Looking for suggestions on Ice Makers for the fish box.

[Fortunate One]

I've looked at the Eskimo Ice 600 machine.

Is this the typical unit for sportfishing machines our are there better choices?

The Eskimo Ice 600 uses 72 gallons of water to make 600/lbs of ice /day.

[CB&T]

I've looked at the Eskimo Ice 600 machine.

Is this the typical unit for sportfishing machines our are there better choices?

The Eskimo Ice 600 uses 72 gallons of water to make 600/lbs of ice /day.

Hey Fortunate one, Everyone I know that have these ice machines tell me they are very tempormental. They are always fixing them for some reason or the other. That is why I did not get one for my boat. Plus I can buy alot of ice for what they cost and to maintain. I just had all my boxes thermally insulated to hold ice for quite a long time. Plus i have a lay down freezer going down in the salon. The salt and constant motion put a hurting on the machines. Just some food for thought.

[Shortfin]

Make sure if you go eskimo that you speak to there engineering dept and get there approval of the plans .specs and details ,had to deal with one put in the 45 Vik after the fact and costly trouble shooting was the nrm for the season

was not that overly impressed ,my son said the same on the 61 he worked on that it requires attention every hour to keep it from plugging up and shutting down

[Flatdog]

You can buy a hell of allot of dry ice for the money that running a machine of that size and breakdown costs involve, If your boxes are correctly insulated dry ice will last 10 days!! fact!

[Questsportfishing]

takes very little to power them and your sea water is free... 1 40" X 9" X 1" stanless steel stand off 0 degree plate with glycol cooling is enough to do a nice size fish box. the new compressors even are air cooled along with sea water cooled in 2008/ 9 ..anyway it cuts down the weight you carry and saves fuel and boxes. $7k for a eskimo ice machine plus rigging and water needed if it starts making anymore sence... then add the weight of a box plus the fuel burned and loss of speed and time...add in the fact someone has to shovel the ice / load the ice... anyway just a thought.. all the freezer plate takes is cleaning the raw water strainer.

[Fortunate One]

Quest,

If I were to install freezer plates wouldn't I still need ice?

The box on this boat is pretty large and it's built. I would imagine that plates could be mounted to the top hatches.

Here's a perspective:





The box was made so it slid into the deck cut out and then it was bolted to the stringers via aluminum angles that were glassed and epoxied onto the box. Then fiberglass-encapsulated insulation was applied around the outer perimeter.

A small hatch covering 1/3rd and a hatch covering 2/3rds covers the box. As seen in this photo.



A removable divider will be installed in the box dividing the box into 2 sections at the hatch locations so when were fishing inshore; we can fill the smaller side with the inshore species.

Any suggestions on plates for this set up, or am I too far along?

I am going to need freezer plates in the lower cabinet to the left of the stair in this picture. That lower cabinet is going to be used as a bait freezer.

[Deep C]

We run an eskimo... Yes a bit tempermental but nice to have... Pressure buttons need eyeballing and you need to move the ice so it doesn't just pile up against the sensor and shut you down prematurely... We're adding a water maker to our rig... At 50 cents a gallon for water over island side or 8 bucks a bag for ice this stuff will pay for it self in about a year...

[Nomad]

I've looked at the Eskimo Ice 600 machine.

Is this the typical unit for sportfishing machines our are there better choices?

The Eskimo Ice 600 uses 72 gallons of water to make 600/lbs of ice /day.

I had the same question, and after much research concluded:

1) Eskimo is the standard
2) Eskimos tend to be tempermental, particularly if not given regular use;
3) Eskimo has very little competition
4) a relatively new company has a relatively new product called IceSea, and I ended up specing that for my boat (which is being commissioned now). The principal benefits are that it produces salt water ice (which is better for preserving fish, and if you don't have a water maker it doesn't deplete your fresh water supply) or freshwater ice (in saltwater mode it makes 600 pounds per 24 hrs, in freshwater mode it produces 800 pounds per 24 hours -- presumably because fresh water freezes at a higher temp). There are relatively few installs, but I did speak with a couple owners who have no complaints (and who had previously had Eskimos).

The IceSeas are a little more expensive.

Good luck,
Rick

[Fortunate One]

Deep C we're adding a water maker. I wanted to be able to do a 3 day trip so it's important to be self sufficient.

Nomad,
I thought about salt water unit and you're right about a salt slurry being a good way to keep the catch fresh. But I figured I can add salt to the mix if necessary.

[Questsportfishing]

yes they can work a big box like that and a bait hold-over also on the same machine. your going to need two 40" x9"x1" 0 degree plates and one plus 26 degree plate I will email you some pics and other photos we have. when we first started freezer plates we would actually freeze the fish to the bottom so we kinda learned a bunch along the way. and no ice is needed you start up the plate braker in the morning and dump some fresh water at the dock in it or just grab your bucket and dip up some sea water. it is a simple thing to use and like i said it saves so much extra BS in weight time space and cost. the more fish the more water... no extra coolers or boxes they can also be rigged with flexible lines for transome fish boxes that are also access boxes. as for the eskimos though Larry Beard built them and if you install the things right and without bends and trapping hot air on the cooling unit they work great as well .. all you have to do there though is have the water supply to make ice. the salt water really never freezes just makes the fish happy and firm for the cleaning table even days away.