I live near a old gravel pit It's now a small lake and is frozen..Anyone know how thick the ice should be before it's safe to drive on ???..

 

I think you want about 6 inches or more for a sled or atv.

 

I think for snowmobiles, they like it to be 6 inches. We rode on my grandpas pond a few weekends in a row and i used a chainsaw and cut an ice cube out. it was 6inches. we had about 5 quads out there. and they were even parked in the middle together which is about 10ft deep and no probs. Just be careful. My one lil cousin was ridin our 250 bayou and it fell through. Luckily he was in the shallow end of the pond which was about a foot deep. If you get near cat tails the ice isnt as thick. I guess the plants give off a little bit of warmth and it isnt as think as the rest of the pond, just be careful around plants or places that have runnin water goin into the body of water. I would use a chainsaw and do ice thickness checks in about 3 or 4 places just to be sure. Plus its cool to have a really big icecube! haha

 

Heres a good guide from the MN DNR,
here
Looks like 5 inches of clear ice is enough, and I know from experience, ive been on much thinner.

 

Four inches is enough. The problem with that number is it may be 4" where you checked, but only 3" 20 feet away. That is why they say 6" is what you should look for. It reduces the chance that there will be a thinner spot near by.

A pond isn't usually a problem. But watch out for natural springs or inlets and outlets. The ice will be MUCH thinner in those areas.

 

i have ridden on 4-5 inches early in the morning.. when it was really cold ..but i wouldnt wanna ride in less than 6 later in day unless its really really cold. my worst nightmare is falling through ice in deep water and not being abel to climb out........the thought freaks me out

 

I usually wait until I am pretty sure there is 6-8 inches of ice based on holes I drill. The deal with an ATV is that it doesn't float whereas a snowmobile will at least skip across if it breaks through and you keep the speed up. Would certainly suck to go through. Unfortunately it seems that frozen lakes will be about the only place to ride ATV's with the wacked out laws being passed everywhere.

 

Send the biggest person the the heaviest quad across 1st. If they make it it's safe.