Margarita Machines

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 7:14 pm

Does anyone have a hook-up or know any restaurants going out of business that we might get a deal with for a margarita machine? The ones we've seen are around $2500. It'd pay for itself after two burns if we did not use it anywhere else (which we will), but if we can get a deal, that'd be nice. Last weekend ours held about 4-5 gallons, which worked out well for about 30 people. Bigger would work but smaller may not be worth the hassle.

ibdave · Post by **ibdave** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 9:28 pm

Hey Mike,
Check out the party rental place's. In my neck of the valley they rent them. I have rented a full size cotton candy machine 2 times to bring out to the Playa.. Just cleaned the hell out of it before I took it back.
We have a smal honda Gennie and a large wagon that would hold eveything and we walked around and set up the machine all over the Playa handing out the candy.. Great FUN...

phil · Post by **phil** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 9:55 pm

MikeVDS wrote:Does anyone have a hook-up or know any restaurants going out of business that we might get a deal with for a margarita machine?

What's a margarita machine?

Dustdevil · Post by **Dustdevil** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 9:59 pm

We have brought ours to the Playa for several years now. "Brain Freeze Camp". Contact me off list and I will give you the name of the supplier. I do not wish to promote a business on this forum. I can tell you that spending a little extra will be well worth it. Mine has two compressors so it freezes much more swiftly than the cheaper units. That is important in the heat. I will be more than happy to share the little bits of information we have gathered using ours.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:53 am

Every town has at least one dealer in used restaurant stuff.
Have cash ready and buy direct when a place closes.
Find out what you want first and value.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:06 am

phil wrote:
MikeVDS wrote:Does anyone have a hook-up or know any restaurants going out of business that we might get a deal with for a margarita machine?
What's a margarita machine?

"Margarita Machine" was one of my college nicknames.

Actually, it's a chill-and-serve device like a Slushee machine. If you go someplace like "Cheeseburger In Paradise" where they serve a lot of 'em, you'll often see a bank of these machines with different flavors. Looks like a bank of dryers at a laundromat.

phil · Post by **phil** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 9:58 am

> "Margarita Machine" was one of my college nicknames.

:->

> Actually, it's a chill-and-serve device like a Slushee machine.

Okay. That's why I had no clue: I drink my margaritas straight up in a martini glass with a salted rim. I don't like ice in my margarita. Personal preference, nothing against frozen margaritas - just can't stand 'em.

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:04 pm

We rented our first last weekend and decided it was on the must have list. The place we rented from was $100 a day, a week and a half for Burningman and that's already $1100. Might as well buy one at that price.

Post by **mdmf007** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 1:34 pm

whats the cycle time on a margarita machine?

how long between batches - i see a batch of 30 margaritas going in minutes. WOUld have to suck to wait an hour between batches?

later

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 1:46 pm

That's a good question. When I saw the machine we had it was ready. I'll find out how long the one we had took, but I'm sure it could greatly vary. Our camp is relatively small and the one we used held up well. I don't think we'll keep up with demand during the Luau, but otherwise I'm hoping it will do well. Ours got too cold at times so more mix could easily be added at those points. And by the time things are busy later in the week, I fully expect to be out of mix anyway.

Dustdevil · Post by **Dustdevil** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:11 pm

The unit I use has two compressors. In the mid day heat of the Playa starting with the liquid at ambient temp, it took approx 2 hours to freeze 6 gallons of margaritas. We would serve out of one mixing bowl until it ran low. We would then switch to the other side while side one was refreezing. It worked very well. Make certain you have enough genny for the unit. I would expect a 2-3000 watt draw.

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:22 pm

Yep. There was talk about getting another generator. We have one really quite honda and another louder (I think it's honda as well) We may have to get one more quiet one since that handles about 20 amps. The one you're talking about said 15 or 20 amp. We're looking into those. Thanks.

ibdave · Post by **ibdave** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 6:36 pm

MikeVDS wrote:Yep. There was talk about getting another generator. We have one really quite honda and another louder (I think it's honda as well) We may have to get one more quiet one since that handles about 20 amps. The one you're talking about said 15 or 20 amp. We're looking into those. Thanks.

Just make sure that the margaritas are GREEN for this year theme...

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:13 pm

I guess the second honda was a rental, so we're down to one. After some talking we'll probably just have the one for our camp. It's actually 50 amps though. But there is a honda 3000(some letters) on craigslist for $1400 obo almost new. Great genny if anyone wants to look it up.

I'm guessing a lot of people will have green food coloring so I doubt that will be a problem unless we make strawberry margaritas. Green and red make... brown...

dj_john69 · Post by **dj_john69** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:30 pm

In 2002, my camp rented 2 machines to take to the Playa. We kept them both in the back of the moving truck and after 4 days, they both died on us. I still trying to figure out how they died out there. Im assuming the Playa dust killed them but how ?? The ones we rented were belt driven and made great drinks but i want to avoid the same results when i get more for this year.

Does anyone know of a certain make or brand that they might recommend to me to check into ?? Any links would be greatly appreciated.

~John

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 10:11 am

Here's the setup:

frenchblue1 · Post by **frenchblue1** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:55 pm

dj_john69 wrote:In 2002, my camp rented 2 machines to take to the Playa. We kept them both in the back of the moving truck and after 4 days, they both died on us. I still trying to figure out how they died out there. Im assuming the Playa dust killed them but how ??

Does anyone know of a certain make or brand that they might recommend to me to check into ?? Any links would be greatly appreciated.

I've been told to us the bowl style and not the older bin style. Look in to the Bunn or Faby and it would be helpful to purchase a insulated cover, this will help lower the freeze time which should be around 1.5 hours. I would keep my product at a low temp to start with.

The compressor (fins) is/are suppose to be cleaned once a week in normal use so out at the Playa i would purchase a few filters to surround the air intake.

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:29 pm

Still hunting, and now the clock is ticking. We thought we had a hook-up but that fell through. Anyone have hook-ups? We've semi decided on a Frosty Factory 137A. Anyone?

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:14 pm

Do you still have any of the sources I sent ya awhile back? If ya lost track of the links let me know and I'll hunt em down again.

Dustdevil · Post by **Dustdevil** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:43 pm

Ebay....

http://cgi.ebay.com/FROSTY-FACTORY-127A ... .m20.l1116

Mine are not this brand, they came from affiated equipment. Found them on Ebay. Great Service. They handle lots of brands of equipment. Worth a call.

[email protected]

Jack

Barbie · Post by **Barbie** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:48 pm

Hey I was in Lake Havasue and I saw this great Margarita maker hooked up to a bike where you had to get on and peddle for your margarita...VERY COOL

Margarita Machines

Margarita Machines

Re: Margarita Machines

Re: Margarita Machines