Picture

This is a factory photo.

My tractor is identical. The refrigerator would mount to the "carryall" arms that plug into the fast hitch. I will also need to mount an ice crusher with PTO or electric power.

The tractor will also need a good sanitary system. That would include a 200 gal SS water tank. A heat exchanger for hot water. An electric booster to get temps above 180 degrees. And lastly a high pressure water pump and wand for keeping things clean.

I would like to do something different. I want to make a premium product and sell it at locations where the crowd is interested in the process and gets to enjoy the result. The portion selling price is likely to be between $3.00 and $4.00 for a pint. That is equivalent to Ben and Jerry's product. If I can sell 200 pints a day, I should be making it worth my while.

I have everything but the White Mountain freezers. OK, I don't have the refrigerator but I could pick up at least three by next week and they would all be free and running. New 6 quart White Mountain freezers will cost about $200 each and can be liquidated easily on eBay. I will have the option of making my own ice or buying it. I will probably start out by buying it for around $0.07 s pound delivered.

I would like to arrange the distribution via a self serve ice cream bar with all the fixens. That would require an additional capital outlay.

Punch the link below for others in the same business. I think the local boards of health would shut some of these guys down if they knew about their operations.

• Old fashioned ice cream.

No they will not work on any position than they were designed for. The compressor, evaporator and condenser are all designed to work in a certian position with-in 15º of design level.

You can guy commerical freezer boxs then add on the needed refrigerating equipment using one compressor (Copeland) and many evaporators for each department. Look for commerical refer equipment for a good choice. This may not be as expensive as you think. Used is eqipment is easy to find.

I made a ton of money off of ice machines as there very high maintance. You will be better of getting a commerical ice account and buying your ice wholesale. A typical 200# to 500#/day ice machine will cost approx. $800yr in maintance from someone who knows what there doing. Finding the right person for maintance is the hardest part.

T_Bone

That's the kind of answer I was looking for. I figured the compressor would be a problem but wasn't sure about the condenser or evaporator.

My biggest roadblock will be how to size the components. I'll have a good idea on the number of cubic feet I'll need but I won't know if the corresponding evaporator will be adequate. I assume the compressor will be an engineered package with the right condenser but I won't know how to figure the tonnage or HP. If I am not mistaken, one can err on both too much or too little.

As far as the ice machine, I was thinking about a block ice maker that chills propylene glycol in a tub. Suspended in the tub are SS or plastic molds filled with water. The molds are emptied and filled by hand every 12 hours. What can go wrong with that?

You might check with your local county/city health dept as they won't allow the use of household refers/freezers to be used in commerical applications. The commerical appliance must have a NSF stamp to be approved. I would think a trailer dedicated to food prep would be the cheapest way to comply with the county health codes.

I've only messed with one PG refrigeration system in the field. I remember it was extreamly slow in thermal transflow. I was pretty shocked as on paper PG looked pretty good as a transfer medium. I didn't take the time to figure out if it was a design problem or just a good idea that didn't work.

In any event, stay away from radial compressors as they just won't hold up in the field. Piston compressors are the best. You might find a local refer man that might have some design software or can size the componets for you.

T_Bone

I don't want to hide everything in a concession trailer. If it comes to that, I'm out. I want something so unusual that people and organizations will invite me to their events. In some cases, they would pay me rent or pre-purchase all the ice cream and supplies at retail. This would be a reversal from my experiences 30-40 years ago. I usually had to pay a commission or rent space. I see large company summer picnics as one such venue.

I have no interest in soft serve or the $25,000 SS batch ice cream makers seen in boutiques. In the first instance, the product tastes awful. In the second, all you get to see is a machine that appears to be defecating into a tub every ten minutes.

Every town in Massachusetts has its own Board of Health and compliance levels. I think at this point, I wlll try to put this machine together with materials on hand or hardware that can be easily resold. As for the storage freezer, I will probably use one of the old style deep freezes such as were made by IH. I know where there are two of them but they are 1000 miles from here.

I'm not trying to be negitive on your idea as I think it sounds like good idea but just trying to bring up those peskey rules I ran into while working.

I personaly would visit my county health honcho and sit and have a talk with him/her and just see what they want you too comply with. Here it's county health as then city health will go along with what the county said if you pass there rules and get that county health tag. This will save you alot of headaches after the fact. I would also think CH would be more interested in product temperature than NSF rating but you just never know until you talk with them.

T_Bone

I still haven't selected the tractor I want to use. I could use one of my SMTAs for the "retro" look or my propane W400. The propane availability could run absorbtion type refrigeration. All three tractors have the ability to run the Electrall. Initially, I was thinking about running the White Mountain (salt/ice) ice cream freezers off a PTO powered line shaft. While it would look interesting, it would also be a safety issue in a public setting.

The handling of ice cream is tricky business. Salmonella and coliform bacteria are two of the health risks. I will most likely buy a premium pasteurized ice cream mix as I don't think I am capable of producing a consistently safe product. Moreover, I don't want to set up a facility for processing the limited amount of product I would sell.

Fortunately, I live in a densely populated part of the country. This gives me a large market to sell into as well as a greater selection of suppliers for hardware and perishable product. At this point, I am day dreaming and using the web to feed those dreams. I'll have to start getting serious this coming winter so as to be ready for next summer.