Estonian man makes an ice carousel

A man in Estonia spends hours cutting a circle in the bay ice, inserts a boat motor into a hole to make the circle spin. (55-second Youtube video from Sputnik)

Folks on reddit are baffled.

• It would keep rotating for sometime after the motor is stopped I presume. More importantly why the **** would you want to sit on a rotating piece of ice? —u/Jaydeep0712
• The single most pointless thing I’ve ever seen —u/Punxsutawney_Phil69

And so on.

I absolutely love that someone would do this. Especially since this man is Estonian. I am half-Estonian, so this brings me much pleasure that an Estonian would do something so goofy as this.

I love how deadpan serious Laanemaa Ants Ale is in the interview. Totally reminds me of my grandparents from Estonia.

The local newspaper Lääne Elu reported on Laanemaa Ants Ale’s creation in Haeska, Estonia:

In addition to scooter trips, Tuuling Tourist Farm Haeskas is also a unique ice carousel for nature lovers.

On Saturday, Tuulingu’s owner Ants Ale picked up a 12-meter-diameter ice disc from 25-30 cm thick bay ice and drove it around a Honda boat engine.

The owner hopes that on the weekend, when more people are moving, Tuulingu Farm will be found not only by snowmobile enthusiasts but also by ice carousel enthusiasts.

(This is the Google Translate version from Estonian to English)

Positive comments on reddit:

• Thanks for the info! I’ll add Estonians to my list of ‘entire countries I optimistically believe I’ll get along with.’ —u/ImpossibleCanadian
• As an Estonian, I can confirm that would be fun for me. —u/BeetlesUpUrBumhoe
• Nice to see my home country Estonia represented so accurately, solitude is where it’s at —u/bihwhyumad

This is has been done before

A spinning ice carousels has been made before—by nature! Wikipedia’s article on the Old Vigala ice wheel:

Vana-Vigala ice wheel is a natural phenomenon ( ice wheel ) on the Vigala river in the village of Vana-Vigala near Hiieoru [Estonia], which occurs in winter when the river starts to freeze. With the onset of cold, the ice sheet reaches the shape of a large rotating disk.

The wheel is formed naturally, without human intervention, because the flow of water revolves around the surface of the river. Wheel size, strength and speed depend on weather conditions. There have been years when a person could stand on a spinning wheel. The wheel rotates slowly, one turn takes 7-13 minutes; the diameter of the wheel is about 20-24 meters . It may take several days for the wheel to rotate before it freezes completely.

It was first seen in 2004. And for the second time in 2009. Again in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Estonia. The country that brings you fun things like ice carousels.