I wanted to start a thread on ice harvesting in the north Country..

Nice article Rowerwet

 

Very interesting!

My only experience with ice harvesting comes from the beginning of the movie “Frozen”....probably not a very popular film for those that don’t have young kids..


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My Norwegian grandfather owned a fishing boat when I was little. It had an ice box in the galley which considering the fish hold was full of ice at the same time, made sense. Solid oak. Today the boats have huge generators and electric everything.

 

There was an old ice house building on the shore of the lake in Wakefield Ma where I lived that was finally torn down within the past 15 or so years. It had been converted into a bath house, but the lake hasn't been swimmable for decades.

 

Same thing here on a pond behind my place, close to the railroad was key. They called it the ice house pond, it was part of a much larger pond.

 

I'd love to see the local pics fishingpol !

 

Good thread NH mountain man

 

Should have come to Maine this weekend, Bowlin camps in the NMW harvests every winter to use in the camps the rest of the year. Wife said one of the people she works with and her husband are going this year. She said they were doing it today to avoid whats coming tomorrow. Have to go by sled to get in there and it's a decent ride, or a plane on skis.

 

The Amish here cut ice every winter and they have a winter ice castle event around Valentine's Day . Volunteers for building the castle have dwindled off over the years to so few that they resort to prisoners from a low security prison here for help.

 

Here are some local pics from our local library website. I want to give credit to them for their online digital collection, which is quite extensive.

I found another pond in town that was used for harvest. It seemed to be quite the operation around the turn of the century with several operations in business. There were a few pics of sleds with small engines that had what looked like a drag saw lowered into the ice. I can't imagine the weight these house had stored in them. The last pic looks like elm trees on the left. Straight up and branching out. I'm learning a little more local history with this thread.

 

This morning's harvest...out of my spear hole in the darkhouse.




Ice tongs from days gone by and newer ice saw made in Winger MN.

I use an auger to make 11 holes then cut around with the saw, and then in half. The ice is getting too thick now for pushing under the ice.

 

Saranac lake, NY has a winter festival each winter. They harvest lake ice and build a castle out of it, then light it up

 

fishingpol do you know which pond that is? I was thinking Plugs pond, Round, or maybe Johnson's. It hard to tell with the scenery so different today.

 

Top 3 are Round pond. Bottom is Chadwicks. I could not tell by the landscape either without any prominent landmarks.

They would be running full tilt this week for sure.

 

Thanks Jon!

 

I saw this commercial icebox at a house salvage store today. It is pretty big. The tin pan on the insise bottom was rusted away. It is sold and I wonder where it is going. The hardware was all excellent quality. These were made sometime around the 1890''s I believe.




What they look like all cleaned up.