Back Yard Ice Rinks

[CanadaBacon]

I used to just flood my backyard with the garden hose until it froze (or my dad yelled at me, whatever came first).

 

[Khabby]

Here is a photo of my back yard rink. It has been cold here in New Brunswick for the last week which has enabled me to get a good start. As long as the weather cooperates I will be able to increase its lenght. Each year I try to increase the size of the rink to meet the kids needs. My little guy is in Novice 1 this year and it looks like I will have to increase the size from 25 x 40 to about 30 x 60 for next year. The only problem is I'm running out of room in the back yard. I have lots of lenght but only about 40' width.

Gonna have to shovel all that off after today! Heard you guys got about 50 cms today, lol

 

[Leaf Lander]

snow everywhere but in cape breton..not fair but the hockey gods know i am not done building my rink thus no snow

 

[CanadaBacon]

snow everywhere but in cape breton..not fair but the hockey gods know i am not done building my rink thus no snow

We have had no snow, a few light dustings. Its horse****

 

[Khabby]

I live on the Eastern shore of NS, we just got a bunch of wet snow and slush. **** snow, I just want cold so the ponds will freeze. At least the weather is looking up for tomorrow, Nice and clear for ball hockey...just need to bring the shovel

 

[jefff]

Gonna have to shovel all that off after today! Heard you guys got about 50 cms today, lol

Yeah, its raining right now, I'll wait until later today when it starts to cool off again before I shovel the snow off the rink. Dam rain!

 

[gojacketsgo61]

flooding the rink on the most uneven place your gonna see but starting to level out with the ice. With shell Ice (that white ice where you poke and it shatters) should i just break it or freeze over, break it so it doesn't create problems right?

 

[Crosbyfan]

flooding the rink on the most uneven place your gonna see but starting to level out with the ice. With shell Ice (that white ice where you poke and it shatters) should i just break it or freeze over, break it so it doesn't create problems right?

Is it from drainage? You can try to "drill and fill", by poking a hole and filling it up, as long as it won't drain away. It's worthwhile sometimes, sometimes not.

 

[Crosbyfan]

Yeah, its raining right now, I'll wait until later today when it starts to cool off again before I shovel the snow off the rink. Dam rain!

I think I caught it pretty good. I shoveled most of the snow until it turned to sleet. I have a couple of inches of slush that will add to my base. If I took it off now it would possibly be more even than if I shoveled it off.

It shouldn't drain as I have a new tarp.

 

[jefff]

I think I caught it pretty good. I shoveled most of the snow until it turned to sleet. I have a couple of inches of slush that will add to my base. If I took it off now it would possibly be more even than if I shoveled it off.

It shouldn't drain as I have a new tarp.

Its starting to snow here again, I better get out there and shovel the snow off the rink before it freezes. The Seadogs game is cancelled again so I have lots of time to shovel.

 

[gojacketsgo61]

Is it from drainage? You can try to "drill and fill", by poking a hole and filling it up, as long as it won't drain away. It's worthwhile sometimes, sometimes not.

Think it might be from freezing to quickly in a small place or something cause under it is perfectly frozen. I broke it and flooding right now.

 

[vivianmb]

flooding the rink on the most uneven place your gonna see but starting to level out with the ice. With shell Ice (that white ice where you poke and it shatters) should i just break it or freeze over, break it so it doesn't create problems right?

you have a leak somewhere. the water is runnindg out from under the ice. fill the holes with SLUSH. or snow. not water.

 

[gojacketsgo61]

you have a leak somewhere. the water is runnindg out from under the ice. fill the holes with SLUSH. or snow. not water.

think it froze over the leak then cause there's no more shell ice after the flood i just did.

 

[Hockeyfan68]

you have a leak somewhere. the water is runnindg out from under the ice. fill the holes with SLUSH. or snow. not water.

One year after 2 days of rain which channeled out a large hole I actually used a shovel full of sand to plug the hole LMAO.

It worked after it froze then I covered that in slush. the hole was just too big for slush at first.

