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Post by Beerwiser on Nov 23, 2020 10:36:58 GMT -6
Toro makes a walk behind powered broom as well as a few others. Skid steer ones run around 2500. It would do a fantastic job on the ice imo. A guy would just have to work with the wind. Not to mention it would polish the ice better then the guy with too many wobbly pops sweeping a curling rock. Keep an eye out on buy and sell sites for one. My neighbor has one he picked up cheap although I don't know the brand.
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Post by northernfarmer on Nov 23, 2020 13:41:17 GMT -6
Looking up power brooms mounted on a small tractor and I see some are pto driven, either rear or front pto which makes sense given the low hydraulic ability of small tractors.
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Post by SWMan on Nov 23, 2020 19:56:36 GMT -6
I found a 3pt PTO driven one that's 5' wide and can angle to either side. Pretty slick unit but guy wants $1900. Well on the way to a used Zamboni there, but probably way less ongoing cost with the broom...lol
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Post by SWMan on Nov 29, 2020 19:43:36 GMT -6
Got the rink flooded today. Just cut a hole in the ice and used a 3" banjo pump. Made a suction line with a short 90 degree elbow just below ice level and 75' of discharge hose. Figured out quickly that pushing the water around as it was flooding/freezing just made little slush piles, just had to dial the pump up and flood it hard. Tried Saturday but wind picked up and made a real mess of things, today low wind and went much better!  |
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Post by generalchaos on Nov 29, 2020 20:26:08 GMT -6
Looks nice.
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BJT
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Post by BJT on Nov 29, 2020 20:35:22 GMT -6
I haven’t read the whole thread, but a tiger torch works well to melt and smooth the ice out. Can do a big area fairly quick.
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Post by hardrockacres on Nov 30, 2020 7:27:30 GMT -6
Hey SW, if your still interested Richie Bros has about a dozen hyd skid steer brooms listed in their Lethbridge sale tha is currently on.
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jaymo
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Post by jaymo on Nov 30, 2020 8:39:36 GMT -6
Got the rink flooded today. Just cut a hole in the ice and used a 3" banjo pump. Made a suction line with a short 90 degree elbow just below ice level and 75' of discharge hose. Figured out quickly that pushing the water around as it was flooding/freezing just made little slush piles, just had to dial the pump up and flood it hard. Tried Saturday but wind picked up and made a real mess of things, today low wind and went much better! View AttachmentWhen I was a kid, my dad did the same thing. It looked perfect but when we came back the next day the original ice must have settled a few hours after the flood water had started to freeze and buckled and cracked the new surface right down the middle! This was on a dugout though, so hopefully on that bigger slough it won't do that. |
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Post by kevlar on Dec 5, 2020 17:59:00 GMT -6
SWMan, I see Princess Auto has 24 inch power brooms on sale until the 6th for $700, might be a little better than a broom. Spent a few hours out on the lake today with the kids. Someone has made a skating path around the entire lake, be at least a good 2 miles round trip. One family that lives on the shore has a free snack bar set up with coffee and hot chocolate. By my estimates, there would have been over 200 people there, maybe closer to 300. Was so good to see so many people and talk and visit. Feels so good to see people smile and laugh and talk without wearing masks for covid. I get the feeling there a lot more people around town feeling the same way I do. I hope the Covid cops don't feel the need to make an appearance. Anyone who doesn't think wearing a mask won't affect you psychologically is dead wrong, I feel so much better now, and am sure by the smiles on everyone's faces they do too. ![]()   |
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jaymo
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Post by jaymo on Dec 5, 2020 19:25:49 GMT -6
That looks and sounds like a lot of fun!
I've got a backyard rink built and ready to fill but the weather forecast is all in the plus temps for the next week so we will enjoy the warm weather and be ready to fill it when some colder weather hits.
I took the kids for a pond scouting drive today. We found one that the kids want to try but it's pretty rough.
