Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Clearing snow from a pond

[Noodlearm]

Can anyone tell me how thick the ice on my pond should be before I can safely (very safely as I dont want to sink it 14ft deep) clear the snow with my ck30 (listed weight with ag tires is 3055, I am guessing closer to 4000 with industrials and loader and blade on). I know cars are already driving in the bay by our house, but the bay is shallow, no more than 4-5 feet in most areas and no trucks are out there yet, just smaller cars.
Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[ronjhall]

Brian
Here is a thread from about this time last year asking the same question.
Click Here.
Even if you think the ice is thick enough you may want to make sure your insurance will cover your tractor if it fall though the ice. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
I see your from SE Michigan also. I sure you hear all the News reports of people being pulled off ice flows every winter. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Noodlearm]

yep, here about it all year, and to be honest with you, I cant believe how stupid some people are. I live just north of anchor bay which is basically the hottest spot for ice fishing on Lake St. Clair, and every year I see it happen once or twice. They get the helicoptors out along with the fan type boats sometimes. I like the idea of how they are now going to be charging for the rescues. The DNT launch site near us actually stops people from going out if conditions are good, but they can just walk 10 feet and be away from the launch site and walk on their own. Thanks for the link btw!

 

[dicker]

In my opinion, in this case it would be 14 ft. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Just joking, although, it is my personal belief that no ice is safe. For me, it is a matter of risk vs. gain. Good luck

Richard

 

[Nasty135]

Noodlearm, ? Why would one want to clear snow off of ice?
Unless maybe because others may not know its ice their walking on and fall through....I guess that would make sense. I guess it would make ice skating easier also.
I suppose I'm getting old because I would never think of doing any ice skating.
So I guess a bonfire is out of the question /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Well if your thinking of using your tractor to clean off the snow check picture

 

[BarryinMN]

If that pix was Detroit Lakes MN, they were easy to pull out being close to shore & not deep.

In transit new B-17's landed on the frozen lake during WWII for refueling.

 

[rmlucasco]

We use shovels - and it's for clearing a hokey rink.

 

[shoppintractors]

With the vast swings in temperature the ice has been very unpredictable. I'm even more leary when the ice has a heavy snow cover. It seems the snow cover has an insulating factor that makes the ice even more unpredictable.

Have you drilled any test holes?

Don

 

[Dutch445]

2 springs ago, april 1st rolled around which is the opening of trout season in upstate ny. at that time, i lived on a small lake that was frozen from december right thru to spring, with lots of snow. the neighbor had some friends over to do some fishing, and they brought out the augers. we had been snowmobiling on and around the lake all year,, it's great for running radar gun runs to see "true" top speeds. anyway, on this particular april 1, they drilled their hole to fish thru, and the ice measured 27" thick! and even with the amount of snow that year.. it all seemed to be solid hard ice. (with a bit of snow on top). i'll never forget how thick that ice was, and certainly wouldn't have hesitated to drive a vehicle on it.. at least on that part of the lake.
now this year, i wouldn't trust my snowmobile and me going 60 mph! just been too many warm spells, and no long cold snaps.
/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Noodlearm]

The reason for clearing the snow is for an ice rink, or more specifically, a hockey rink. I have have used an auger to make a few holes, and I know its not thick enough yet, although it is more than thick enough for 8 people to stand next to each other as we found out over the weekend. We usually start playing hockey once the ice is over 5" thick everywhere (except shoreline where depth isn't 5'" inches. I was just more curious on future use with the tractor. Is 1' all around thick enough or should I just never take the ck30 on the ice and stick with the smaller garden tractor even though it will obviously take longer ( i would also have no regrets if the garden tractor sank as it is not much useful for anything anymore, it no longer cuts grass and my quotes to have it fixed are too much, i will just buy another, but it does still drive). Shoveling, while fine the day we play as I have 7 or 8 other people to help me, is not feasible alone. Again, thanks for all the help.