COCHRANE— Creating a one-of-a-king machine, a Cochranite has built a Zamboni from scratch to create the perfect ice rink.
Rob Thompson has put his spare time during the COVID-19 pandemic to good use— Crafting a homemade Zamboni to help maintain the ice at his home north of Cochrane.
“I got the idea because everybody is isolating and we needed something to do in the community to keep the kids busy,” Thompson said. “The ice surface with the Chinooks got pretty poor, so I decided to come up with an idea to make the ice surface more smooth.”
He explained that the ice surface changes constantly due to the radicle weather and Chinooks in Cochrane, so maintaining the surface is a full-time project.
Thompson took an older tractor with a sweeper on it and added a water tank and blade. He built a couple of arms that come down from the tractor and uses an old towel to pull them.
After gathering the materials together and few weeks of clever crafting that would make MacGyver proud, Thompson built his homemade Zamboni.
“The secret was to drill the holes super small— You can’t go back, you can only increase the size,” Thompson said with a chuckle. “We were fortunate to have the equipment around that we just modified to put to good use.”
Thompson said building a homemade Zamboni was the first time he has taken on a mechanical project like this. He added he had help from a friend who has driven Zambonis for years and the Internet when designing the machine.
The completed Zamboni pulls a 190-litre water tank across the ice near his house to help smooth out the surface. Each surface Thompson services takes about an hour to complete.
“Everybody’s got a lot of free time on their hand so I figured I would put it to good use,” Thompson said.
Thompson was born and raised on a farm near Cochrane— He took his experience driving the tractor on the field and transferred it to the ice.
His first time driving the Zamboni was an interesting experience and he was focussed on figuring out the perfect recipe of speed and water usage to create an ideal ice surface.
A number of community members use the ice near his home, he said, and it has proven to be a popular spot for youth to stay active during the increased COVID-19 public health measures. He added youth in the community are eager to help maintain the ice, including by helping drive the Zamboni.
When he has the time, Thompson also has the opportunity to hit the ice for a quick skate.
“Every second or third time I go just to make sure the ice is suitable,” he said.
Now that Thompson has completed his initial Zamboni, he is considering adding another homemade machine to the fleet.
“There’s a lot of different ways you can do it, but with the Chinooks and the big snowfalls coming we could have our work cut out for us,” Thompson said.