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Post by stockton on Dec 5, 2020 20:41:47 GMT -6
SWMan, I see Princess Auto has 24 inch power brooms on sale until the 6th for $700, might be a little better than a broom. Spent a few hours out on the lake today with the kids. Someone has made a skating path around the entire lake, be at least a good 2 miles round trip. One family that lives on the shore has a free snack bar set up with coffee and hot chocolate. By my estimates, there would have been over 200 people there, maybe closer to 300. Was so good to see so many people and talk and visit. Feels so good to see people smile and laugh and talk without wearing masks for covid. I get the feeling there a lot more people around town feeling the same way I do. I hope the Covid cops don't feel the need to make an appearance. Anyone who doesn't think wearing a mask won't affect you psychologically is dead wrong, I feel so much better now, and am sure by the smiles on everyone's faces they do too. ![]() View AttachmentView AttachmentI totally agree. I was riding fatbike in the Brandon Hills today and have never seen so many people there. Approx 100 cars in the lot. Mostly families and couples hiking or walking dogs, mountain bikers, and some runners. Such a good vibe when everybody you meet on the trail is friendly and smiling. And something else I noticed, even with all those people there I didn’t see one piece of garbage or dog shit left on the trail either. There is a newfound appreciation in many for the simpler things-being outside, being active, exchanging smiles. As for what I do for fun, I run and like to participate in various running events. Not to win, just to challenge myself. I started biking last year to fill in at times when I’m dealing with running injuries. |
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Post by kevlar on Dec 5, 2020 22:07:55 GMT -6
SWMan, I see Princess Auto has 24 inch power brooms on sale until the 6th for $700, might be a little better than a broom. Spent a few hours out on the lake today with the kids. Someone has made a skating path around the entire lake, be at least a good 2 miles round trip. One family that lives on the shore has a free snack bar set up with coffee and hot chocolate. By my estimates, there would have been over 200 people there, maybe closer to 300. Was so good to see so many people and talk and visit. Feels so good to see people smile and laugh and talk without wearing masks for covid. I get the feeling there a lot more people around town feeling the same way I do. I hope the Covid cops don't feel the need to make an appearance. Anyone who doesn't think wearing a mask won't affect you psychologically is dead wrong, I feel so much better now, and am sure by the smiles on everyone's faces they do too. ![]() View AttachmentView AttachmentI totally agree. I was riding fatbike in the Brandon Hills today and have never seen so many people there. Approx 100 cars in the lot. Mostly families and couples hiking or walking dogs, mountain bikers, and some runners. Such a good vibe when everybody you meet on the trail is friendly and smiling. And something else I noticed, even with all those people there I didn’t see one piece of garbage or dog shit left on the trail either. There is a newfound appreciation in many for the simpler things-being outside, being active, exchanging smiles. As for what I do for fun, I run and like to participate in various running events. Not to win, just to challenge myself. I started biking last year to fill in at times when I’m dealing with running injuries. Running for fun, now there is an oxymoron if I ever heard one!!! lol just kidding! Running was never my thing. Ever do a mud run? I never have but thought of making a small course last summer for my family and kids to do while we were camping and for them to bring out a few friends, but with the flooding and covid, it never happened. Fatbikes look like fun, too bad they are so damned expensive. There are getting to be a few guys riding them around here, a club actually just bought a small motorized groomer for making trails for fat bikes. I do a fair bit of mountain biking but mostly just on roads. Started snow shooing last winter and quite enjoyed that, kids are a little young yet for too much of a trek, I usually just end up pulling them back on a sleigh, along with all the "treasures" they find along the way. |
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Post by SWMan on Dec 5, 2020 22:29:08 GMT -6
The rink is great, kids have been on it a few times already. I did find a 3pt sweeper I might make an offer on for when it does start snowing. Right now the weather is awesome and busy doing yard projects, but I bought lumber to make a warming shack. Maybe this can be an annual thing, actually wasn't too hard to do once we were setup for it.
Glad to see other people outdoors, it's good to shut off the TV and get outside. 8-)
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Post by Beerwiser on Dec 5, 2020 22:38:33 GMT -6
I don't care what guys do, turn off the damn TV. Caught 10 minutes of some BS global program and I can feel my blood pressure rising. Need to go back outside lol.
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Post by kevlar on Dec 6, 2020 20:48:20 GMT -6
Went skating at the lake again today. 2 miles all the way around the lake, took me 20 minutes. No, sorry, that's how long it took me to catch my breath after we made it around!! Not quite as many people out today. Was talking to one guy and as we looked around and watched people having fun and interacting like humans are supposed to, he said "this is our towns way of saying F you to covid", made me laugh because there were people there from all lines of work, many of who have had to deal with this BS a lot, teachers, police, nurses, seniors. The closest thing I have seen to "normal" in a year.
Probably skated over 4 miles with my daughter today, tomorrow might be a little painful.
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