How to build a backyard Zamboni
Now that you’ve built your backyard ice rink you need the most important tool to get the best ice…a Zamboni! Actually, the smallest Zamboni you can buy is a tow behind unit for your tractor. For small backyard rinks the solution to getting smooth ice is much simpler and cheaper. There are numerous hand held ice resurfacers you can buy on the internet. After looking over the options and prices I decided I could build one myself and went to Lowes looking for parts. The entire project cost only $15 and took about 15 minutes to complete. Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
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NOTE: When trying my first test run I discovered I bought the wrong PVC adapter. I bought a female unthreaded to male threaded adapter when I should have bought a female unthreaded to female threaded adapter. I’ll need another trip to Lowes to get an adapter before I test it out. |
I didn’t see any threaded PVC at Lowes so I decided to try using PVC cement for the first time. As you can see a big chunk of my sale was buying the cement and primer which I used very little of. I’ll have to think of some more PVC projects now that I have the glue  Test fit everything at the store to make sure you have the right sizes. The adapter should be threaded on one end and fit on a garden hose. The shutoff valve is optional. At right is the picture of all the parts prior to assembly on my dirty garage floor. The PVC cement is foul stuff with lots of warnings so do this project in a well ventilated area. |
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Assembly
- Cut one of the PVC pipes in half. I also made the pieces a little shorter.
- Start priming and cementing. Follow instructions on jars and put the pieces together.
- Let cement cure per instructions on jar (2 hours in my case)
- Drill 3/32″ holes along top of your T 1″ apart. Lay the T flat, drill down from ceiling towards floor, but be careful not to go all the way through.
- Test it out!
Here are pictures of my finished Zamboni. Excuse the dirty garage floor and the sloppy purple primer. Final dimensions are 5′ wide and 5′ 6″ long.
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I am looking to build this backyard zamboni but I was concerned that the PVC pipe is too flexible and was considering using a more solid pipe like copper or something. Has anyone try using anything other than PVC? If so how did it workout?
I used some copper pipe for everything. Might me a little more for parts but then you dont have to worry about cracking in the cold. Also, I used a small peace of nonwoven geotextile, 10oz for the fabric behind (I work for geosynthetic supply company so easy for me to obtain).
What kind of fabric do you use for the drag behind
The thing works great. I don’t think you need the rag behind in the colder climates, I live in S. MN
and the water spreads out well without the rag behind….Thanks, it takes me way longer to get the hose out then to ‘flood’ the rink although mine is smallish 25×32. The new rink rake name is called the Mauritzy….don’t know where I read it.
Thanks John for the backyard Zamboni plans and thanks to all the other for the helpful tips on the rake mods in the comments. I built mine last night, but have not used it yet since my rink is not quite there yet.
I started out my first attempt at making a rink by using the Reddi-Rink product on laid down on the grass. All I can say is that they are really thin & crappy and I wont waste my money on them again. All three bags have leaks and I have lost about 1/2 of all my water that was not frozen. Also filling each of them to the same level is a pain. So it was back to the drawing board to find a solution.
Well the drawing board came up with a solution and I just finished building a 30×20 wooden 2×12 frame around the reddi-rink bags. I hope to use the layer of ice that is already there and put down a 36×24 15mil white tarp over top and re-fill the rink with water. Do you see a problem with putting another tarp over top a layer of thin ice that is there or should I remove the 2 to 3 inches of ice and water and put the tarp right down on the grass again? Can I pack a bunch of snow over top and slowly water it to form my rink? Any ideas would be appreciated.
I did exacly what you’re about to do Dean… And it’s working fine!!!
Mind you, the freezing rain that we had on Boxing day didn’t help… but I’m getting there! At least, it’s becoming a, somewhat, even surface! My rink (25 x 40 feets) is two or three days away from being “skatable”
Since we get the same weather between MTL and OTT, make sure you keep spraying water for the next few days has it’ll come down to -15 celsius!!!! Great!!! Enjoy!
Hey, Dean, if you have enough room on top of the old ice to get three more inches of ice, you’re fine just putting your new top over the old stuff. I would recommend that you pack any gaps with snow first so the weight of three inches of water isn’t pushing the tarp in any weird ways and causing stress on your new waterproof membrane. With 2×12s, this should be no problem.
For Dean: I just picked up a reddi rink at the local walmart. reading your review, Im thinking about returning mine. Just curious, you said there are leaks in the liner. Are the leaks coming from the seams? or is it just leaking anywhere? Thanks .
I used an old pool liner to make my rink
Even if you need to patch it in a few spots
It’s well worth it. Use a wood boarder and staple
The liner to the boarder. This turned out great.
This is my 1st attempt at making an outside rink. I live by a lake so the lake is where the rink will be. You may think becuase the lake is frozen I can skate on it, well turns out there is always 4-8″ of snow on it. I used my snow blower to get the snow off ( approx 100′ x 60′ ) I am using a sump pump to get the water out of the lake to flood with.I am also using 1.5″ flexible hosing. Now for my problem. the next day I checked and there was a lot of smooth ice, but also a lot of rough ice and some with air bubbles, so when you walked on it it would crumble. I am not using any spraying just the 1.5″ nosle. Could be my problems, I have 2 holes for my pump because I found the water was freezing too fast. Does anyone have anymore thoughts on what I am doing wrong. Thanks
Ok I read all or most of the post about making a rink and they all say I should or need to use a liner. I didn’t ( so Shoot me) maybe I should have read them before I started,but what’s done is done. What I ended up with is still not too bad except it is big Approx 100 x 60′ . So I still have some rough spots and I am thinking this rink rake is the answer, because the rink is on the lake all I have is a sump pump. My question is if I use the rake with a sump pump will the pump pressure be too much for the rake. Right now I’m using 1.5″ hose with pretty good pressure I’m just not sure if I drop the size down to garden hose size the pressure will be too much. I am open to suggestions. I also live in the Peterbourgh/Ottawa/Montreal triangle of Ontario so cold temps are not a problem lately
This is a great site It’s funny how people always come to these sites after they mess things up
Hi Ron, I made my rink rake using the instructions on this site 2 years ago. I fed it with 1.25″ hose from an old sump pump pulling water from the pond that we skate on at work. I made the bottom pipes (with holes) 8′ wide thinking I had more flow than from a garden hose. I even added fittings at the tee so I can disassemble it into three pieces to fit in my car. The rink rake had no issues with the pressure since the pipe walls are fairly thick. The white PVC flexes a lot but hasn’t cracked yet in the NH weather which is similar to ON. The biggest ice maintenance chore was cutting the hole in the ice with a chainsaw every week – my 18″ Poulan barely broke through the ice on some days.
Last year someone at work threw away the 1.25″ hose, but they installed an outdoor spigot this past summer. I fed it with a garden hose today and it still worked fine although I had to rake it much slower than I did with the sump pump. It took me 90 minutes today, whereas it would have been 45 minutes tops with the sump pump.