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Source: https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/14659
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

<p>I live in the northeast US and have a depression in my backyard: after weeks of freezing weather we had a warm, rainy weekend. Then it all froze =)</p>

<p>So now I have a backyard rink, about 100' x 50' (30m x 15m), but I'd like to get it flatter and better-suited to skating. There are spots where it was slushy and a bootprint froze in, ridges and ripples from who-knows-what, &amp;c.</p>

<p>I'm willing to build apparatus to help me, but would rather not spend much. (Say, under $100 US.) I'm willing to spend up to an hour a day out there working to maintain the rink.</p>

<p>I'm <strong>not willing</strong> to just flood it to a depth of two inches to set a new layer: that'd take <em>way</em> too much water.<sup>*</sup> I want to use the existing ice (and surrounding snow, if more water's needed) as much as possible.</p>

<p><strong>How can I perfect this rink and ensure my kids the best skating every afternoon, all winter?</strong></p>

<p><hr></p>

<p><sup>* - I know because two years ago, last time this happened, I tried just flooding it. There's enough topography to the ice that In a month of late-night floodings I wasn't able to raise the level enough to effect changes to imperfections on the not-level portions.</sup></p>