Offlineok, we are going to buy a new one with an extra blade so questions for the ice guys.
1) ice king is still the best? or is the martin one any good?
2) battery or electric. i have electric but would love battery. i figure it would save 15 for my 4 sheets.
3) 5 foot or 6 foot blade. i have a 5 foot but i see there is a 6 foot, difference?
4) can i trad in the old one or would it be better for us to sell it? maybe donate to a real small club, lol. like we are big with our 60 members and 4 sheets.
any help from you all would be great.
nick
I have not seen the New Ice King yet. Used an Ice King at the Pheasant Classic to nip this year that was 3 years old and hated it. I have an Icemaster Boss and really like it. I have used the Thompson also and still bought the Boss.
I am not an ice tech but talke to ours all the time. I will not comment on brands but will say going to battery power was the way to go.
Hey Nick, i went with the rinkmaster ultra 2 and i think its great for my 4 sheet rink. the battery is never an issue(although i changed them after 5 seasons)and the blade mounts easily,it also matches the color of my Toro equipment at the golf course.i have a five foot blade and we sold our old scraper to the onaway curling rink for $500 or $600.hope this helps. Glenn
1.If you were going to buy epuipment for your golf course wouldn't you buy what the real pro's use. If yes then your choice should be Icemaster. I've never heard of a Martin scraper!
2. With a boss you get battery power that won't quit.
3. I've never heard of, or seen a 6 foot blade! They only use a 5 foot blade at the national events.
4. Guy at Icemaster will consider a trade and find a nice home for your old scraper.
I personally wouldn't buy anything but an Ice King. They've been in the business for 40 years and supply machines all over the world. It costs you nothing to give them a shout.
www.iceking.ca
(613) 283-2323
I just love my Icemaster. I prefer the IceKing blades though the Icemaster ones are slowly growing on me. I have both a Ice King super and an Icemaster. The Icemaster shaved an easy 1/2hr off my scrape or I am just getting quicker ;) I looked at the one that Thompson sells and it wasnt much cheaper than an Icemaster. Check your pricing out good before you buy, you might be surprised. The charger on the Icemaster is nice its a smart charger.
Listen to Cranky. He is right. Some say a genius...
I liked using the Ice King but now i use the zamboni alot faster and the ride is very nice no more walking.
I liked using the Ice King but now i use the zamboni alot faster and the ride is very nice no more walking.
Our new Ice Master was way faster than our old Ice King. Not sure if because it is new or the motor. (I am guessing motor) It was also much lighter.
Tested the Rinkmaster, and did not like the throttle on the handle. It was counterintuitive (tend to turn the handle towards you to reverse, but instead you go forward faster ...), but I am sure you would evenually adapt.
Also, the speeds in reverse and forward are different for the same throttle position (you turn the throttle up to speed up the reverse, but when flick the forward switch the machine takes off ...), once again I am sure you would adapt.
Lastly, the throttle on the handle is bad if you push down on the handle to lift the front end when manuevering around ... real hard to control.
I don't have an issue with the super from ice king but i wouldn't buy a blade from them! i'v had nothing but poor quality blades for over a year now and I'm not the only one! I'm currantly useing a local company for sharpening and new blades and they are awesome,stright as an arrow and the service is ever better,haven't had a blade this good since Fred sold King.........Pebble,Toronto
Thanks for the info.
I have to get everything ready for next month so i will phone around and see what is going on and how much. I do like Ice King but it is the only one i have ever used. A second blade is the key and the pres agrees. he is also my second,a golfing buddy and on my golf course board so a nice person to have backing me.
Jaxon19, what course are you at? are you a super? i am at grande cache golf club, love to get together for a beverage at the canadian turf confrence next season.
nick
Personally, i've had 5 blades from Ice King this season and they've all been flawless.
I had one or two last year that needed some touching up, but they appear to have worked out their blade problems this season.
I have an Ice King Super at my club, with the new Gel based batteries in it (Battery was upgraded last year). It's a solid dependable machine, and I have not been able to kill the batteries to date. I just did my last controlled melt of the season this past weekend, gave it 14 scrapes to get the ice back into shape, it was still running at full power with no recharge.
I used the new "Super 07" when I did the ice for a summerspiel last year, it is much lighter than the super, and travels much quicker. I prefer the old style throttle control, but got used to the new one fairly quickly. Both options are available when buying a new machine though. Either way the Super 07 is a quality machine with lots of power.
No matter what you choose, Battery is the way to go. I've never heard of a 6 foot blade, 5 foot is basically the standard. Ice King will accept trade-ins. If it was me buying one, i'd definatley go for an Ice King. They can be contacted at www.iceking.ca
Hey Duct, i don't know where your from? but here in Toronto and GTA it's crapp, I'll get a blade back (6 to 8 WEEKS)and i can't use it, they don't hone it,they don't check for straightness, like i said I'm useing a local company, i get it back in less than a week and they manufactur blades,they don't supply China crapp like ice king, they offer several levels of quality steel including stainless,don't believe me check them out for your self www.jtmachineknife.com
Mr. Pebble Head
If you wish to support a local machine shop for your blade sharpening, that is up to you, however, openly slamming me and my company on a chat forum is unacceptable. Yes we have had a few blades that were bad and we replaced them but to comment on our grinding procedure with out knowing anything about it, is also unacceptable. We grind our blades with in .0005" and check every blade against a master straight edge. Every blade is hand honed and then shipped. All of our blades come from Europe where they know quality, not like some companies in North America that think they know.
