SNOWCONES ITALIAN ICES TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW....please

am thinking about adding a snowcone machine in my trailer ..i have plenty of room and there isnt any in my area...was wondering what is involved and what are the best options machine , flavor and serving it  wise...if i am going to do it i want to do it the best i can
 
art and tiffany

average machine costs $1500-$2000   Generator maybe $500. best flavor makers out there are koldkiss cost to make a snowball is $.09  average snowball costs $1.75-$2.50 

thank you very much any help is great and that definetly helps..ive seen some snowcone machines on ebay and they almost  all seem to be in the 600 dollar range...are these good units because there doesnt seem to be anything in the range you are talking about

Check out 1-800-SHAVEDICE. We purchased a package from them last year to do shaved ice. The package was complete with machine, supplies and 24 flavors of concentrate. You make more profit with shaved ice than snow cones.  Our average sale at the events we do is between $3.00 and $4.00 per cone. We know carry about 30 flavors and serve the shaved ice in flower cups. The kids love them and you will be surprised how many adults are familiar with shaved ice.

Any one know anything about Echols shaved Ice machines?
Here is a local CL post.
 
I have a classic Echols ice shaver. Unit is in great shape and works perfect. Echols is the leader in shaved ice machines and can shave up to 1,200 pounds per hour. This is a classic machine! New Echols start out at 2,000 dollars or more so this is a real good deal and I dont think it is going to be around long. It is a money make thats forsure, everyone likes shave ice!

has anyone else gone with 1800shavedice?  if so what package did you get?    any other makers out there i should be looking at?

If you are going to do shaved ice we recommend the Hatsuyuki HC-8E. It uses cubed ice that is readily available everywhere and the machine is a work horse. (Note: block ice is getting hard to find. Even cities as big as Atlanta there are only a couple of ice companies who sell block ice. Most of the people here using block ice have to make it themselves. To be efficient you will need a block ice maker and a large freezer to store the ice, this alone can cost more than the machine and package.) We have been dealing with the 800 SHAVEDICE people for over a year and have had no problems.  We purchased the Shaved Ice Budget package. There are a few items in it we haven’t used but for the most part it is a great starter package.
 
Shaved Ice verses Snow Cones: You will have competition with shaved ice; however, you will have a lot of competition with snow cones. Every non profit group and boiled peanut man sells snow cones. We still rack up an average sell of $3.00 per shaved ice even when snow cones are selling for $1.00. We operate the shaved ice trailer mid March to mid October selling nothing but shaved ice. If you are exclusive at an event then snow cones would be worth it.

A few things I know about snow cones and shaved ice. Go with shaved ice if possible. Block shavers are better, BUT, as mentioned, block ice is hard to get. Go with a machine you can use cubes in. I suggest you join a yahoo group that is strictly all about shaved ice.
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Shaved_Ice_Discussion/join
Before you start asking questions on this site, I suggest you visit the "polls" section and read about how things what shavers and flavors are best. BTW, Koldkiss isn`t even mentioned. If you want to stand out from the crowd, DO NOT BUY ready to use syrups. Buy concentrates from reputable dealers mentioned at above site.  If you have any questions for these people, do a search on the site first. If you can`t find the answer, which is doubtful, then ask. Why I say this is I`ve been a member of this group for many, many years. Every year newbies come on board and ask the same questions year after year. The answers are there, you need to seek them out.
Good luck.

Also check out Gold Medal Products, they have a location in Nashville. We purchase some supplies from them. You can check out our facebook page: Atlanta Tropical Breeze Shaved Ice to see pictures of our setup. They carry snow cone machines and shaved ice machines and most of the related products.
 

One more thing. The 800 SHAVEDICE website has a list of the top 24 flavors. After selling ice for over a year it is dead on. Even if you plan on starting with a limited number of flavors start with the top and work your way down. We now have over 30 flavors that we sell and will ad a few more for ext year. Also serve your ice in the flower cups, kids love them and we get $3.00 / $3.50 each for them all day long.