Hello
This week finally feels like winter. While my face is wind-burnt from working out in the cold all day, it does remind me that if this weather persists then the farm pond may be frozen enough to ice skate on sometime soon.
That's my hope every winter. Last winter I came close, but the thick ice was then coated with 8 inches of snow that started to melt, then froze again into a crunchy ice-skate prohibiting layer. I attempted every trick I could have, short of taking the tractor out on the pond to plow it. I figured that could be an expensive mistake.
Shoveling it didn't work, so I figured I could possibly melt it with well water on top. The theory was that the cool, but not ice cold, water would just melt the surface and create a new, glass-like surface of ice. After many struggles last winter to get enough water pumping quickly to the surface, I made some plumbing changes and had a sizable 2" fire hose transferring water to the pond. I created a rig to hold the hose so I could sleep while it flooded the pond. I did my calculations and figured 8 hours of water could get a nice glassy surface. Instead, I walked out to just a hole in the ice where the hose was spraying.
But being as determined as I am, this year I've got a new and improved setup. A bigger pump and hose capable of 200 gallons per minute at 70 psi. If the conditions persist, look for me on news at Wilmot news with a slick homemade skating rink!
Enjoying all 4 seasons,
Trevor Clatterbuck
Below: last year's transfer hose, and me soaked after a frozen pipe burst overhead in my lengthy attempt to make an ice rink.
