This year was also late getting started because we didn't have enough snow to cover the grass until the middle of January. I actually had to go out into the playground in the back of our house again, and bring snow over to help make the rink. 

    I laid down the plastic one Friday night around 7:00, put down some 2x4 around the edges and turned on the hose about 7:30. I let the water run for about 4 hours. This wasn't quite long enough because I ended up with not enough water in one end. However, this was one of the flattest bases I had ever made. If it wasn't so flat I would have had to let the water run longer. I
turned the water off when there was only 1 inch of water in the shallow end. I should have waited until there was at least 2 inches of water. Oh well, live and learn. It was late. 

    The shallow end would not have been a problem if the weather had cooperated. But when does the weather cooperate. We had so much mild weather and every time I would get the shallow end built up to 2 or 3 nches, we would get 3 days of rain. I finally cut 3 feet off the low end and didn't have a problem after. 

    I think we got 6 weeks of skating in this year. The ice was actually the best I had ever made. It was absolutely perfect all over.  I think I started out with a 19' wide by 40' long rink and ended up with a 19' x 37' rink. Overall, considering the amount of time it lasted, the quality of the ice, and the size, this was by far the best of the six I had made up to this point.

    Here are a couple of pictures of my 1998 rink:

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Last Updated on Sept 1, 2001