Backyard Rink

It’s nice to hear that everyone else also experiences the elevation differences – I was cheap last year and cut plywood into 8″ strips to maximize the amount of boards per sheet, but it only gave me about an inch of ice on the opposite side. So will obviously need to increase the height of my boards this year to compensate so I can get a larger sheet.

Another question for you experts, do you typically try to flood the rink over a couple of nights instead of flooding it all in one night? I also had that problem where one side took awhile to freeze up as it was 6″-8″ deep and was thinking it may make more sense to do it over a couple nights… May not be a big deal though.

Because of the size of my rink, it’s probably going to take 3-4 days to fill it anyway. I’d love for it to fill up in minutes if I could.

You really don’t want leaves and crap blowing into the water and freezing deep into the ice. The longer it sits as a liquid the better the chance of that happening. I’m luck that I don’t have any large trees nearby so I have very few leaves around my yard.

Has anyone started filling theirs yet? I’m really considering it at this point. A long stretch of moderately cold weather ahead through the weekend.

Guys, Something to consider when flooding your outdoor rinks. Many thin layers tend to hold up and create a better quality surface than a couple of 2 or 3 inch layers. If you flood with large volumes at a time it tends to be more prone to heaving and cracking. I have worked a fair bit with outdoor rinks over the years and it has seemed to work best to flood with temps between 10 and 20 degrees and only adding about a quarter inch of water at a time after your initial flood.

Yeah, I found last year that in one big flood the ice didn’t turn out the greatest – hence why I was questioning my process. I’ll have to split it up this year.

We have snow on the ground up here, so not too many leaves blowing around anymore. We I flooded last year, it was around 0 degrees, so ice formed fairly quickly as well.

It wasn’t a very good rink last year with the smaller size and issues I had as it was hobbled together, but the kids used what we had. I’m hoping to improve on the several lessons learned and make something a bit more fun this year.

For me last year the only cracking issues were when I used a hose to resurface when it was really cold. When I switched to the homeboni the cracks were very very minimal. The big cracks were only in the bottom layer.

This will be my first year trying out a backyard rink.
We ended up with a 40 x 64 foot print, along with 16” high boards.
Liner is supposed to be here next week.
Excited & nervous about what I’m getting myself into .

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That set up looks great poor person…kiddos should have fun.

Appreciate it.
My boy & I put it up this past Saturday.
I wonder if I should add additional bracing ?
We used 1” x 2” x 24” stakes there about 8” into the ground & screwed to the plywood.

Is it enough though lol 😂?

No expert but as long as your slope isn’t to bad you should probably be good. At least on one side…

I worked for a city parks dept. before retiring.
Building ice is best done in thin layers. Your water should freeze in 1 hour or less.
Cut your grass as short as you can and try to flatten it when there is a heavy frost.
If you are lucky enough to get snow, pack the snow as best you can and saturate the snow until it is gray slush and wait for it to freeze.
If you can pack the snow when it is slush, all the better.
As 2aforlife said avoid trying to seal the ice when it is bitter cold, it will crack.
If you are still building ice it is never to cold.
Building ice during a heavy snow can also bring fast results.

I have the luxury of filling my rink in about 10 minutes. Fire hydrant in front of my neighbors house. I have a meter put on it to record the water usage while filling then pay for it. As for filling all in one shot, hasn’t been an issue for me at all. I just make sure its going to not get above freezing for a couple days. Last couple years I had one side of the rink at 8″ befor the other side gets to an 1″. This year I leveled the yard up more with black dirt so it will be more even thickness. For those that may want to fill in one shot but don’t want to run a hose all night, I know there are construction company’s that have water trucks that you might be able to hire to haul you some to make a quick fill. Might even be able to get your local fire department to haul with a tanker truck if in a rural area. Haven’t started to fill here in southern MN yet. I do like the ground to get a couple inches of frost going too.
Wallster ><((((>

What do you all think is the minimum ice thickness needed for a good rink?

Made the executive decision and started filling tonight. Regretted it about 10 minutes in because of the wind. Figured it out and got the sail settled down. It’s about 1/2 covered now. Hopefully a couple inches of water by morning. Looking like some ice marking weather after tomorrow.

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drewbop wrote:

What do you all think is the minimum ice thickness needed for a good rink?

With one year of this under my belt I’d say no less than 3-4”. When you use a liner they recommend 6”.

Matt,

I purchased those lights last night that you posted a link to.
Did you have to wire an electrical 🔌 plug on them ??

futurepoorperson wrote:

Matt,

I purchased those lights last night that you posted a link to.
Did you have to wire an electrical 🔌 plug on them ??

Yes. I suppose I should’ve mentioned that. You’ll need a couple of these.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-8-ft-16-3-Medium-Duty-Tool-Replacement-Cord-in-Black-HD-165-018/303679847

Could always cut the end off an extension cord as well.

Also bought one of these. I just tell Alexa to turn the hockey rink lights on.

Geeni Indoor/Outdoor Smart Plug… http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BGLZKH1?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

In less than 24 hours I have more water than expected. At the high end I have 2.5” and at the deep end I have 10.5”. Progress is good. I’ll probably turn the water off later tonight and call it good. Middle teens for lows tonight. I’m hopeful for maybe an inch of ice by tomorrow. For sure by Friday morning.

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That’s awesome!!
Did you expect the difference in elevation/slope?

futurepoorperson wrote:

That’s awesome!!
Did you expect the difference in elevation/slope?

Yes. I was expecting about 6-8” slope. I’m actually worried that’s a little too full at this point. I only have about 6” of boards left on the one end of the rink. Oh well, at this point I know for sure I have enough depth/thickness to be confident in.

Well this Friday I plan on renting an auger to drill some holes & drop four post in for the lighting.
Liner comes next week & I hope to be filling shortly after at some point.

Do you anticipate on having the kids lace skates up for a test Lap come Sunday?

Less is more gentlemen. Those ripples make me nervous Matt. Let us know how it turns out. Good work dads…

We have ice. Probably 1/2”. Im a little surprised because the water was only 38F last night. No ripples though.?.

I’m not expecting to be skating this weekend. I want to see 5-6” before that happens. Looks like the temps will turn pretty cold by the first weekend of December.

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Awesome…

Yeah the one photo makes it look like the wind was creating ripples across your rink.
I believe it’s just the liner making that deceiving effect?

Rink looks sharp though, good job 👍 on making progress.

There were definitely ripples, but as it freezes it’ll settle on its own.

No skates but enough for a little boot hockey.

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Only pic I could find of my ODR is from last year. I already got the first skate on it a couple days ago.

EDIT – whooops. accidental snowblower pic that I can’t figure out how to delete

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Matt,
Do the (4) lights you have put out enough ?

futurepoorperson wrote:

Matt,
Do the (4) lights you have put out enough ?

I like them. I think they are plenty bright. You get a lot more reflection when there’s snow on the ground and the ice isn’t so clear. Im thinking about two more though. I think next time I’d put one in each corner and two at center ice.