Zamboni's new competitor: Icecat

[LadyStanley]

http://thefarmclub.net/2013/10/25/zambonis-days-numbered/

“Our tagline is ‘built like a sports car, shaves like a razor’ because of it’s premium features and aerodynamic design†said Tyler Moncreiff, Sales and Brand manager for Icecat North America. The Icecat is the product of UKKO a manufacturing company based in Finland. Moncreiff says that the move to sell in North America was to gain prominence in the biggest ice resurfacer market in the world.

So what makes the Icecat so innovative that it’s going to take on an international icon like Zamboni? It’s electric. Yes, you have your hybrid and electric cell fueled cars, and now electric resurfacers may be the new standard for rinks everywhere. Why do people buy Prius’ and Volt’s? To save money on gas, among other reasons. Does a Zamboni actually cost that much in fuel consumption? Surprisingly that answer is yes.

Zambonis sell for about $200k; Icecats for about $140k.

So, including fuel savings, it's being looked around the globe.

But with a "if it ain't broke, why fix it" attitude, it's slow going, saleswise.

Click to read more...

 

[tsanuri]

http://thefarmclub.net/2013/10/25/zambonis-days-numbered/



Zambonis sell for about $200k; Icecats for about $140k.

So, including fuel savings, it's being looked around the globe.

But with a "if it ain't broke, why fix it" attitude, it's slow going, saleswise.

Considering that Zamboni has been building electric ones for over 50 years there is no fuel savings.
http://www.zamboni.com/press/zamboni-celebrates-50-years-of-emission-free-electric-vehicles/
They just happen to offer both electric and non electric models.
It is a total fluff piece that has IceCat PR written all over it.

 

[epo]

U of Manitoba got one ~5 years ago. I don't know if they still have it, but I heard it sucked.

 

[scotchex]

Considering that Zamboni has been building electric ones for over 50 years there is no fuel savings.
http://www.zamboni.com/press/zamboni-celebrates-50-years-of-emission-free-electric-vehicles/
They just happen to offer both electric and non electric models.
It is a total fluff piece that has IceCat PR written all over it.

Once you have any experience in PR, you realize almost everything in the media was put there by some PR guy. Probably written by him, too.

 

[MarkGio]

Aren't teams moving towards the pretty girls with shovels as a cheap alternative

But seriously, 60K difference in price tag is a lot. I bet we'll be hearing more from the ice cat in the future.

 

[krudmonk]

yeah, bust that monopoly and make the sport more affordable for people

 

[Mungman]

yeah, bust that monopoly and make the sport more affordable for people

There's no monopoly on ice resurfacers, this is a third option. The other is Olympia http://www.resurfice.com/. (Also available in tethered electric and battery powered)

 

[thedonger]

is there any downside to electric powered resurfacer options? obviously cost isn't an issue. i guess this is to combat the whole "negative effects of gas powered zamboni exhaust in ice rinks" issue. i think there was some espn special on it a while back.

found the link to a discussion about this on the main forum:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=631216

 

[Mungman]

is there any downside to electric powered resurfacer options? obviously cost isn't an issue. i guess this is to combat the whole "negative effects of gas powered zamboni exhaust in ice rinks" issue. i think there was some espn special on it a while back.

found the link to a discussion about this on the main forum:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=631216

IMO the main issue would be in a larger facility you may need more surfacers, if you had a 4 pad rink you couldn't get away with one unit (I think two would be sketchy too). The unit would be out on the ice all the time cleaning, no time to recharge the batteries. With a propane/gas/CNG unit it takes next to no time to refill/change tanks, battery units would take forever in comparison.

The tethered units Olympia has are an interesting concept, providing you can power them somehow between ice pads. No batteries, no emissions in the rink, no downtime for recharging....

 

[epo]

IMO the main issue would be in a larger facility you may need more surfacers, if you had a 4 pad rink you couldn't get away with one unit (I think two would be sketchy too). The unit would be out on the ice all the time cleaning, no time to recharge the batteries. With a propane/gas/CNG unit it takes next to no time to refill/change tanks, battery units would take forever in comparison.

The tethered units Olympia has are an interesting concept, providing you can power them somehow between ice pads. No batteries, no emissions in the rink, no downtime for recharging....

I'd be surprised if any 4 rink arena only runs one machine. If everything runs on schedule, all ice times are 1 hour, and nothing goes wrong you could just get by with one. I believe a battery Olympian only needs to be charged at night in a twin arena..

 

[tarheelhockey]

Once you have any experience in PR, you realize almost everything in the media was put there by some PR guy. Probably written by him, too.

Probably not written directly by the PR guy.

I used to run a blog that got a bit of traffic (occasional Puck Daddy links, etc) and before long I started getting approached by equipment manufacturers asking if I'd like to profile their new lines. As an amateur who is just writing for fun, that's a pretty neat thing to experience. I ended up doing interviews around the new-at-the-time Blackstone V skate system, Easton sticks, and got a bunch of swag from Versus including posters and t-shirts. It's a microscopic investment by the company and potentially gets them a good bit of positive exposure from a non-corporate media source.

I'm guessing that this Farm Club writer had a similar experience with IceCat.

 

[Kebekoi]

Montreal have two since a while.