If you would like to discuss this more in person, please feel free to call me.
I don't hide behind a fake name, my name is Bill Wood and I own Ice King.
Mr Bill, sorry to say but the blades tell all
To stick up for Bill, the blades do in fact tell all. My blades have been absolutely excellent this year. If they hadn't been, I wouldn't be here sticking up for him.
I had the guy from JT Machine Knife call me a few months ago (I am also in the GTA), I asked him some basic questions about scraper blades that he was not able to answer (acceptable tolerance, what angle backgrind he puts on and what a relief grind is). His rates were cheaper, however switching was out of the question because I have recieved nothing but quality out of Ice King and this guy had no idea what he was talking about. Granted, in the months that have passed he may have learned more, but still...
As for Ice King's blade sharpening procedure, you have also displayed you know not of what you speak. If you pull a blade off the grinder without hand honing it will leave snow everywhere when you scrape with it.
Don't get me wrong, as I'm not intending this as an insult. But, before critisizing the blades, first check your ice. A perfect blade will cut poorly if your ice isn't flat (if it's been a long time since you had the opportunity to do a melt / relevelling flood, that's not to be unexpected even from a skilled icemaker). Go out around centre ice and scrape sideways across a sideline only for a foot or two. That's the best way to test your blade for straightness.
Hey Duct Tape...Dave Ellis. You are good friends with bill and do some work for him do you not?? if so Maybe just be quiet!
I am friends with Bill, yes. However I have never worked for him, or recieved any money from him. Closest thing to working together is we do the ice on a volunteer basis for a summerspiel. In turn they let us curl for free in the event. However it was me originally who enlisted Bill when we needed a scraper first year we did the event.
If I was not happy with Ice King's service this year, I would not be sticking up for Bill, but I wouldn't be on here slamming him either. I would just remain quiet. From my point of view there's been some very unfair comments made about him and his company, and i'm sticking up for him. I'm not on here knocking Icemaster or anything like that either, as they are also a quality company.
If the blades were garbage, as a couple posters have stated i'm certainly not going to recommend any icemaker use them as I don't want to see anyone wreck their ice. Furthermore, if the blades were garbage, i'd have stopped using them long ago too! I know how much time and effort it takes to prepare a good consistant playing surface and i'm not going to risk screwing that up so a friend can make a couple hundred bucks on sharpening some blades. Bottom line is, if my ice ends up bad, I could be out of a job next year as a result.
My blades this year as i've pointed out have been excellent. One of the most vocal anti-ice king blade guys on here (pebble head) has openly said he doesn't even use Ice King blades (he uses JT Machine Knife), but he still calls them crap! How would he know if he doesn't even get his blades done by Ice King anymore? That's the sort of unfair comment i'm talking about.
i think i've been fair, I pointed out last year I had a couple bad blades. That has not been the case this year. Furthermore I did get to try the new "super 07" last year, and thought it was a teriffic machine compared to the super I use every day at my club (which isn't a bad machine in itself). Therefore for someone looking into buying a new scraper, I know what my recomendation is.
f you disagree, fair enough. It's very possible to make great ice with an Icemaster as well. Really, it's like the Coke vs Pepsi debate of the curling world. Both are quality, but everyone has a preference. The guy who made this thread asked for opinions, and I gave him one. that's it!
oh oh someone struck a nerve,have not used ice king blades this year but most reports I have heard are all favourable.I must agree this may not be the place to slam a private company where people are trying to make a living
Duct tape, just call him Dave.
Pebble head, I have to agree with you as you speak the truth
Hey Nick, I'm the super at the Cardiff Golf Club near Morinville. It would be great to have a drink(or 2,3,4,5...) at the property managers conference or the CGSA conference although i don't make it to the CGSA unless its local like this years was.I know a couple other guys that do both jobs as well that you might like to meet if the chance comes around.Is this a crazy time of year for you or is there still too much snow on the course to do much?
geez, i get my sand/fertilizer from your neck of the woods from acevedo with target.
i am peeling the tarps up next week and putting natures gold on my greens, then tarps go back on for a couple weeks.
this week i have a 32 team speil, oilmens. so i am busy doing both.
i should be in red deer this fall. i am up for a new contract and in leu of a large raise i want paid trips to red deer and the canadian or western canadians each year.
how far is it from edmonton? we nead there the first weekend in may for horse racing.
on my course is mostly elk poop so that gets dragged in next week also.
opening day is around april 19 i hope. driving range april 9. when are you opening?
email me at nickleass81@hotmail.com love to know more.
wow, nice web site for your course. i love the part about poa and aeration. maybe the members will realize we aren't the enemy, lol.
nick
I dont think it much matters if its.........Black.......Orange ....or red ok maybe not red......but if it does what it is suppose to who cares......I have used them all.
Slide on.............
well well ,look who surfaced .have you been under a rock pal i miss your insight .
I was getting bored...............
Slide on......
J & T is charging $55/sharpen and $22/delivery each way.......$99/sharpening
Im on my first try with them which was a stubbie trade-in blade from Ice King( Good luck getting anything else these days. Bill did inherit alot of old blades).
So far so good.......shapest blade ever, had to hone one spot.......very usable.
NINETY NINE DOLLARS!!!!!
or show up with your blade and they'll do it within an hour for FIFTY FIVE DOLLARS!!!!!
Have used both The Boss and the Super, I'd buy "The Boss" no question
Hey Duct-Tape.....do you still have the Ice King Sponsors Logo on the back of your teams jackets?
Nope, I don't actually