Hawgstoppah Posted December 10, 2009 Posted December 10, 2009 Guys the thought just occured to me, that with all the new snow on top of ice that had barely formed, we may have a very, very dangerous situation on our hands here. I'm sure you all heard about the father clearing the farm pond for an ice rink last year that ended up drowning becuase all the snow on top of the ice actually insulated the ice and the warmer water from underneath weakened the ice enough that it was barely there. PLEASE be carefull, I'd hate to see any of our kids have a christmas without their father. Stay off the ponds that have heavy snow cover on them, pass this message along to your loved ones! Quote
admin Posted December 10, 2009 Posted December 10, 2009 Thanks for the reminder Brian. Much appreciated. Quote
canadensis Posted December 10, 2009 Posted December 10, 2009 Sadly the people who drive trucks and farm implements on the ice probably have difficulty reading and seem to lack total common sense. I know one individual that phoned his insurance company to make sure that he was covered insurance wise if his truck broke through the ice? He was an avid ice fisherman. Sometimes you cannot stop natural selection.... Quote
BBBrownie Posted December 10, 2009 Posted December 10, 2009 Sadly the people who drive trucks and farm implements on the ice probably have difficulty reading and seem to lack total common sense. I know one individual that phoned his insurance company to make sure that he was covered insurance wise if his truck broke through the ice? He was an avid ice fisherman. Sometimes you cannot stop natural selection.... Don't you think that is a bit harsh? Trucks can be driven perfectly safely on ice provided the ice thickness is sufficient. There are roads to northern communities built on ice... Quote
canadensis Posted December 10, 2009 Posted December 10, 2009 Don't you think that is a bit harsh? Trucks can be driven perfectly safely on ice provided the ice thickness is sufficient. There are roads to northern communities built on ice... They do not start driving on the ice hiways until it is deemed safe and then there are daily inspections, closures because of ice and weather contitions are common. This is a bit different from Bubba and his buddies with a case of beer and the power auger driving around on a frozen a resevoir that has water fluctuation causing unsafe ice. Trucks breaking through early in the season and late in the season are common. A simple solution is to park on shore, pull a sled with your gear and tent onto the ice; cheap foolproof insurance. So to answer your question, no I do not think it is too harsh. Talk to rural EMT and get their point of view on it. Ice fishing deaths from trucks breaking through the ice are no accident, 100% preventable. Quote
gustuphson Posted December 11, 2009 Posted December 11, 2009 They do not start driving on the ice hiways until it is deemed safe and then there are daily inspections, closures because of ice and weather contitions are common. This is a bit different from Bubba and his buddies with a case of beer and the power auger driving around on a frozen a resevoir that has water fluctuation causing unsafe ice. Trucks breaking through early in the season and late in the season are common. A simple solution is to park on shore, pull a sled with your gear and tent onto the ice; cheap foolproof insurance. So to answer your question, no I do not think it is too harsh. Talk to rural EMT and get their point of view on it. Ice fishing deaths from trucks breaking through the ice are no accident, 100% preventable. The original post mentioned a dad clearing ice and a dug out... Quote
birchy Posted December 11, 2009 Posted December 11, 2009 I guess that makes me a "Bubba".. Thanks for the reminder Brian. Quote
Guest 420FLYFISHIN Posted December 11, 2009 Posted December 11, 2009 brrrr, i dont ice fish untill Jan 1. I still dont like being on the ice for some reason. Quote
Hawgstoppah Posted December 11, 2009 Author Posted December 11, 2009 The guy that went thru the ice last year was using a quad with a plow on it, not a truck. And to be honest, me and two other adults had been out trying to clear a pond in okotoks on about dec 22 last year as well,before we heard about this accident, and almost went thru the ice ourselves too!... and the part we had cleared filled with water. This was while it was -20 something out, but the pond had about a foot of snow on it. We could have also drowned with one wrong step, and we didn't even know how close we were to danger. So if you see a snow covered pond of any size, keep you, and your kids, off it. Merry Christmas. Quote
birchy Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 The guy that went thru the ice last year was using a quad with a plow on it, not a truck. And to be honest, me and two other adults had been out trying to clear a pond in okotoks on about dec 22 last year as well,before we heard about this accident, and almost went thru the ice ourselves too!... and the part we had cleared filled with water. This was while it was -20 something out, but the pond had about a foot of snow on it. We could have also drowned with one wrong step, and we didn't even know how close we were to danger. So if you see a snow covered pond of any size, keep you, and your kids, off it. Merry Christmas. So, what you're saying is.. send the wife out to check it? Quote
Hawgstoppah Posted December 12, 2009 Author Posted December 12, 2009 So, what you're saying is.. send the wife out to check it? rofl. depends what kind of a mood she's in that day, eh? Quote
birchy Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 rofl. depends what kind of a mood she's in that day, eh? YOU shall bust fun no more!! Muahahahahaha.. Quote
LynnF Posted December 15, 2009 Posted December 15, 2009 I heard on the news that many people mistakenly think that minus 20 and 30 temperatures will freeze the ice quicker and deeper but that's actually not factual at all....and in fact leads to many of the accidents and deaths each year on iced over lakes and structures. Quote
Hawgstoppah Posted December 16, 2009 Author Posted December 16, 2009 I heard on the news that many people mistakenly think that minus 20 and 30 temperatures will freeze the ice quicker and deeper but that's actually not factual at all....and in fact leads to many of the accidents and deaths each year on iced over lakes and structures. yup, we had almost exactly the same weather just before last christmas... heavy snows covering the ponds with the same foot of snow that's on them now, insulating them from the bitter cold.. like last year, they have NOT formed good strong ice!! Quite the opposite, actually... the remaining warmth in the water along with the insulation of the foot of snow on top of the ice, has actually weakened the ice. Quote
Bigtoad Posted December 16, 2009 Posted December 16, 2009 A couple of years ago I was out at Gull Lake and there was a foot and a half of ice, easy. We were driving all over it and it was all good. A week later, a buddy and I are out at Strubel lake near Rocky. It's a MUCH smaller lake so we thought it should be even thicker than Gull. We get there and there were lots of vehicles on so we drove to our favorite spot and I punched the first hole. I barely started augering and I was through. I looked and we were probably on 8-10 inches of ice! Needless to say, I very carefully got into the truck and with the door open, drove SLOWLY to the edge. I believe that there are some springs feeding that lake which make it especially dangerous for thin ice. My point being, don't just assume that if the ice is good on one lake/area of a lake, that it will be good somewhere else. Cheers. Quote
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