Cutting Pond Ice

[highlandview]

Anyone cut ice off a pond? Is it only for keeping food cold - not for consumption? How is it done?

[Cabin Fever]

With an ice saw or a chain saw.

The ice is gonna smell like fish.

[deb]

Originally Posted by highlandview

Anyone cut ice off a pond? Is it only for keeping food cold - not for consumption? How is it done?

My Amish friends have a small lake on their property. They use an ice saw (like a really big circular saw - gas powered) to make the big cuts. The big ice saw is shared in the community. The corners are cut using a chainsaw or large hand ice saw. They have poles with curved ends they use to push the ice across the hole toward someone who has the tongs to grab and pull it out of the water. The blocks of ice are carried to a waiting wagon and some hay is put between the different blocks. The blocks are stored in an ice house and lasts until sometime in summer. When their ice runs out for the year they call the ice delivery guy and he starts bringing them ice once a week.

The lake ice blocks are not for consumption. My friends use a large insulated food cooler as their "refrigerator" and all of the food is wrapped in plastic or is in containers. The ice blocks are broken up and added to the cooler as needed, but the lake ice doesn't touch any food.

For their family reunion last year I helped them buy commercial blocks of ice because they didn't want to use the lake ice to to cool cans of soda.

Deb
in WI