The Zamboni juggles several functions with aplomb: it scrapes, washes, filters, and vacuums the ice, shifting water from tank to tank, then uses heat to create a slight melt that’s squeegeed flat as glass. The machine responsible for this elaborate choreography was patented by Frank Zamboni in 1947 – and it was an invention born of necessity. Frank and his brothers had built an ice rink in Paramount, California, christened Iceland, but resurfacing it took several people more than 90 minutes. His new machine could finish the task in 15 minutes. Zamboni never intended to produce more than one machine, but orders piled up, and soon he was in business. This 1990 Zamboni 500 is listed for sale here on facebook Marketplace by the Shawano Hockey League (they have a new machine!). The price is $10,999, a discount from the previous ask of $14,999. Drive it home (ha ha) from Appleton, Wisconsin. Thanks for the tip, Lothar… of the Hill People! We appreciate you.
At first, Zamboni garnished a Jeep with his various ice-surfacing gadgets – augers, blades, tanks. Increasing orders from outsiders provoked a more sophisticated approach, so by the mid 1960s, Zamboni was building custom chassis and powering his machines with VW engines altered to use propane. Shawano’s 500 has a 63 hp four-cylinder propane-powered engine, with a single tank. Other specs include a hydrostatic transmission, four-wheel drive, and hydraulically-controlled augers. Loaded with water and ice shavings in the tanks, this beast weighs about 9000 lbs. That pond better be frozen solid before you get out there!
The black mechanism contains the blade, conveyor, ice rinser, and “carpet” that work together to gloss up the ice. The seller will include an extra blade, carpet, and the operating manual. This Zamboni starts easily, runs well, and is ready to work.
The new owner might want to customize the paint job, or maybe use a wrap? I’d love to see a Zamboni with flames like an old-school hot rod. Price-wise, now that the hockey league has dished up a discount, this 500 is about on target. Research shows that if you stalk auctions, you might be able to do better, but there’s value in having the prior owner available for questions, if even to teach you how to use the thing!
Wow!!! Michelle, I saw this on Fast Finds and was hoping it would get written up. My Dad worked at an Ice Rink back in the 50’s. I remember him saying he drove an early Zamboni made out of an early Jeep. It’s quite a skill running one of these. As Michelle already written, there’s a lot going on there in the process of running one of these. Thank you so much for writing this one up and your research. The image I posted is of one that was probably similar to the one my Dad drove. Zambonis are impressive machines when you realize all thats going on. This is great Michelle!!! Thank you.
Coolest Zamboni pic right there Dave 👍
Thanks Stan!!! Kind of neat my Dad actually got to drive one.
Driveinstile that’s about the coolest picture of a Jeep or a Zamboni yet. I guess if classic Jeeps can plow farm fields, I shouldn’t be surprised to see they can resurface ice rinks.
That guy looks like a real back seat driver.
Maybe someone smarter than me can tell me if the Jeep in the picture utilizes a rear-PTO in this Zamboni set-up.
Thanks Lothar. Its too bad my Dad didn’t have a picture of the one he ran. He really didn’t think much of it at the time. I’m wondering what they did for the clutch, brake,and throttle pedals? I’d love to see one today in person just to try to figure out how the whole thing worked.
I see the site opened up the “Michelle Files”,,,don’t stop now! A Zamboni,,,never thought I’d see that here. As a kid, ice skating was THE thing to do. In Milwaukee, we didn’t have very many indoor rinks, maybe 1 or 2, but we had dozens of city parks, and everyone had a lagoon or pond. It should come as no surprise, I was the ice skating champion. We’d have tag, and I never got caught. I remember walking for blocks on the sidewalk, IN MY SKATES, the blades couldn’t cut butter, but never a Zamboni. Sometimes the fire dept. would flood the rinks. Usually a FC Jeep with a broom on front, rough ice was rough ice. We did have an indoor rink on the sout’ side, for hockey and “open skating”, and was always a treat. It wasn’t 10 below, the ice was smooth as glass, and a great, clean cut place for a date. I always thought the Zamboni job looked a bit boring. NEXT!!!
Ha, no secret files, I just got back from a business trip and couldn’t sleep at 10 pm! So out came the computer and off it rolled these articles….
I learned to skate at Lloyd Center ice rink and kept at it on and off for years. Watching the Zamboni was mesmerizing. Some guys could run that thing ’round the rink in no time flat.
Yes, I would truly be surprised, if you weren’t the ice skating champion!!!
🎶🎸 “I wanna drive the Zamboni! I wanna drive the Zam-bo-neee!” 🎸🎶
Damn it RoadDog you beat me to it! Most if the ones I saw in the ’80s and early ’90s had Goodyear F32 snow and Ice tires. (The same ones I used for ice racing and they could never catch me! And I was usually faster than the studed (Pansy) class. When Goodyear stopped making that tire it was a sad day. They were even approved for police pursuit useage!
