The demands of a busy work schedule and weekends spent running my sons to their separate hockey practices/games have left me little time for the rink. Alas, I didn't get the liner in before 14" of snow was dumped on us this weekend. What do I do now? Anyone had to deal with this before? I'm assuming I'm going to have to remove snow before putting in the liner, but how much, if any, is okay to leave under the liner?

I have 2 foot high boards all the way around. The wind has caused the snow to drift inside the rink so that the NorthEast corner probably only has about 4-5 inches in it, and it gradually works it's way up to the top of the boards in the SouthWest corner. My rink is 32x56.

Any suggestions?

A buddy of mine, also here in Minneapolis, was going to shovel out a decent amount, then tamp the rest down with boots and go for it. I suggested that he actually get a hand tamper...

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... MaMHs0SQno

Working one of these will give your forearms a serious workout, but will also get the snow ultra compacted. Maybe even help you get things more leveled out...?

Have a snowblower or a friend with one? The smaller 'snowthrowers' are very handy for rinks and are easily lifted over boards (even ones 3' tall). This will get the majority of the snow out of the frame.

If you are set on leaving the snow inside, a hand lawnroller will work quite nicely. I would also recommend a sheet of plywood (or half a sheet which is easier to move) and then jump up and down on the board; just don't slip and fall, it could hurt (both your body and your pride if someone is watching you). If you pack the snow enough, it will evenutally turn to ice underneath the tarp but make sure that it is completely packed, maybe even soak it with water to give it a headstart. You don't want the snow to slip out and the tarp ripping with the lack of support.

Kevin

Thanks guys. I do have that exact hand tamper from Home Depot and the thought occured to me to use it for packing down any snow that I don't remove. I also have some sheets of OSB ripped in half length wise (spare boards) that I could use for packing the snow.

Don't have anyone in my area with a small snow thrower. I'm out in farm/horse country, all the neighbors have tractors/bobcats with buckets or trucks with plows to move snow in the winter. I thought about pulling a board to get the tractor in and remove the snow, but I don't want to rip up the grass underneath. Think I'll just get as much as I can out with a shovel, pack down the rest and maybe even wet it as Kevin suggests and then go from there.

Need to get the liner in and flood it so we have ice for our second annual family skate on Christmas morning.

I've dealt with this, but it was only 5" or so. We didn't care about the grass (and the ground had started to freeze) so we used the snowblower. The main rule is to NOT place the liner directly on the snow, as the relatively warm water can melt the snow underneath, stretching your liner. Get rid of as much as possible. I'd be a bit nervous about spraying the snow and then laying the liner down on top of that new ice, as there may be lots of sharp edges. But that approach would be preferable to doing nothing at all.

Ended up dealing with it the old fashioned way - shovels and sweat. When I went out Friday night after dinner to start the removal, the entire inside of the rink was covered in 6-8 inches of snow. I started out with the roof rake and pulled the snow to the boards, then shoveled it out from there. Pulling the snow across the grass was easier than trying to push a shovel across it. I was out there for about 30-45 minutes when the wife and kids came out. My 8 year old busted his butt, I've never seen him work that hard or shovel that much snow. Three times I asked him "Is this worth it?" and every time he just said "Yes" and kept shoveling. By the end even the 5 year old was into it. By 9:00 we had all the snow out and kids went in for bed. I stayed out to get the tarp out, get it in place and start patching holes. I came in about 11:30, with only about half the patchwork done. But the tarp was in place before the rain/snow started falling on Saturday.

Saturday we spent the first half of the day running back forth to the arena for hockey practices. When we were done with that, I went back out (in the drizzling rain) to finish patching. I had a lot more cuts/punctures than I anticipated, plus a two foot wide hole thanks to mice. Thankfully that hole was on the edge of the tarp so it ended up on the boards and not on the bottom of the rink.

And now it's Sunday morning and the hose is running!!!! The forecasted highs for the next 4 days are below freezing, so we should have ice to skate on by the end of the week.

My lessons learned:

1) Will never re-use a liner again. We were a little tight financially this Fall (two kids playing hockey, go figure) so I decided not to buy a new liner. New plan is to buy the next year's liner every year when we get our tax return in the Spring.

2) Get the liner in before the first snow fall.

I think this year's rink will be appreciated a little more by all of us.

Awesome. Our oldest is just 6, so it typically takes me longer to shovel the sidewalk WITH his help than without...but he was very helpful with measuring out stake placements a few weeks back. It is so great when you can see them being industrious and excited all at once.

Congratulations on getting the snow out, and on getting the whole family to help out.

Be Careful buying the liner ahead of time, or at least store it away from where mice or varmints could get to it......

Was talking to Larry Versino from the Wilmette Bike Shop (Local expert in backyard ice rinks on Chicago's North Shore) and he mentioned that last year, because of how warm it was, there were lots of people that didn't put in their liners last year--one customer said that this Fall, when he went to put last year's liner in (the one that he had never used) that he found that racoon, mouse or other animal had chewed through the plastic and completely destroyed it....Larry speculated that the smell of the plastic might attract animals to the plastic...anyway, just thought I would pass his story along....

Best,

i don't like to reuse liners (joe is full of good advice on this) but i do keep an extra one around, and i keep it in the coat closet inside. i also put a few moth balls in the box to keep mice away, would probably work if you store your liner in a garage or lawnshed to use some moth balls around it too.