How to clear a pond for ice skating

Have a local pond that's been frozen with maybe 2 or 3 inches of ice - got 10-14 inches of light, fluffy snow today. The temperatures for the next week here will be well under freezing - hitting negative lows a couple of nights.

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Question: Every winter, we like to ice skate on the lake near our cabin. What can I do to keep the ice smooth all season? – John, via email
How to Make Pond Ice Smooth
Resurfacing Pond Ice
Professional Snow Removal Services

We want to skate on the pond and I'm wondering how worried we should be as far as snow removal and placement - if we just push snow into large piles will it cause the ice to crack and ruin it completely? Will we need to push all of the snow back to dry land?

This doesn't happen much in Virginia so any tips appreciated.

Written by Kurt Anderson

Photo by Taylor Friehl on Unsplash

Question: Every winter, we like to ice skate on the lake near our cabin. What can I do to keep the ice smooth all season? – John, via email

Answer:

Unless you have access to a neighborhood Zamboni rental, the best way to keep the ice smooth is by periodically flooding the rink. Basically, this involves pumping or hosing a thin layer of water on top of the ice’s surface and filling in cracks and gouges that might otherwise send you toppling.

Flooding your lake rink is usually a fairly simple process, but here are some tips to keep you skating smoothly throughout the winter months:

1. Limit your ice-making duties to calm, windless evenings when the air temperature is 0–20°F. A few degrees either way won’t make a huge difference, but this is the premium temperature range for ice formation; ice won’t form too fast or too slow at these temperatures.

2. Ensure the existing lake ice is thick enough. Four inches of clear, black ice is considered the minimum thickness for safe foot traffic. In the spring, ice can quickly go “rotten,” or lose its inherent structural strength. This is a good time to trade those ice skates in for mud boots.

3. Avoid spiked boots or slip-on traction savers while flooding. It may seem counterintuitive from a safety standpoint, but wearing sharp-edged footwear will quickly scar the forming ice and render your efforts fruitless.

4. Make sure that the ice is completely free of snow. Depending on the size of your rink, you can remove snow with shovels, snowblowers or even an ATV with a snow plow. Take your time during snow removal, as even small amounts will turn to slush during the flooding process, creating lumps of ice that serve as great facilitators for introducing your butt to the cold ice. You’ll also want to clear away any ice chips after skating sessions. Many savvy rink masters make rink-cleaning duties a post-skating-session requisite, picking up a shovel as soon as the skates come off.

5. Inspect the rink for any big gouges or divots. Fill these in with a mixture of snow and water, commonly referred to as slush. Use a shovel to smooth the slush out, similar to mudding a drywall seam or using wood putty on a joint.

6. Add water. On small rinks located close to outside faucets, a garden hose is usually adequate. However, many rinks are too large for the typical 5-gallon-per-minute (GPM) hose output, or are located too far away from water services. When either is the case, common practice is to auger or chisel a hole in the lake ice and use lake water as the source of fresh water. Here's how:

For small rinks, you can simply chisel a hole large enough to dip in a 5-gallon bucket, and enlist fellow skaters to form a bucket brigade.
For larger rinks (or thicker ice that would require too much chiseling), a less labor-intensive method is to employ either a DC (battery) or AC (generator-powered) submersible pump. Simply drop the pump in, attach a hose to the output of the pump, and apply a thin layer of water over the prepped ice. For especially large rinks, it may be necessary to use a water-transfer pump with 2–3 horsepower, which can spit out several hundred GPM.

Most of the time, strategic water placement with a hose or with buckets will create a fairly even layer of water. Other times, a squeegee may be needed to push water to certain areas. Lake ice is known for becoming uneven during formation and as pressures build throughout the winter.

You’ll need to prep and re-flood the rink after each skating session or snow event, but most people quickly discover that rink flooding – especially when accompanied by friends, family and a beverage or two – is almost as much fun as the skating itself.

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When consistently cold weather sets in, you soon hear that outdoor rink calling. Or maybe that’s the kids asking to skate on the pond out back. Either way, you know there’s a lot of work ahead of you to make that coarse ice smooth. Unfortunately, a Zamboni isn’t practical for most pond hockey rinks. But did you know you can get similar results with a garden hose and a little sweat equity? In this article we’ll explain how to Zamboni a pond and provide some tips for resurfacing and maintaining a pond ice rink.

If you would rather work up a sweat skating around with the kids, consider hiring someone to snowplow your pond for you.