Catchy tune. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkJbvv3pHg
My daughter (many years ago) was a nationally ranked figure skater. And at the same time my son was on a hockey team. On weekends my wife might be in Salt Lake City with my daughter and I might be in Fairfield CA with my son. This happened once or twice every month. Believe me, my kids knew every word of that song!
Great, now i have a reason to buy a rink.
Hey, isn’t this the same name of the current mayor of NYC?
Always kind of fascinating to watch these machines work. It’s easy to see how its popularity can increase with the number of ice arenas there are. However, in our small community (pop 900) we had a sizeable quonset with a gravel floor. The walls were put up to form the rink and we flooded it in November when it was (hopefully) cold enough to freeze. Our “Zamboni” was a bunch of us on skates pushing snow shovels which coaxed the ice chips to one corner where the mound was shovelled to an increasing pile, and shovelled out the door.
After each night the fire hose was brought out and water was liberally applied to the ice; then the hot bucket and brush came out which was pulled around the rink, to put the glaze on the ice. About 8 feet per round.
As long as Mother Nature was in a decent mood all was well. But, in the Chinook Belt, there were years when the frost never entered the ground.
Rain and 60 degrees on Christmas Day, 1960. My anniversary is January 22. On our wedding day it was sunny, and 62. Compare that when we had -15F on Halloween, or a couple of years ago when the coldest day of winter (-23F) was the first day of spring.
Christmas Eve, 1982 (or was it 1983?), record cold temperature at Sweetgrass, MT, of -51F. And they talk about Global Warming? Compare that to the ex-wife’s side of the bed.
Then take New Year’s Day, right after, with +48F. A couple of fellow scooter tramps took their bikes for a ride.
Needless to say, in the Chinook Belt, an ice machine is practically standard equipment. And, as of late, so is a Zamboni.
geo, I remember in some small town rinks 🏒 it was an attachment on the rear of a tractor that did it all. It was connected to a 3 pt. hitch.
I remember taking my oldest boy to hockey games in smaller communities. There were a couple of 3-point hitch apparatus. Did a good job…
Attendees are always mesmerized watching these at work.
Thanks for the Zamboni origin story. I had no idea it was a US thing. From the name, I had assumed it was Italian. Ice skating is international, after all
In the late 1980s to early 1990s in Madison, my daughter was a figure skater in Madison, often skating at the Hartmeyer Ice Arena. One evening, I approached the Zamboni driver to ask about his machine. I was well versed in VW engines and the fact that they VW made special versions for industrial use.
The engine in that Zamboni was a later VW water cooled version, but the driver told me that their previous model had an early 36 HP air cooled engine. They kept it until they could no longer get a mechanic from Brun’s VW to come over to service it.
After watching my beloved Boston Bruins get eliminated in the first round, it is only fitting to see a Zamboni article here at BF.
I think it is cool that some rinks offer Zamboni rides.
The mention of Paramount Iceland had me clicking that link and surprised to see it still in full operation. Here is a pick of that first Zamboni that was in the “Our Facility” section.
jeesh, 40 yr hockey player here’n I thought it was mid game entertainment while we tooka break??? Didnt clowns run em every place you played?
Thats what we paid ice time for? yeah~
Them’n refs
!‽?
I used to skate once in a while at the Mayfair Mall Ice Skating Rink in Wauwatosa Wisconsin.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10223710887942239&set=gm.1389728661436074&idorvanity=333827440359540
If I was at the mall and not skating, it was fun to watch the other skaters and the Zamboni machine.
Michelle, thanks for picking up the tip I sent and writing this informative article. We appreciate you, too.
It’s funny to think how important malls were for shopping and social interaction, and now there are mostly extinct.
If malls are interesting to you, catch Dan Bell’s Dead Mall series on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNz4Un92pGNxQ9vNgmnCx7dwchPJGJ3IQ
PRA4SNW thanks very much! I clicked on one video and one of the first things I saw was Max Headroom. I think I’ll like this series!
There’s a “dead mall”, or perhaps I should say repurposed mall, in Oshkosh Wisconsin and if this Dan Bell guy wants to do a video there, he may want to do so in the next few months as the City of Oshkosh may buy it then raze it. I have fond memories of blowing through a lot of quarters at Aladdin’s Castle, back in the day. Maybe I’ll send Dan a message.
Peace and keep on praying for snow.
Lothar: My pleasure! My daughter introduced me to the Dead Mall series. She only got to experience malls towards the end of their existence, and she was so interested in them.
Watching these is so creepy, and sad. I’m not sure what distance Dan travels to visit malls. Most of them seem concentrated in the mid-Atlantic region. We had one that was dying in Concord, NH and was hoping he was going to visit. My daughter brought me back a candy bar from a vending machine in that mall and it was 3 years expired.
LOL! I stopped praying for snow many years ago when I unofficially retired from skiing. But, I’ve been using that handle for so long, it’s kind of stuck around.