I am building a small hockey rink in the backyard:
After a lot of flooding, I have achieved an OK surface on the ice.
I am now wondering if there is a way to reasonably protect the ice against snow and slush. Last time when it rained mixed with snow, the ice got really messed up.
In a few months there will be no slush and snow, isn't it just a matter of waiting until then?
Sorry, couldn't help myself....
But to the question, I can't add anything sensible.....
Not solved yet but I'm inclined to mount tall boards on each short side with a spotlight at the top angled downwards. If the spotlights sit too low, they glare.
Have been thinking a bit about your problem. I grew up in hockey rinks without artificial ice, and there were no methods to protect the ice, a wiiide snow shovel was used, which was also used to scoop water. When Frölunda Hockey had their last outdoor game, they also had no solution other than relying on the weather, but they had artificial ice, which probably helped a bit. It would be interesting if someone shared a clever solution.
Even though I grew up with a moonlight rink, I don't have any good answers for making the ice smooth other than by flooding it.
I mostly remember the endless shoveling (full-sized rink), many hours of shoveling for an hour of play on bumpy ice before heading home for dinner. If you were lucky, someone's dad would come with a tractor and clear most of it.
It's fun to have your own rink in the garden! If I remember correctly, it was Eric Lindros' dad who set up a rink in their pool during winter (or he built a rink like you did) so that Eric could get extra practice as a kid.
In my youth (60s-70s), the municipal workers cleared the ice on my local outdoor rink with a "Belos," a powerful two-wheeled tractor. As I remember it, they had both a blade for snow removal and a sharp blade for "scraping" the ice. Belos machines can be found on Blocket for "varying" prices - it might be cheaper to buy a machine than to build an ice rink...
What is the problem? That there's sleet, just scrape it off.
Or that the ice is melting due to above-freezing temperatures, then it's a matter of buying a lot of styrofoam and putting it on in time.
