The NiceRink™ bracket design allows them to be installed easily year after year, when these directions are followed. Please read through the following instructions to better educate yourself and your helpers, on how the proper installation of the brackets is to be done.
Step #1:
Mark the four corners with stakes and run a string to outline your rink. Test your slope to determine how much water/ice will be at all portions of your rink. (4” minimum of water/ice is required)
Step #2:
Set out all of the brackets, one every four feet and two at each corner. One bracket will be in the center of each board and one will be shared at the end of each 2 boards. If you have a deep end of more than 16” of water/ice the brackets should be spaced at 2 ½’ intervals along the deep end and ¾” spikes driven through the provided support hole. You’ll notice on the design of the brackets that the "spikes” that go into the ground are angled backward. They are engineered to hold by countering the pressure of the water.
NOTE:
This angled spike design presents one key issue when installing the brackets. When the tips of the spikes are set into the ground, the bracket will travel backward approximately 2” when they are completely installed into the ground. You’ll want to start each bracket on the string line. By doing this your brackets will be lined up straight and in the right location to accommodate your measurements and boards you’ve already purchased. It will be easier to install the brackets into the ground with two people. One person to apply pressure or pound at the front of the bracket and one for the back portion of the bracket. By having two people applying pressure at the same time or alternating hits, the bracket will install into the ground much easier than trying to go back and forth yourself.
Step #3: 
Once you have your brackets all laid out and ready to install, start them into the ground and get them as far as possible with foot pressure. Make sure to apply the pressure to the center of the step plate.
DO NOT STEP ON THE CORNERS OF THE STEP PLATES, AS THIS MAY CAUSE DAMAGE TO YOUR BRACKETS!!!!!
Once you have gotten them started you’ll now be able to put one foot inside the bracket opening and one on the back step plate. Do this and rock back and forth (side to side) to loosen the ground and work the brackets in. If they did not go in all the way to the bottom, don’t be alarmed, the first 4” installs relatively easy, the last 2” is where your friend comes in. Now you can pound the stakes into the ground with a 2x2 stake and/or a piece of 2x4.
CAUTION: DO NOT POUND DIRECTLY ON THE BRACKET WITH ANY HAMMER (See Pictures B, C & D), THIS MAY CAUSE DAMAGE TO YOUR BRACKETS!!!!! 
Pound brackets so as to distribute the force of the hammer evenly over the step plates to avoid breaking them. For the back step plate, lay a 2x2 down across the step plate, (Right) and pound on top of the 2x2 in the general direction the bracket is going into the ground. (Do not try to get one side completely in and then the other. Work your way back and forth until completely installed.
Move to the front of the bracket, stand the 2x2 stake upright in the center of the step plate and aim in the direction the bracket is going into the ground as shown. (Picture F) Do not aim the stake to horizontal as shown (Picture G) as this may break the "U-channel" off. To avoid this problem all together you can use a scrap piece of ¾" board, inserted into the U-channel negating the opportunity to break that piece all together. When all of the brackets are installed into the ground, you can then proceed with the board installation.
The board holder portion U-channel of the bracket is purposely designed with an inward angle in front to keep the boards secure against the upright portion. This narrower top portion of the U-channel is actually thinner than the ¾" board you will be placing into the U-channel. When putting the boards into the U-channel, you'll have to slightly pry open the top or wedge the board in at the start so it will slide into the bracket properly.
After all the boards are in place, we recommend the following procedure to prevent the possibility of the front part of the U-channel from breaking off. This extra procedure will also make your sideboard system much sturdier. You can screw the sideboard to the bracket. This is done by drilling a small pilot hole into the bracket (two at a shared bracket point), approximately ¾" down from the top of the bracket at the base of the top flange. You should only drill through the bracket, not into the board, as the screws will self tap into the board by itself to secure the board to the bracket. This hole drilling will only have to be done once, as next year the holes will already be there.
Use a wood screw, Phillips head, 1 inch long. If you use screws longer than 1 inch, there is the possibility of going all the way through to the inside of the rink with the screw tip, which presents the obvious problem of puncturing your NiceRink liner.
Included with your brackets were four corner brackets that will help to keep your corners connected. They can be lined up and screwed into place through the provided screw holes.
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