Anyone build an outdoor rink?

[Bucket Dan]

I built my first outdoor rink last winter. It was sort of an experiment for me as Ive never really made one. 20'x40' it was a great size. My boy wasnt turned 2 in march and he was quite interested in slapping the puck around with me. Got the wife skates and had some good family fun. Anyone else build one?
Ill work on getting some pics..

[CaberTosser]

I was considering this just yesterday. I can't skate to save my life but thought I could practice in peace with my own rink, but mostly it'd be for our lad. We just bought skates for our 4 year old son, my wife and myself just yesterday, all courtesy of accumulated Canadian Tire money . We have a good sized yard to do one in. I think some poly and a bit of a berm would suffice. Do most people put liners under their rinks, or simply rely that frozen water won't absorb down into the ground, perhaps spray a few thin layers to ice up before flooding?

[steve]

Dont waste time with a liner. Built a big rink every year. Never used a liner. Couple thin coats of water to start. Snow for berms. After a few thin layers of water you can pour the water to it.

[Bucket Dan]

The way I did mine was like this..

I built a 20x40' frame with 2x10s. Started in the highest corner and worked my way around keeping them level. It was about a 12' difference in height to the lowest corner. I then packed snow into make about level. This proved to not be a good idea. I then laid 6mil poly down in 3 strips. This would also not be a good idea. I ended up getting a 30x60 (i think) tarp from home hardware and laid that down and filled that with water. The problem I had was the water coming out of the house was warmer than the snow and it would melt creating big divits in the tarp which wouldnt allow it to sit tight and I couldnt get the edges to seal so the water would just run out the bottom. This year Im going to put up my frame and just lay a tarp in and flood. Its got to be a atleast -10 for a few days to build up the layers. The colder the thicker the layer.

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by steve

Dont waste time with a liner. Built a big rink every year. Never used a liner. Couple thin coats of water to start. Snow for berms. After a few thin layers of water you can pour the water to it.

Sweet, that's what I was hoping. I figure then the spring 'cleanup' consists of just letting it thaw, rather than trying to get out poly frozen down, etc. I also have a hot/cold hose bibb at the back of the house so I could flood with warm water to allow better leveling. I know that's how the Saddledome does it because I ran 1000' of 3" pipe in there for heating the water they flood the rink with back when I was 19.

[Clgy_Dave2.0]

[steve]

Can make red and blue lines easy with that colored party paper. That looks like a colored toilet paper.

Apply to ice with a spray bottle. Let freeze then flood over.

[riden]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Sweet, that's what I was hoping. I figure then the spring 'cleanup' consists of just letting it thaw, rather than trying to get out poly frozen down, etc. I also have a hot/cold hose bibb at the back of the house so I could flood with warm water to allow better leveling. I know that's how the Saddledome does it because I ran 1000' of 3" pipe in there for heating the water they flood the rink with back when I was 19.

Fertilize in the fall though, it is hard on the grass. I never used a liner either though.

Once I had a small base down, I found filling a barrel/garbage can was a great way to water it. Fill the barrel and kick it over. The force of the water would then prevent the ripples in the ice that are a nuisance.

Nice to have access to a hose with hot water too. The hot water can really smooth up the ice.

[Bucket Dan]

Lines arent a good idea because they retain the heat and melt first...

[jednastka]

I've tried both with and without a liner. Problem in my area was the level height difference across the whole rink, about 12 inches. That meant that a thickness of 3" at the high spot gave me 15" at the low spot. Took FOREVer for the low spot to melt, given all the houses in the area meaning that I didn't get much direct sunlight, and little wind. Next year, I used a poly liner on a 30' x 40' rink with small sideboards. I sealed between the overlapped edges of poly with mono caulk. When spring came, I took out the sledge, broke up the ice easily, and hauled the chunks to the front street, where they melted very quickly. The grass was not damaged, and because I got the rink off early, came back very quickly.

Vic

[a little redneck]

I think if you use good snow pack before Icing it would help to insulate the ice from the ground. This would also keep the grass etc from poking through. If your base was road crush it would probably be better, but who wants a yard of road crush? Hot water would be the only way to ice it once it is real cold.... you'd have trouble with the lines freezing if you used cold water.

Played quite a few games in outdoor rinks.... natural ice is nice.