Ice How Thick
- Thread starter Yard Dart
- Start date
The information on this web page may help answer the question: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/naturalresources/DD7004.html
harneymaki
Registered User
Esko, Minnesota
Let us know if it's too thin.
aktango58
FRIEND
18AA
Watch testing thickness. Water flow from inlet/outlet, sunshine/shade and snow pack can all make inconsistent thinckness. Believe it or not, if you have three inches of clear ice, and are gentle, you will probably be fine.
Four inches for a cub is good. Six they say will support a fire truck.
Four inches for a cub is good. Six they say will support a fire truck.
Gary Reeves
SPONSOR
Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
Condition of the ice matters more than the thickness.
I have had cubs land in front of my place on 2 inches of good new ice.
I won't land on less than 4 inches of new ice and I won't park on less than 6.
Any ice that has melted or been fractured ( say by a pressure crack) will retain a flaw at that point and willl fail under load - especially repeated load.
Don't let the sun melt or damage the ice under tundra tires. They absorb the heat and turn ice to mush.
As the season goes on. The ice may have been undergone several changes. Clear and new is best.. The bubbles mentioned above show lower strength. At the end of the season almost any thickness of candled ice is suspect. when it turns white and floats, you may get a takeoff run on it. Then it turns green and full of water. Two feet would not support you then.
The old drop a rock test still seems to be good for confidence.
GR
I have had cubs land in front of my place on 2 inches of good new ice.
I won't land on less than 4 inches of new ice and I won't park on less than 6.
Any ice that has melted or been fractured ( say by a pressure crack) will retain a flaw at that point and willl fail under load - especially repeated load.
Don't let the sun melt or damage the ice under tundra tires. They absorb the heat and turn ice to mush.
As the season goes on. The ice may have been undergone several changes. Clear and new is best.. The bubbles mentioned above show lower strength. At the end of the season almost any thickness of candled ice is suspect. when it turns white and floats, you may get a takeoff run on it. Then it turns green and full of water. Two feet would not support you then.
The old drop a rock test still seems to be good for confidence.
GR
irishfield
Registered User
Penetanguishene, Ontario Canada
I wear a floater suit as the lb/sq foot pressure of me stepping out of the plane onto the ice is higher than the airplanes lb/sq foot load distribution on the skis!
