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I'd guess a few of you guys have your own commercial ice maker at home.

Thinking it might make sense, be a bit more convenient then buying ice every weekend.

They are pretty pricey just looking at local retailers 120lb about $1500.

Any thoughts?

Don't buy cheap or used. Ask me how I know?

Exactly whay Mikey said...."don't go cheap"

Kinda like buying a used outboard or a used computer.... there are success stories out there.. but not many.

Best brands IMO are Manitowoc or Hoshizaki.

If you can't do your own work, as little as 2 service calls will pay for a new machine.

I replaced a water pump on a Hoshi last week and MY cost for the part was over $300...

Since I work on them... I don't follow my own advise and I have a Scotsman.... I change out Bin Eyes (sensors that sense harvest and full bin) every 6 months. But I can usually find parts on ebay at 10cents on the dollar if I'm patient enough.

A great convienance at times but not cost savings unless you use the crap out of it.

Ray

Well, I buy cheap AND used....the Whirlpool type under-the-counter kind make 50# a day and hold about 35 in the bin. New cost in the 1,000-1200 range and used a couple hundred. They are pretty simple - parts are available online - and work great....make the little square cubes by gravity- sliding a slab of ice out onto a heated wire grid and they melt thru into the un-refrigerated bin. Most towns have some old retired refrigeration guy who buys them and fixes them up, sells them for 300 or so. I have 3 and love 'em vs. the expensive commercial ones, cause they all gonna break sooner or later and I can fix the Whirlpool types. Common brand names for them are Whirlpool, Kitchenaid, Kenmore, Ice King....

And you can buy thousands of 10# plastic ice bags at commercial supply outfits for short money....I bought 5,000 bags for $50 about 30 years ago and still have half of them.....fill 'em up, tie 'em off and toss 'em in the freezer and you got your own ice department. A $10 in-line charcoal water filter is a great addition to take the tate out of the water going to the machine, and helps cut down on the scale on the freezer plate, thus increasing the cleaning interval.

And the little cubes clink very nicely in a clear drink.

UV

If you get one, use good filters on the incomming water supply. Calcium and minerals are hell on commercial ice makers.

Babylon fishing station sells totes of ice, probably around 100# for ten bucks.

I have a Kitchen Aid under counter - makes #50 lbs a day - If I need a bunch just take some out and freeze it in a bag.

As others have said - filter the incoming water - probably the best addition to our house (it was the one thing I insisted on when we redid the kitchen) - specially during the summer.

Ed Curry wrote:Babylon fishing station sells totes of ice, probably around 100# for ten bucks.

That would be convenient but the boats now on the carlls river.

I've got a Hoshizaki. Really love it. 400 lbs or so a day. Got it at cost new from a friend. Was still over $2k I think. Tip, find the ice cube shape/ size you want then by a quality machine that fits the ice profile. I have friends that bought great machines but hate the cut of ice. Mine stays outside under the camp yea round, nno probes yet.

I also bought used once. Never did install that bastard

Peter

An expensive way to make ice for what you will probably need. I agree with Uncle Vic but 35 lbs is a little light but if you don't fish everyday, and you empty it and put the ice in a chest freeaer and store it you are golden.

Now the other choice is to just save containers, get a chest freezer and freeze small blocks. Hell of a lot cheaper.

I keep bugging my cousin who does a ton of commercial work to find me a used one from a restraunt but he has not come through for me yet.

I just got a used Manitowoc 450lb head unit with matching bin. Bought it from buddy who is heating and air guy. 1000 dollars. He will handle the repairs when needed. New they are really expensive. Having ice is so convenient. It is probably more than I need but what the heck, why not.

My sis & bro in law who have the house in the keys bought a second hand side by side frig/freezer and gutted the freezer side....found a tall plastic trash can that would fit under the ice maker and it dumps in the trash can. My guess is it will hold 50# or so of zero degree ice. Works for them, and he keeps a couple of cases of beer in the frig side.

Around here you can buy a working second hand chest freeaer for 50 bucks and store a heck of a lot of ice...and zero degree ice from a freezer lasts a lot longer than meling ice....and gallon water jugs make great block ice.

UV

I agree with you on that Vic! We bought a 7 cubic foot freezer to put next to it. We are getting the ice bags so we can bag a few and put them in the freezer. Not cost effective for me to run this machine all the time.

The fridge ice maker into a trash can is a pretty good idea.

Great idea Vic. I've got an extra frig/freezer in the basement with an ice maker that is not hooked up.

Its currently stocked with enough frozen goods to last through a nuclear war, I will pick up a coffin style freezer for household items and set up the freezer as a big ice maker. It may take the entire week to produce enough ice but I'm a weekend warrior anyway.

It's an over under fridg so I'll have to find the right size bin and a few hundred bucks on the new freezer.

Now that is easy!

