Any input on water depth?
I have approx 8-9" of water.
Im concerned it may not freeze completely and will have to deal with water seeping around the edges.
I guess i will learn for next year.

For most of my non-level sites, I go for 3-4" in the shallowest area. That could mean any number of depths in the deeper parts.

Good news is you don't need it to freeze to the ground to skate on it - a lot of times you're skating on a floating slab without knowing it. You'll know it if it warms up a bit and you get that seepage, but cold weather cures all. Don't be worried that you'll get seepage every time you skate...all depends on the temps and whether or not it's cold enough to freeze you to the ground.

I have 5" on my shallow end and 9"+ on my deep end. I am quite content with this thickness.

I have a spot in the middle of my rink that seems to be about 2"-3" higher ground than the rest of the rink. It's an area where we have a small sandbox and though I know it was slightly higher, I didn't think it was that high. Of course, put water in there and you find out quick.

It's not the end of the world if I had only 2" of ice there with 4-5" everywhere else, is it?

How small is a small sandbox? 2" of ice typically doesn't give a lot of support but it depends on the surface area that has that thin ice on it. If possible, I would try to increase the overall depth so that you have 6-7" everywhere else and about 4" over the sandbox. You don't want to be striding along and have the ice crack underneath you; it could ruin a perfectly good afternoon of skating.

Good call. I'll have to try that. Thanks.

Do you have any experience with air pockets? I can see a few in an area where I did some extra flooding the last couple days. I have no idea how far down they are. There's maybe 3 or 4 of them but only one of them is about a foot long and a few inches wide. The others are only about 2 inches in diameter. I'm already regretting my gradual fill strategy.

Air pockets aren't a big deal if you have enough ice over top of them. The only time that 'air pockets' are an issue if when it is shale ice - that brittle thin ice that covers an air pocket. If they are far enough down, they shouldn't cause problem but if you are overly concerned, drill a hole in the surface and fill them with water.

Thanks Kevin. Appreciate the feedback!

This was the same question that I had. I thought my yard was much more level than it is and so I have about 3 or 4 inches on one end and the water depth on the other end is about 18" on the other. (lol) I am wondering the same thing. Is it going to freeze enough for the kiddos to get on there but now that I look at the weather forcast for Nebraska over the next 10 days it is going to get COLD. LOVE IT! Artic freeze they are saying, perfect! I should know in about a week. How much ice depth is needed before getting onto the ice. I have always heard that about 2 to 3" is about 200lbs and then about every inch adds about another 200lbs. I was hoping for 4" of ice till first skate. I will post some pics of my "lopsided pool" in a bit. Thanks for your help!

Deke

That is quite the slope. I think someone will be getting a topsoil delivery next summer. Not many people enjoy hearing the words "arctic freeze" except for people like us who love outdoor ice. I think the typical recommendation is 4" of ice before you want to start planning a skate. Once the ice is thick enough to stand on, if you have a homeboni start resurfacing on top of your ice during the arctic freeze and you can build upwards to increase the thickness while the water below is still busy freezing