How to build your own ice rake
My plans for building a simple, cheap handheld ice resurfacer have move here:
How to build a backyard Zamboni
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We want to drill a hole to pump water from the lake to use on the lake to resurface, but we have no experience. Any ideas and advice?
Thanks Leanne
Hey Leanne,
It all depends what type of water pump you are going to use.
With the cold weather(-10 to -15) we had a couple of weeks ago, I was using a gas powered trash pump to flood the rink. Mostly because the ice was rough and in terrible condition.
I originally tried using a jet pump, and my rink rake. Had a couple of problems. First, my pump froze because I did not start it up soon enough. Once I defrosted it and got it going, the water froze in the coil-hose I was using. I think the diameter of the hose may be too small when using lake water. I have not tried using a regular hose combined with 1/2 hp jet pump and rink rake, so I cannot say if that would work. I have read about some people using lake water with their rink rake, but I don’t know what type of pump or hose they are using.
What did work for me is flooding the rink a couple of times with the trash pump.
I then filled my jet pump and coil hose with hot water. I put the hose into a plastic 20 gallon garbage can which was 1/2 filled with hot water. This gave me additional time to set up outside without all of my equipment freezing up. As a precaution, the last thing I brought out was the pump.
I ran about 200 feet of hose from the house into the garbage can, so I could connect it too a source of warm water. Then using the jet pump, I pumped the warm water from the garbage through my coil hose to the rink rake.
I did three passes, one after another, on a 50′x100′ rink. The rink was not a glass finish, but it was pretty smooth considering what I started with.
I would have liked to have done a few more runs with the rink rake, but since then we have received a snow storm and -25C(-33C with the wind) temperatures, so I’m going to wait a till it warms up before I go back out there with the snow blower.
I live north of Montreal by the way
Another little problem was that I probably could have used a little less hot water from the house. I probably used about 80 gallons of water for the rink(hard to tell because the water was almost always running into the garbage can). The problem the occured was that I used all the water in my hot water tank….result being that I did not get to have a hot shower after all that hard work.
But hey, the rink was in pretty good shape.
I’m probably becoming obsessed, but I want to get at least one perfect glass-like ice surface before the end of the winter. I would have had it this weekend if we had not received so much snow(25-30cm), and then the cold weather so soon after….Don’t forget, I also have to work for a living….
Good luck with the rink Leanne.
Here is my email if you have any questions or suggestions
kretep@hotmail.com
Smooth skating
When building the rink over lawn area, does the grass come back normally in the spring/summer?
Hi Greg;
My wife and I (OK mainly my wife…she is completely obsessed) have been building a small rink (maybe 35 x 25) in our front yard for 5 years now. We put the tarp down either directly on the grass or on a layer of snow, depending on when we get things set-up and when mother nature decides it should snow.
So far, the grass comes back every year. Truthfully, this is very surprising to us as the area we live in has very sandy lots so the quality of the grass is poor to begin with. I am no expert, but I suspect that if our poor quality grass fights its way back every Spring, higher quality, thicker grass would rebound even better. I suggest that you try it and if you have to do some lawn repair in the Spring – so be it. You can look back and smile at the fun you and your family had during the Winter while you effect repairs.
Best of luck!
Later,
Scott
Hey John, Looked at your site and rink way back in September. Got the materials in December, built it and planned on putting it together the next weekend. But mother nature here in Maine gave us 2ft of snow Dec 21/22. It is now Feb 4 and with some help using my neighbors snow blower ( I did not want to use my plow) I cleared off at 35 x 70 area and slapped the boards together, got the plastic from Nicerink, turned on the water and some 22 hours later shut the water off. That was last friday. It just snowed a few inches and I went on the rink for the first time and shoveled it. Now my 2 year old daughter can finally learn to skate and play hockey on ice rather than on the kitchen floor. Great site, great plans, great advice I just hope we keep getting cold weather so we can enjoy our rink thanks to you.
Tim,
Glad to hear it. Stay friendly with that neighbor cause a snowblower comes in handy when clearing a lot of snow off your rink.
Hey John, I need some help with my rink. I’m just putting on the layers now, but on one side of the rink it is extremely bumpy and I have no idea how to smooth it out. What I’m doing is just using the sprinkler in one area, then after that area has been flooded, I move it to the next area. Could you give me some adivce on how to smooth out those bumps?
Hey John, Used the zamboni the other night and had a wardrobe malfunction. The hose connector broke off, so I had to used the hose with water running out. Next day the ice was fairly descent but a little lumpy. Tonight I fixed it and it worked awesome!!! Smooth as a baby’s you know what. Great invention you should pattern it and make some $$$$$. Anyway what is the best way to resurface? I was using it pushing it around side to side and back n forth because I heard some cracking and got nervous. My neighbor with the snow, we’re tight our daughters go to daycare together, plus I plow their driveway, so we are friendly.
John, The plastic I got for the rink is from a company in Wisconsin or Minnesota called Nicerink. Check them out at nicerink.com
I too used a liner from Nice Rink, along with some of their brackets for the boards. They have great products. I highly recommend them. I can see their liner lasting for several years. It’s a very durable piece of plastic.
Hey Mark, Nicerink liners are pretty rough. I bought the single season liner because we put the rink up late into the season. Blame lots of snow. But now that it’s built, I’ll just unbolt it, break it down, paint it in June/July and come thanksgiving weekend its going back up. I had built it the first week in December with this sites plans and it is an awesome 28 x 64 rink with curved corners and boards. Best of all it breaks down easily(bolts) and I can add on either way down the road.
Might seem like a dumb question to those of you who are clued up on these things. But is it possible to use a level concrete base?? I ask because I would drain it for the summer time and cover it with timber decking boards for a terrace. Thanks in advance for any advice.