DIY skating rink

[Dozer]

I have a pond in my backyard that Ive plowed off for a skating rink. Any tips or tricks to get it smoothed out? Seems like if I added 1" of ice to the surface it would take out all the imperfections I have.

[leech~~]

Homemade Zamboni!

[leechlake]

Dozer,

I've have more trial and error on this exact subject than I wish I had. I also have a great resource because a buddy of mine is the Parks guy in town and has flooded rinks for years, I've bent his ear on this subject a lot.

My father in law made one of those 55 gallon drum numbers leech shows. Mine didn't work for a few reasons; my rink is too big for only 55 gallons, its easiest to fill at my house and driving on to the pond isn't super flat, I broke the axel on the thing, got a stronger one and then ran into other problems. I have got it on the ice and I have to drive so slow, water doesn't spread right, if you go too slow and it's too cold the squeegee/towel freezes to the ice.

The best method is to drill hole with an ice auger, actually I need to drill two right next to each other, put a pump in and use a larger diameter hose to flood the rink. You need to keep the pump off the bottom so you aren't pumping dirty water. This method works better in certain temperatures than others. The key is to get the kids out with you to get as much snow off of the surface as possible. You will find that this ice will be okay but nobody should expect Zamboni quality work.

The single best way to have good ice is by Mother Nature. If it snows 1-2 inches leave the snow on the ice. On a Sunny or Partly Sunny day the radiant heat will work magic on the ice under the snow. When you clear if off you'll find ice better than any method you tinkered with.

Tips:

1. move nets off of the ice when you're done skating. The sun will heat the posts and the net will melt into the ice. If it gets cold and or snows the net gets stuck and it the netting gets stuck you'll have a net will holes in the bottom corners if you try to pry it out.

2. Lower everyone's expectations of ice quality. It's homemade ice on a pond, tough conditions.

3. Buy a lot of pucks if the kids are playing hockey. You can find most of the lost ones in the Spring.

4. Since its a pond you'll end up with cracks especially as the Winter goes on. You can't fill them or if you do they reemerge anyway.

5. When you start plowing start way bigger than the rink you want. My rink looks silly right now it's so big. As the snow depths increase your rink will shrink, at least how I do it. I push snow straight back and forth about ten passes and then go around and around pushing the snow and making a rink that's egg or oval shaped. Fastest way to clear ice.

6. Some years mother nature may throw such a curve ball that you're rink may need to be abandoned unless you bring out some heavy artillery and effort

Don't be dismayed this is all worth it. My son had buddies over this weekend and its fun seeing them out on the pond and makes all the effort worth it. Any more questions let me know, I'm sure I missed some things.