If you have ever wondered that is the purpose of the ice resurfacer and how they choose the pattern for it to drive, see the diagram here. Follow the black lines then to blue, then to red then to green to see the actual driving pattern.
The Zamboni not only makes a cut into the ice to make it smooth, but also lays down a thin sheet of hot water which then melts any remaining "snow" so that the surface has a mirror finish. These machines are expensive and very heavy as they use battery power to operate. The batteries alone weight more than 5,000 lbs. Our new machine arrives in Hangzhou May 1st and will be lifted by crane (inside it's container) around May 8th to the 4th floor level of the building. Weight of this machine is 5 tons. Some members of our staff will be given special training on the machine's operation by a highly qualified teacher who has more than 25 years experience driving the Zamboni. On a daily basis, we plan to resurface the ice at our rink every 2 hours, 7 days a week during opening hours (10am to 10pm daily).
These famous machines, which are used at 99% of the world's ice rinks, are made in 3 factories. The big electric and propane powered 500 series come from Paramount, California near Los Angeles (and is the home base for all Zamboni's). The smaller model 400 series are made in Canada and also in Switzerland. Almost all Zamboni's for China come from the California plant.