I just bought a freezer. I'm making ice in containers, buckets, etc for block ice. I suppose if I ever get to the point that it's full of fish, lobster and chum I'll have to make ice elsewhere. But for now it's cheap ice and if the power goes out (which it does frequently in the Bahamas) the blocks of ice will keep the freezer cool.

I've seen the Manitowok's at friends houses, they are nice.

I like Vic's idea with the small used simple cheap ones. I may start looking for one of those.

while we are on the topic of freezing...anyone have a preference on Food Saver machines?

Peter,
We picked up the chest freezer for about 180ish at Home Depot. They cost almost nothing to run as compared to the ice maker. I do need to get a filter for the Manitowoc though. Going to pick up our ice bags today and start bagging! Might look into some small pails/buckets for block ice in chest freezer as well.

I picked up the chest freezer last year and I keep about 200# of block ice frozen in 4 and 5 gal pails. One block will keep a 128qt cooler chilled for the weekend but more importantly it keeps the cube ice from melting too fast. I also converted Charlies Bonar Box into a four keg kegerator so I need a constant supply of block ice. The next project will be adding an icemaker from a standard fridge to the freezer. When it comes to fishing we still hit the fuel dock for totes and shaved ice.

Charlies Bonar Box into a four keg kegerator
i wondered what happened to that box?

It was a lot easier for me to fill it with beer than to fill it with fish.

Before making block ice blocks, Make sure your blocks fit in to you fish box. I use some tuberware boxes that fit inside of my fish box for blocks. Blocks on bottom and dump ice on fish. Wastes less ice with blocks on bottom.

Steve,
I don't use a food saver any more. I switched to using mylar pouches with the commercial sealing machine and throw an oxegen absorber in when I vacuum and seal.

The LDS folks use these and are the best for sealing oxegen out. A couple of weeks ago for the 4th party here at the house I thawed some 2 year old vension chuck for burgers and everybody raved at the taste. When I told them the freeze date they were astounded.

Bruce,

I guess my and Steve's invitations got lost in the mail......

My mother in law and sister in law were here.

I'd never do that to my friends.

I second RAWicklund on scotmans , the suck. At least in my profisional or not so profisional opinion, depending on who you ask of course. Funny, thats what i have right now too, and its broke

Pete, your best buy is to find someone you know close who has a machine and borrow their ice...speaking of,

Tom..Didnt know you had a machine haha

Matt, Its in lockdown mode unless you have the code. And the code is expensive.....Got any interest in a Thur- Sun trip this week on my pos?? Also, have you seen the new bote on your way out of the lake with the enclosed FB? Its got a College Station hailing port. Friggin aggies. Hope he takes me fishing one day.-T

Having a friend with a seafood business that has an ice room is best!! LOL! Nothing like shoveling your coolers full out of a pile of ice.

rawleigh the 510 bertram has this "million" dollar salt water ice maker that feeds chipped ice into a 11/2" pipe directly into the fish box.makes about 500lbs a day. great for keeping bluefin cool but taste horrible in a drink!!!
i shovel it into my fishbox, they say it is 5 degrees colder then fresh water ice ,not really sure.

Ed Curry wrote:The next project will be adding an icemaker from a standard fridge to the freezer. When it comes to fishing we still hit the fuel dock for totes and shaved ice.

Ed not sure that is an easy task. There was a huge post on The Hull Truth from a guy that one in a ice chest. He said it was a bear finding a spot. Hit the coils first time out.

Never said how it worked out for him.

Taken from a sea ice maker web site. Actualy sounds pretty simple to make one with a refrigeration plate submerged in sea water. The semi complicated thing would be the rotating harvester.

http://www.seaice.co.uk/id10.html

The Sea Ice concept is similar to the natural formation of Sea Ice at the North and South poles, where ice forms underwater on the underside of ice floes.

In the Sea Ice design the ice forms under water on a refrigerated surface and is harvested by a rotating blade. The harvested ice is guided up above the water level where it is ejected for use. Like the polar ice it is in the form of very fine crystals of pure ice.

The Sea Ice design is so simple that it does not even have seals for refrigerant or water yet can be opened up in minutes for inspection.

The ice is ejected from the machine in a soft form which is approximately 70% frozen and 30% concentrated brine. The brine drains away leaving behind dry pure ice with a temperature of 0 degrees C. The ice is very dense and has intense cooling properties. Unlike other forms of sea water ice where the salt is frozen in, it will not damage fish. Reports indicate that this is a superior ice for seafood.

Tom
being the ice machine bad ass i am, i could probably figure it out haha

Man thanks for the invite, but as busy as i am i wont be doing much fishing for a while, spet maybe on the weekends.
Yes i saw that thing, I think they just bought that house and have been doing a bunch work to it. like you said damn aggies. I mean do you know how long it would take to drive that boat to college station! much less find a water way or ditch deep enough haha

Y'all quit talking bad about dem aggies....without them, who we sell all dem old cars to?

UV