"I started making ice about 3 weeks ago over bare ground ... we don`t use a liner.  This is the third year we have made a rink, first year was on uneven ground with just snow banks for boards.  It took forever to fill the 12in pitch and the water kept running into the snow when flooding.

Last fall I used a tractor and a considerable amount of dirt to level the ground.  My wife Patti and I then stacked two 2X6's on edge held in place with metal rods drove into the ground and went around all four sides.

The rink is 70ft x 30ft. The flooding was a lot easier and we had many great hockey parties and smokies cooked in over the fire pit on weekends if our 7 year old Brenden wasn't playing league hockey.

There was only one problem.  Even with plywood on the ends we went 
through 100 pucks lost in the deep snow.  They were recovered in March and April.
 
This year a local company in the process of closing donated enough chain link fence to close off both ends. I waited one week too late to dig the posts in.  I had to chip through 6in of frozen ground but managed to get it done.  We then framed it and stapled the fencing in place.  This should keep more pucks in play.

I then made the mistake of finding Howard's web site.  My son had 
already used the rink a few times when I informed him he was benched for a week.  I wanted the ice to be white so this is what Brenden and I did.

To the paint store to purchase some cheap latex paint.  In fact we used 5 gallons mixed in a plastic garbage can in a ratio of 20 parts water to 1 part paint, we then used a 110v submersible pump hooked to a garden hose and sprayed the mixture just like flooding.

After it froze we gave it a couple coats of water then waited for it to freeze. Then came the lines.  We used 2in party banner froze to the ice for a goal line, crepe paper for the center line, craft paint for the rest of the painting. 

We have a Grand Opening planed for this weekend with players from my son's team and players from the Kimberley Dynamiters they play in the K.I.J.H.L. aged 16 to 20 years old, the local paper is going run a picture and story.

By the way the center ice maple leaf logo has a LOONIE in the middle, keeping with the past success our Canadian team had at the Olympics."

I really like this rink. Thanks for the pics Doug.