I got a late start so I just filled the rink a couple days ago. Yesterday was too warm for it to freeze but last night the top inch or so froze. The problem is that despite making sure there were no leaves, a gust of wind must have blown in a few after I went to bed. So I woke up this morning to leaves in my ice. I figured it would be better to chop up the ice in those spots then to wait for it to fully freeze and chisel them out later. So I used a hammer to break through on those spots. I only had the top inch frozen so I was able to get the leaves out but I left behind chopped up ice which froze pretty lumpy despite my best efforts to smooth it out. So this evening I took my hot water hose to it which helped but didn't melt the lumps enough. I'm thinking blow torch?

So two questions: How do I get the lumps out? And next year, how do I prevent the leaves from getting in overnight that first night? Anyone actually put up a net for that?

Thanks

take a shovel or shingle scraper and chip/shave the lumps away. or if you can skate on them just rough it up with skates and then get rid of the chips before you flood again. make sure you've got 3.5-4 inches of ice before you start walking around on it though.

The lumps can be smoothed out with a $25 floor scraper from your local hardware store. A little bit of elbow grease plus a resurfacing should definitely help.

As for the leaves, I never worry too much about them. I'm probably in the minority, but I really don't freak out too much about every little foreign object in my ice like lots of other people do. I just skate over it and chalk it up to nature's way. I would never break up good ice just to get a leaf out.

Lumps can be removed with an ice/floor scraper or just with a little resurfacing of the ice.

I'm with Joe on the leaves in the rink, there's nothing quite like having a Maple Leaf land right at center ice and freezing there, as if it was placed... right on top of that Loonie. Err, I mean... don''t fret about a couple of leaves. It's outdoors ya know! I have however figured out a sure-fire way to keep leaves out of the rink though - it's called a chainsaw and it works wonders!

Cheers
Kevin

Thanks for all your replies! I'll be picking up a scraper along with some other items I've decided are necessary (rubber gloves, for example... I'm such a girl). I'm surprised you guys don't freak about leaves. I remember playing pond hockey as a kid and the leaves would cause the ice to melt above and around them and make ugly pockets. I figure with only 16' x 24' to groom I should be able to make it perfect. Next year - a net over it. Although it'll be a bigger net because the rink will DEFINITELY be bigger. Yup, I'm bit :-)

when the sun does come out and the ice above the leaves melt you can pick them out and maybe add a little more water to fill it in. but yeah joe is right don't mess up good ice for some leaves.