Domnarski Farm Ice

Sunday, February 26, 2006

I shoveled and watered....

With a little help of a chair...

Ben learns to skate...

Monday, February 20, 2006

The ice is up!

It's nothing to brag about, but the ice is skateable. I went out and watered it with a garden hose this morning to take out some of the wind ripples and bumps. There are leave, hay and sticks here and there, but its safe.

I'll probably get the ice mower from Quabaug Equipment tomorrow where I sent it in for a tune-up. They are closed today because of the holiday.

I moved the extension cord for the streetlight so I think it can be plugged into the garage electrical outlet. If it doesn't reach I'll move it either into the cellar or back to the front of the house where it kept tripping the fuse box.

Hockey, anyone?

Friday, February 03, 2006

Most mild January ever?


Here's a rink on a hill in Greenfield MA 01-26-06. Nice driveway. Homemade nets. String of lights across the top. Lareg nets to contain slapshots.

Backyard rinks doing better this year...

S.Deerfield backyard rink 01-29-06

Chicopee Rink - click on image to enlarge

Backyard rink with boards last year in Chicopee MA

http://www.portarinxandbambini.com/icemower.shtml


Here's the ice mower I got last year. Too bad I don't get to use it this year....

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Domnarski Farm Ice: Lazy Ice Resurfacer

Domnarski Farm Ice: Lazy Ice Resurfacer

Lazy Ice Resurfacer


I got this from dougstotz@alum.mit.edu

Looks like a good idea but generally sprinkler systems don't tend to work very well. You usually have to move them around a lot and for all that effort its easier just to water with a hose....I could try it though.

I definitely got enough rain for a new surface. Let's see how cold it gets this week.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Aerial before the snow....

This is what we can get...



Got some dog tracks but looks safe...

Today's plan....




These are the forecast temps/conditions. If I was determined to have good ice the plan would be to get out there today and start removing snow. That would allow the surface to heat up with solar heating during the upcoming warmer days and hopefully re-freeze as ice.

The problem is that hand shoveling is a lot of work. If I started shoveling right now, and then used the ice mower, I could maybe skate by evening. I'm a NFL football fan and would rather watch both playoff games on my day off from work.

This evening would probably be the only useful time of the ice as the temps are suppose to rise tomorrow and be in the 40's all week. Any work I do today would likely be undone by tomorrow evening. We wouldn't be able to skate all week and by next weekend, any modifications to the ice would probably turn to slush and not be recognizable.

So I'm not going to bust my ass for ice I won't be able to skate on all this week. I'll just have to wait and see how much rain we are going to get by next Saturday.

Maintaining the Ice!

I call myself the Ice Master because its no easy task maintaining the ice. Its simply not enough to just own a pond if you want to skate. Sometimes you get lucky, and you get a good ice season where Mother Nature makes it easy. If you get good consistent cold, all you have to do is wait until its safe and then skate.

Most of the time the ice requires some sort of maintenance that can be quite labor intensive.

I've purchased several tools and devices to enhance the quest for good ice. Some are more obvious than others.

1. Several snow shovels. The rule is, once you start shoveling the ice, you can't stop. If you stop then you will create blemishes and impurities in the ice that will haunt you all season. Yes, I know its just ice but one you get two different colors of ice, they heat up differently and can really screw up the surface for skating. Good ice is as smooth as glass. Crappy ice bumpy and have problems that make it difficult to skate.

2. I have an old snowblower that can be employed if there us the right type of snow. Its an old Ariens with a new Snow King motor. It has chains but the friction drive wheel is finicky and doesn't produce much torque.

3. I have enough garden hose to hook up to the faucet at the house to water the ice. Yes...I water the ice. It can take up to four hours but it fills in all the cracks and is the best way to reclaim the surface. I've heard several suggestions to get a submersible pump to flood the ice but I think the garden hose works better.

4. I have an "Ice Shaver" mower. Its basically a push lawnmower with an ice shaving blade instead of grass cutting blade. It cost $600 but is worth it when the ice gets crappy. You can take out all the bumps in a much shorter period of time.

5. I have a Jeep with a plow. I can usually drive out on the ice and plow in February depending on the winter. It makes things real easy to get the ice plowed and creates some decent snowbanks so you don't lose all of your pucks.

6. I installed a streetlight to play at night. I've tried glow pucks and other devices but decided to just light up the pond. Its not much good to have good ice if everyone is at work during the day. Now we can skate at night and see the puck.

WHAT I NEED:

Although I can maintain the ice myself...it never hurts to have help. For example, twenty hearty helpers with snow shovels would get the ice ready in about an hour!

Directions

The Domnarski Farm is located at 77 Bacon Road, Ware MA 01082 www.DomnarskiFarm.com.

We are off Route 32 on the Palmer/Ware line, Exit 8 on the Mass Turnpike. The best way to get directions is through www.randmcnally.com. Just punch in your address and ours. Just putting in 77 Bacon, 01082 is a nice short-cut.

In the above picture, the 40 ft x 40 ft helicopter landing pad is a good reference to the size of the skating rink I can get out of the pond. Its not a regulation size rink but its decent size.

The ice usually safe before other ponds because its relatively small without much flow. There are two small springs that come off Mount Pattaquattic that feed the pond and one outlet that leads to the Ware River. The Domnarski Farm Pond is as much as ten feet deep and is nice to swim in during the summer. In July and August, the level drops as much as 4 feet because of dry weather, but always seems to refill to maximum capacity by Christmas.

Purpose

I like to play hockey on my backyard pond. The ice conditions are always changing so I created this blog to keep others informed about the current ice status. Now you can check this blog every time you are wondering if its skateable and if there are any skating events planned.

The Domnarski Farm Ice Blog