need opinion ice maker vs yeti in texas

We recently got a portable ice maker through ebay and it's the best investment we've made in a long time. Liked it sooo much we bought one for a friend for a birthday gift - and NO we don't usually spend that much for a friend gift. Ours happens to be an Emerson and I paid $148 including free shipping. It makes 26 - 28# per day. When we get to the site, we plug it in, pour in the amount of water - think it's a gallon - and by the time we're completely finished with the mat and chairs under the awning, there is enough ice for a couple of cold "somethings". DH feels that he absolutely HAS to have ice and I was of the mind that spending the $ for 2 or 3 bags every trip and then dumping it out was crazy. I know, doing the math, $148 vs $5 - $6 doesn't seem to make sense, but I am thinking long term and the convenience. Right now Sam's has a very comparable one for $99. You surely don't need to spend the amount you were thinking. Ours has adjustments for small, med and large cubes. Weather permitting, we set it on a table outside the door and plug it into the side of the trailer. One time a storm blew through and we just unplugged it, covered it with a plastic trash bag and it was fine. We also have JUST enough room on our countertop to put it indoors if necessary. Ours weighs right at 30#, so is plenty easy to move around.

We find that even though the basket holds just a certain amount, by the time we fill a couple of glasses for tea or whatever, it's refilled pretty quickly....seems like it said something like 6 minutes per tray - not the basket, just the freezing mechanism. Unless you had a large group, you'd likely not run out of ice through the day...be sure to check your water supply every so often.

Suggest you check Sam's, ebay and Amazon because the prices change by the minute, it seems. And triple check for free shipping if you order. They mix them all together and I avoid shipping charges whenever possible.

I like the idea I read here on freeing ice up in large size chunks. Will have to give that idea a try here.

We do pretty good keeping up with our ice usage but end up going for food supplies every three days anyway so bringing back more ice then is ok with us.

Storing the ice chest in the shade is must do thing for use. Sometimes I sit my ICE CHEST in the creek and tie it off... That really works good too...

I too have been thinking about the ICE maker and I have a great spot for it on our OFF-ROAD POPUP front deck. It would require another power source to come up with. This GOOGLE PHOTO is what I have and could fit a ICE MAKER right up against the trailer wall here.


Roy Ken

If your looking at yeti check out Orca. Great coolers all American made and cheaper.

sam's club has a yeti copy made by Coleman? which they compare to the yeti.
bumpy

I'm curious what you do with 60 pounds of ice.

Our refrigerator keeps plenty of cold drinks.

-- Chuck

Here is a link to a small ice maker that I found on google.

http://www.compactappliance.com/IP210TI-Compact-Edgestar-Portable-Ice-Maker/IP210TI.html

Some are even less than your target $225 list price. I think it is the kind that I saw at a campout, where the owner put in a quart of water, then a small pump in the bottom of the machine pumps this into the ice mold, it makes ice into a strainer type basket (think silverware tray in your dishwasher) and then any melting refills the water reservoir, so it will make it back into ice.

They list several models, from 20 - 30 pounds capacity with many reviews to read on each one.

Yes they look like they would work, however with just a 2.5 pound capacity, they can only hold a small amount of ice, and you would need to stop by at lunch time, dinner time, and a hour later to "Harvest" the ice into another freezer in order to get anywhere near 25 pounds a day. That is 10 times harvesting 2.5 pounds out of the ice maker and adding 1-1/2 quarts of water each time.

You will also need to dispose of the used water every once in a while. Water had minerals in it, and these typically are not frozen to the ice mold, so the minerals collect at the bottom of the tank.

Fred.

I'm considering one of these two.

http://www.amazon.com/NewAir-AI-100R-28-Pound-Portable-Icemaker/dp/B0017Y3GGI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401418844&sr=8-1&keywords=portable+ice+maker+newair

http://www.amazon.com/Newair-AI-215R-Portable-50-Pound-Capacity/dp/B008RL4OCY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1401418844&sr=8-6&keywords=portable+ice+maker+newair

Are you able to get ahold of some dry ice? That will keep the freezer frozen, and prevent 1/2 of the ice from melting in the first couple of days.

Dry ice is CO2, and while frozen will thaw at about -100F. So it stays REALLY cold until it all thaws out.

You can also try making blocks of ice, say in a 2 quart pitcher that is wider at the top than bottom (so it will slide out) and store in zip lock baggies. It will help keep the cooler cold.

Can you post a link to the ice maker?

Thanks,

Fred.