Related Topic: How to Plow Snow

How to Make Pond Ice Smooth

The beauty of a pond ice rink is that it’s nearby, free, and in the open air. The downside is it’s often pitted with bumps. Perhaps a previous thaw left slushy, uneven ice to refreeze. Or maybe the wind left bumps when the water froze. Now it’s rough, taking away some—not all, but some—of the joy of skating. Here are a few tips on how to smooth ice on a pond.

Add a Fresh Layer of Ice: You can fill most of the lines and smooth out bumps by adding a new layer of water. Using a hose, you can either pump water from the pond itself, or if your house is close enough, you can use the water from your well to spread an even layer of water over the cleared ice. Because the water is warmer than the ice, it will melt the top layer, smoothing out the surface before freezing again.

Add Extra Gloss: If you want a glasslike finish, heat the water before spreading it over the pond. The extra heat makes quick work of those bumps, leaving you with sleek, smooth ice.

Work on a Cold, Clear Day: If it’s too warm, the new layer of ice won’t freeze as quickly. Between −7° and −20° is a good range for rink maintenance. Try to pick a calm day because the wind will put ridges in your ice.

Resurfacing Pond Ice

If it’s been a while since you used the pond, or if you’ve had significant snowfall since, you will have your work cut out for you. To resurface pond ice before the next hockey game, use these tips:

Clear the Snow: To resurface the pond rink, you will first have to clear the snow. A good shovel could get the job done, or you may opt for a snowblower.

Repair Cracks: Once your pond is cleared, you may notice some small cracks in the ice. As the ice gets thicker, it puts pressure on the ice. Because there is no room to expand and shrink, the ice will crack. But not to worry, you can repair these cracks using ice mortar. Collect some snow and wet it with a little water until you get a mortar-like consistency. Flatten the mortar into the cracks using a shovel or trowel. Water alone cannot fill these cracks because it would simply run through to the pond water underneath.

Smooth the Ice: Once the cracks are patched, you can use either the hose or heated water for a glossy finish.

Related Topic: Snowblower or Plow: What’s Better?

Professional Snow Removal Services

Uncovering your pond and making it into a rink everyone can enjoy is a great way to make memories with family and friends. Sometimes the hardest part is finding time to maintain the rink when you still have snow in the driveway that needs to be plowed. If you need a hand with snow removal, The Grounds Guys can help. Give us a call at (888) 972 -8063 or request a job estimate online.

February 18, 2022

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Who needs an ice rink when you have a pond and a shovel?

1. Look for thin snow and open water. 2. Work in pairs. Friend can help each other when they are in trouble. a. If one person is going through the other should not run onto the ice and attempt a rescue. The combined weight will break the ice. A person on thin ice should lie down and spread out their arms and legs wide. Throw a stranded person a rope and pull them to safety. A stick or jacket may be used in place of a rope. If the stranded person can not be reached, they should slither to safety. b. If someone has gone through the ice they need to pull themselves over the edge. The other person may carefully pull them up with a rope, but they need to take cues from the person in the water. Once the stranded person is up on the ice, they should roll away from the open water. 3. Listen for straining sounds. Ice may squeal as it begins to break. 4. Watch for cracks that grow. Cracks open and close over the winter. A sealed crack probably isn't dangerous. It is a bad sign when cracks radiate away from the person on the ice. 5. Initially, it is best to stay near the pond's edge. It is not a problem to break through into an inch of water. However, ice in between shore grasses or reeds may be weak. If the edge appears to be safe, venture inward. 6. Clear ice can be deceptive. Three inches is standard for walking. To check the thickness, chip a hole the length of a pocket knife blade. If the pocket knife does not strike water the ice should be thick enough. 7. Be prepared to make an emergency warming fire. 8. A smart dog will show were the ice is thick. An imperceptive dog will show were the ice is too thin. However, dogs are generally lighter than people and their weight is more evenly distributed by four feet. Arctic Tips for Extreme Cold: 1. In extreme cold wet gloves will immediately freeze to ice. If stranded person may be able to use this to their advantage. Slap the wet gloves onto the dry ice. The frozen gloves can then be a purchase to oneself back up onto the surface. 2. Wet clothing may be insulated with clumps of dry grass. The grass can lift the cold seeping moisture away from the skin.

3. Extremely dry powdered snow may be used to dry off the skin. Start a large warming fire before rolling in the snow. Clothing may be hung around the fire to dry.

We started by shoveling out a ring around the edge of the pond. We were then able to skate circuits around the lake.

We switched from boots to skates after we had completed the circuit. It was challenging and fun to shovel with skates on. We made two cut across the middle of the pond. The paths divided the pond into quarters. Next we completely shoveled off half of the pond so we could play hockey.