Ice surfacers are mechanical cultural icons. People really get a charge out of them.
They are commonly called a Zamboni, because that’s the most notable (but not the only) manufacturer of these machines so ubiquitous in arenas around the world. They have been the subject of television commercials, songs, the CN Centre in Prince George has the popular fan-boni ride between periods at Cougars games, and northern B.C. writer Jacqueline Baldwin famously penned the poem Passionately Fond Of The Zamboni as an allegory on the way time and effort can heal the cuts in the ice of life.
When actual ice surfacers can no longer be healed, a new trend has been sparked. Drylands Arena in Ashcroft is the latest place to follow this current movement. Their brand new machine is powered by electricity.
“Being that we are a small community, we don’t have to replace our ice resurfacer very often, and I think this is going to be more of a thing,” said Ashcroft mayor Barbara Roden. Based on the deliberations their staff and budget team just went through, she sees the likelihood, especially in small towns where taxpayer cash and municipal resources are tight, that others will come to the same conclusion.
“The tendency in small communities is to keep pieces of expensive equipment going as long as humanly possible, and then a bit longer,” Roden said. In Ashcroft’s case, the repair bill for the latest breakdown was pegged at $13,826.04, “which would be worth more than the value of this piece of equipment,” said director of public works Brian Bennewith, assessing their broken-down 1996 Zamboni 540.
“I have to say, our crew here is second to none; they know how to get every last dime out of a piece of equipment,” said Roden. If the disrepair presents a safety issue, that requires replacement, not repair. If a piece of equipment presents more fixing investment than it is worth, that is also a replacement issue. Their research into safety and cost brought them to the electric ice surfacer. Other municipalities will do their own research, when their times come, and Roden is confident many will opt for this new machinery as well.
Prince George has one in their fleet of eight resurfacers (Fan-boni not included).
“The electric Zamboni was purchased back in January 2020, although because of the pandemic it never got a regular winter season of use until 2021-22,” said City of Prince George spokesperson Claire Thwaites. “Our next replacement of an ice re-surfacer is planned for 2025 and we will likely pursue another electric one, which would give us two electric zambonis in our fleet.” The others are fuelled by either natural gas, propane, or both.
“Currently the City of Williams Lake / Central Cariboo Regional District does not own an electric ice resurfacer,” said that town’s director of community services Stacey Miranda, but clarified that “I have heard the retrofits from propane to electric have been successful in most cases, but not always. When we replace our equipment at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex, we will work with the entire Cariboo Regional District, including Quesnel and 100 Mile House before making any decisions. Electric will definitely be an option.”
Quesnel has already been doing their municipal research, said director of community services Jeff Norburn.
“We have two Zambonis, one for each arena. Both are propone,” Norburn said. “The most recent Zamboni was purchased in 2017. We will need to replace one of our Zambonis at some point over the next few years. When it is time to replace it we will consider an electric Zamboni.”
For Ashcroft, it was the municipality’s first electric vehicle of any kind. That created a spinoff possibility that goes beyond the rink machine.
“The charging unit is inside the building, but we have discussed running the three-phase power outside as well, to be used by either village vehicles, as/when we add more to the fleet, or members of the public,” Roden said.
One certainly cannot provide propane service to the public from the Zamboni garage, so this is a possibility that excites Roden. She is also relieved by the higher safety levels the electric fuelling offers over any flammable gases or liquids, and the less heaving and heavy lifting the electricity option offers municipal staff, plus no emissions.
In a small-town arena, where the ice resurfacer isn’t in multi-rink use almost around the clock, one charge will last about a week, just by plugging the machine into the wall-mounted charging unit, but charging it when not in use is recommended and will ensure constant readiness at full capacity. The Ashcroft machine cost $171,136 (taxes included). In previous public reports comparing machines, the propane models have a cheaper sticker price, but more expensive fuel and repair bills over time, and less benefit to the climate.
It might take Jacqueline Baldewin-level poetic minds to come up with a better name for these machines, however. The Zap-boni? Zambon-E? Ice-E-clean? Electroboni? E-rena Wiper? The possibilities are amping up.