hi gang - my first post and will be my first year setting up the backyard rink. By way of background, I am north of Boston near the coast, which has a weather impact, but my neighbor got a good 25 days in last winter (bascially Jan/Feb), which I think is pretty good in these parts.

I am starting out with a 64 x 40 surface and am using framed out ply-wood for my boards, 2' tall along the sides and 4' tall on the ends, no curved corners. Rough estimate is 4" in high end and 9-10" in low end.

so to my question....while the kids will likely dominate the weekend daytime hours, my buddies and I will skate evenings whenever possible. I plan to use 6 500 watt work lights for illumination, and wondering what heigh you all set your lights at to maximize coverage? I plan to do 2 T-bars on one side with 4 lights and 1 T-Bar on the opposite side. I want to avoid lights from either end as I am a goalie and that never works well......

So any advice on setup for best illumination would be appreciated.

And more than anything.....just getting really excited!

Welcome! I'm not too far up, just outside Manchester NH. It does tend to get a bit warmer near the coast, but you'll be fine.

What'd you use to get your slope measurements? I just get nervous when folks say "rough estimate". I want to make sure you have a great year...and slope is the biggest pitfall of every new rink.

As for lights, I use a collection of halogen worklights. Not sure what wattage, but just the cheap ones from Lowes. I mount them to the top of the 10' fenceposts around my tennis court where my rink is (it's old and crumbling...don't be jealous). But it's plenty high.

Alex from Backyard Ice buys fence posts and then buys the halogens with the stands, then puts the fenceposts in the middle to extend the height. That works for him. I'll see if I can dig up the drawing he sent me. I think you're ok putting them at the ends provided they're high enough. Any chance you can mount them to the house? I've seen them in trees as well.

I have 4 500W lights on a ~10' high 4x6 pole with a 2x4 mounted at the top on the north side of center ice and I have 2 500W lights on a similar ~10' on the south side of center ice. I don't have to worry about a stray shot hitting them. Only issue is the south side will light up the house pretty good and that's the bedroom side. Great blinds/curtains will solve any issue with the kids. :-)

Kevin

Thanks to you both for the replies.

Joe - I used a line level on twine running tightly from a spike at my shallow end, set at 4", to my deep end, and it was either 9 or 10", don't recall. My neighbor had almost 18" in his deep end last year and it worked out fine, so I am hoping mine will be ok at half the depth! But let me know if I should be doing anything specific (aside from grading my lawn....) to impove my odds.

And Kevin, thanks for the tips on the lights, I was planing to mount on 2x4x10 but worry they will be too flexibly. I will look into some heavier wood. House/tree not an option unfortunately.....

Thanks again!

Ian

Phew! Was worried that I had taken the wrong approach.....

I still expect some hiccups, and my yard, while not bad from a slope perspective is still pretty lumpy, so I imagine planty of gaps between boards - but per your reccomendations to others on the forum, will focus on keeping boards flush to the ground rather than flush to each other.

I'll be sure to post some consturction pics when the time comes.

Thanks again Joe!