 

[Hockeymom80]

We got our liner from backyardrink.com

They are in canada and pretty reasonably priced.

This is our first year having a rink. We were hesitant to put one in because we have a huge slope. It's been a dream so far. We must have at least two feet of ice in the deep end and four inches in the shallow, but you can't tell to skate on it. I too had the idea to use carpet under the liner. It makes a really sturdy base, especially with so much weight on the deep end.

My two year old is skating around like crazy! He learnt more about skating in two days than in two months of skating lessons.

 

[gojacketsgo61]

K, gonna put the slush and snow mixture over the leak area, hope this works gonna put a light spraying on it so it solidifies, good idea?

 

[Hockeyfan68]

K, gonna put the slush and snow mixture over the leak area, hope this works gonna put a light spraying on it so it solidifies, good idea?

Yeah that should do the job .... sometimes if a bad leak you may have to do that two or three times letting it freeze completely in between applications.

 

[gojacketsgo61]

Yeah that should do the job .... sometimes if a bad leak you may have to do that two or three times letting it freeze completely in between applications.

Yeah, thought i froze over but that turned into shell ice and leaked out into my backyard, 6 hours flooding into my backyard fun for the dog who didn't realized and had a heart attack almost when she ran and slid on the ice like 20 feet lol.

 

[Leaf Lander]

got almost 90 members of the facebook group now thanks to all who have joined and shared their insights on how to make a better backyard rink

 

[DarrenBanks56]

ok guys- this is my first attempt at making a rink. Like my earlier post said, I have it framed, the liner is in place.
Couple questions. Its gonna be no higher than 20 F here for the next 4 days, is it safe for me to flood this thing without pipes freezing and such??
Also- Will flooding this for a full day run my well dry??
Thanks

 

[Hockeyfan68]

ok guys- this is my first attempt at making a rink. Like my earlier post said, I have it framed, the liner is in place.
Couple questions. Its gonna be no higher than 20 F here for the next 4 days, is it safe for me to flood this thing without pipes freezing and such??
Also- Will flooding this for a full day run my well dry??
Thanks

First answer to the first question .... running water doesn't freeze unless it is incredibly cold.

I have been out flooding my rink quite a few times at -10 Fahrenheit with no troubles until you turn the spigot off and the water sits still. I would coil the hose up quickly when it was very cold like that.

My driveway had a natural slope to it for water to run out into the street so I would leave the hose there immediately when done flooding so it could drain. I would then coil the hose up on my shoulder and carry it into the house and out it in the basement.

I would NOT recommend leaving your hose outdoors in the cold because you will lose that battle. It is difficult enough keeping even a good expensive hose in good shape in the cold without springing leaks because it cannot flex like it does when warm.

On the well thingie ..... I have no well and have never had one so i have NO answer for you. You will use many gallons of water on your rink and I suspect that a well wouldn't cut it BUT we shall see if there any rink makers here with a well who can better answer you.

 

[Crosbyfan]

No two wells are created the same, but starting when it is precipitating snow and rain into a tarp makes a good "head start" on a small protected rink.

On a larger rink, you better have a pretty good well to work with anyway.

 

[Leaf Lander]

I recommend cutting trees down when it is warm out

unlike me who is beign slowed by 10 square feet of thick brush

and now the temperature is a nice -15 C

 

[mememe000]

I'm having issues getting the bumps out of my rink now, I can't skate on it at all. I think it's mostly because the hot water isn't working anymore.

 

[Hockeyfan68]

I'm having issues getting the bumps out of my rink now, I can't skate on it at all. I think it's mostly because the hot water isn't working anymore.

Bumps? What kind of bumps. small little bumps or big hump type LUMPS.

For small bumps I would use one of these, it comes with a sharpened edge made for scraping up floor tiles. About $30 each in just about any hardware store worth anything. I would then sweep the ice chips up with a push broom.

One of the most important things to do to a home rink is to CLEAN IT AFTER EVERY USE with a shovel scraper and then a push broom before reflooding.

I swear if you do that you will always have a mirror surface if you do not have a home zamboni type thingie.