normal year or it sinks the ice and you wind up with slush, then frozen slush, and you're starting over. It can be done but it takes a lot more work than a rink on the ground like this that you can use equipment to keep the snow off of.

Typically my ponds will have 2 feet of snow, 2 feet of slush, and no ice on them. The slush layer is strong enough that you can walk on it no problem, but you can dig down to water with a shovel.

Crap, looks like there is a hole somewhere, one of my "borrow pits" is full of water.

Also, we got a few inches of fluffy snow so even though it's been 10-15 degrees, there is still only about 1.5" of ice on top of the water because of the insualtion. Snow is the enemy of outdoor ice rinks here. Not enough ice to support me walking on it to shovel, too much ice to be able to drain it, find holes, and start over.

My plan at this point is to wait for a warm up that's coming this week and see if that will melt the snow on top enough that the rink can build ice at night. I'll have to wait until what's there freezes and refill in several floods. I've learned that with a liner you can't put very much water on at a time or it will float the ice on the liner.

 

[rockota]

after all of the effort to compact the sand... you dug it up for an ice rink.

I reserve the right to make fun of you when you start to recompact it again.

 

[landen300]

Your lack of snow for this time of year is mind-bottling to me...

 

[[486]]

got a propane heater?
the kind that looks like one of them forced air diesel fired heaters, but a propane one so you can point it downward at the snow to melt it
strap it to your tractor loader bucket so you can point it a few feet out there

melt the snow so the cold at night freezes the stuff and gets the hole sealed up?

it's amazing how insulating the snow is, had one section of my yard cleared off last winter and we had a sudden melt of all the snow, the cleared area was at least a foot higher than the rest from all the additional frost in the dirt there. took a couple weeks to come back down

 

[Pt_Ranger_v8]

Your lack of snow for this time of year is mind-bottling to me...

Mind boggling?

 

[2big bronco]

Mind boggling?

No its mind-bottling... when things are so crazy your thoughts are all trapped, like in a bottle.

It's a very specific term with an ice skating back ground.

 

[landen300]

Mind boggling?

#vicegripgarage

 

[EHeye]

Moved some poo bales for the edge of ours. Had the snow packed and ready to flood, then warmed up to near record temps for our area. Have to wait for some snow again.

 

[biohazard]

mine is filling as we speak, may be done sometime tomorrow evening if the well pump doesn't die on me. i cheated last year and went with a 30x60 ez ice rink kit. a bit pricey but when i looked at the cost of wood it kinda made sense. and i dont have access to straw bales or an excavator...... too dark for pics now so ill see if i remember to snap some in the am.

 

[[486]]

this ever work out for you, thought about it since my yard's got its couple inches of water throughout ATM

 

[I HATE PONIES]

He probably fell through the ice and drowned.

 

[larboc]

;n331163]this ever work out for you, thought about it since my yard's got its couple inches of water throughout ATM

Yea, it's working great. Been skating as well as had some of my kids friends and their parents over. Ended up buidling a zamboni out of a simplicity garden tractor I got for free that is working well also. I don't think I've got any pictures of any of it, I'll have to grab some.

 

[larboc]

Only pics I have. Kids drifting in the barbie jeep back when I first got the rink going, and a pic of testing out the zam. It has a sharp blade from a curling rink groomer that I raise and lower with a HF wireless winch, then behind that is a water bar with a squeegee behind it. the water bar is fed from a bilge pump in the 55 gallon drum. I don't have any pics of it in action but it works slick.