Our local outdoor ice rink had only 6 good days of skating all year last winter. Ive never made a skating rink before and our backyard is on a small hill, but i figured it would be good for my kids to be able to skate every day, and they could have friends over. So in late november, i decided to try to find out how to make a rink the easiest and cheapest way i could. I asked a canadian friend who told me how his dad just stomped down snow and watered it with the hose, building up layers of thin ice. I combined that with my observation of how long a big block of ice seemed to last (when you dump out a frozen bucket, etc), especially in the shade. Ive seen people build strong wooden frames and use water-tight liners, but some winters here things dont seem to freeze up like youd expect.
Heres the project: im trying to find out the easiest and best way to make a thick block of ice for this climate: one that is flat and strong, and lasts a long time. I made it using boards as guides to build up the ice a little at a time (not to support 10 inches of water all at once). Its working really well and it hasnt been any trouble: weve just had a whole week (feb 21-28) of 30s and 40s, but the kids are still skating (except when its raining). The melting water just runs off the sides. I know some people with liners say they cant skate when its warm ( because of pooling water). Maybe next year i can find a way to combine both: use a liner to make 12 inches of ice easily, but then get rid of the downhill side to let excess melting water run off? And whats the best way for people in PA or NJ? If they use a liner, it will be a pool half the winter (but if they just build it on the grass, it might melt completely several times). I think the warmer places will do well building up the ice intensively when it IS cold (nights, cold fronts) as thick as they can, then trying to keep it thick during warm spells by building up ice with the sprinkler at night . But maybe theyre better off just leaving a liner-pool sit out and freeze when it may (and just skate then) I guess it depends on how badly you want to have skating time in the backyard. You have to find what will work best for your climate (obviously, having a big pond in Minnesota would be a good starting point…)
Heres what I did:
1)Location: is there a part of your yard that stays frozen the longest? That keeps snow till well into spring? Thats your spot! The yard can be sloped or flat.
2) while the ground is soft, buy a bundle of grade stakes, and some wood 1X6s or 1X8s for flat terrain, but maybe 1X10s if you have a big slope, or if you want bigger boards for hockey (21 1X6s cost only $51!). get a roll of thick white plastic 2 or 3 feet wide (also pretty cheap!) the plastic is just to seal the seams, not to make a water-proof pool: just to hold a half-inch or so at a time: this is a variation of the time-honored tradition of dads stomping down snow, then hosing it every two hours till its thick enough to skate on.
3) attach the boards to your ground stakes with screws (1 ¼ in., 1 ½ in., etc.) remember, you dont need a tight seal anywhere. Also, remember, if you have a sloped yard, you have to build the downhill side much higher (try to make it level now, its much harder when its 10 degrees and snowing)
4) put your white plastic liner over the boards to seal the spaces between boards, and attach it with a few staples (if you want to hold it down with rocks, etc, you may not even need any staples!)
Thats it for the construction. Now, a real Dad’s job: Water the Ice Rink!!! Yahoo!!
5) you dont have to wait till it is below freezing all day to start making ice: if the weather is hovering around 35 during the days and is in the 20s at night, you can start to build up a nice ice bed: just sneak down to the rink at nights and water with a nozzle or with your sprinkler until you see puddles. (I bring the hose in now in a big bucket every night)
6) Another key Dad-job! The Zamboni crew! A nice fellow has a great site called myfamilylovesit.com, and he has good instructions for making a Zamboni-rink rake with a few pieces of PVC pipe http://www.myfamilylovesit.com/blog/i…
i use a big push-shovel (my friend has a Wovel (a wheeled-shovel) that is a lot of fun to use) then pull the zamboni slowly over the ice (I use hot water when the ice is rough or its too cold out)
Next year i think ill make the ice thicker (at least 12 inches) and maybe experiment with a liner I can break down after it freezes… ill take pictures every few weeks this winter and show them after the last day of skating (sigh) hope the groundhog knows his stuff.
Have fun!!!
Duration : 0:8:38
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December 24th 2009 …
December 24th 2009 hasn’t happened yet….Are you from the future? Is it Cool. Do Cars Fly? I have so many Questions. Where Do I Start. Who Wins Next Monday December 14th The Bruins or the flyers.
lol just kidding. but seriously its only the 11th
What a wonderful …
What a wonderful how to video.
This was waaaay too …
This was waaaay too long to watch the whole way through. But what are the dimensions of the ice surface? Nice job!
do you live in nj? …
do you live in nj? im gonna make one this year! in nj
Great video!
Great video!
the singing was odd
the singing was odd
I do this every …
I do this every year in Buffalo. I use a tarp though. My friend does it for 0$ haha he just slaps the snow down in a bowl shape and sprays it with water then keeps adding it. Every open area around here in winter has alittle ice patch dug up from kids trying to find where the water ran down in fall and froze.
helllllllllllllll …
helllllllllllllll yeaaaaa
good choice eh?
good choice eh?
good choice canada …
good choice canada kicks friggin ass.
Too bad my backyards small..
i live on long …
i live on long island i do it every year im sure this year it will be very cold to
this guys voice is …
this guys voice is very soothing. you should do audio books for children! haha thanks for the vid im gonna try this this year! i live in philly tho so it may not work, all depending on the winter weather
the singing was a …
the singing was a bit, odd
i saw this video …
i saw this video last year, but it was too late, i already made my rink, but it was too small and i have a huge backyard. i am definatly using this meathood this winter! thanks
sweet man i wish it …
sweet man i wish it was like that here in houston! screw it im moving 2 canada whenever i get older, home of my favorite sport, HOCKEY!
i wish that it was …
i wish that it was consistently cold enough to do that on long island
ok, that big bump …
ok, that big bump in the back yard where the rink used to be is finally flattening out, slowly but surely now, and the grass is JUST beginning to show green… i’m sure it was ice just now melting (it’s partially shady back there)… i wonder if plastic or tarps on the ground would prevent some of that water from going into the earth, or maybe make the grass come back faster?
april 25 update:
1 …
april 25 update:
1) staples in boards: maybe NOT the greatest idea: kind of annoying to pull out 100 staples (didn’t want to risk losing any in the grass) I’ll probably find some other way to hold the plastic down next year maybe even just rocks and tarps
2) the ground under the rink is a LOT higher than the other grass now and it still crunches when you step on it: I assume it’s got a lot of ice still, but it is getting lower every day. the grass is pretty brown (would tarps protect grass?)
oops… it’s that …
oops… it’s that crazy time paradox again… bangor-time is definitely non-linear…
lmao 4:32, december …
lmao 4:32, december 24, 2009
you might want to fix that
as promised, we put …
as promised, we put on movies of the kids skating to show the ice as weeks went by (“Hows the ice holding up?”) the uphill ice is too thin and grass is poking up in spots. next year i’ll definitely know to make it all thicker to account for the slope. we all had a LOT of fun with it.
again, i say; wa-HOOO!
boo
boo
alright! way to go
alright! way to go
it jst froze
it jst froze
one year i did that …
one year i did that i dident have to set eny bords up or any thing i just froze