IamA Zamboni Driver AMA!

How awesome is sex on a Zamboni? Express your vote in Celsius degrees.

-20·

so... no such thing as a Zamboner?

I get them every morning

[deleted]

Well, I first had a job at CFL stadium that was run by our local municipal workers. That job was in the same division as the rink jobs. So once i seen the posting for the job, i applied and got the job!

And no problem!

Do you ever look down at the non-zamboni riding peasants and scoff at their reduced gloriousness?

All the time! i consider my zamboni my thrown

Have you ever yelled "For Happy Gilmore, anything!" while the lights of the arena slowly dim?

no but i was very tempted too once night. A couple had rented the ice for just the two of them. The guy had told me he was going to propose. so i put some nice slow lovey dovey music on for them

did you sit in the press box and start crying and singing along? because that'd be awesome.

That would be. But unfortunately we dont have press boxes

endless love?

Love it

Do you have any pets?

I do not. Good question though!

Does road-head ever get awkward with all of us in the stadium?

Extremely..it's cold in here so it's not impressive

Did you ever run into the boards while driving the zamboni?

I've slightly brushed up against them. A lot of children stand really close to the glass, banging on it, watching me drive in circles..etc.. So if i were to hit the boards, it would be fatel!

Do you ever imagine yourself driving in the Stanley cup finals?

Every single flood!

Do you put the "bone" in zamboni?

I like to think so

How much training does it take to become a zamboni driver.

Also, I had to google Zamboni to be able to join in this AMA :p

I did 80 hours of training and a 3 day orientation

Have you ever had belligerent hockey players try to fight you while on duty?

Yes. A bucket got ruthless one night

so do you just drive the zamboni or do you know in depth information about the ice and how the zamboni works?

yeah i do ice maintainece and ice measurements

that's awesome--I'm actually producing a video about the chemistry of ice in ice hockey, one of our angles is focusing on the zamboni

thats awesome! if you remember this AMA, post it in here. Id love to see it. And im sure my co-workers would as well

What's the max speed of a zamboni? As a kid I always wanted to see them race for some odd reason.

The zamboni doesn't have a speed gage. But a rough guess...i'd say 30 km/hr

Not so much a question, but an anecdote. My stepdad is a Zamboni driver as well, and he told me how filthy the snow piles outside the rink are - spit, blood, sweat, and possibly other bodily fluids. Doesn't it make you cringe whenever you see kids climbing all over that snow?

haha great point. i let children know that as well. Also, there is some paint in that snow when we paint it white

why do you paint it?

To make it white. Then we paint the lines on top of the white

No question, but thanks for your work on the ice! Here is my favorite Zamboni driver, he is iconic to the Seattle Thunderbirds

wow. that guys awesome lol

what did you have for dinner last thursday?

Went to the mandrain. (all you can eat chinese food)

Have you ever fell asleep behind the wheel?

no, thankfully the cold keeps me up

If you were a type of reptile, which one would you be?

Frog

Do you have to get a license to drive a Zamboni?

Not a specific license. But we require that you have a regular G license

Ever do Zamboni stunts?

i do some pretty sweet "drifts" every once in a while

How do you make sure the ice is even?

We drill holes in 23 different spots and measure the thickness. And every monday we scrap full bins of snow to make sure its even. We have also done a "marble test". Where you put a marble on the centre dot nd see where the high nd low spots are

The Stig stole your Zamboni and drove it around the Top Gear test track, what would you do?

Slow clap. who could get mad at the Stig

What are some of the more important factors in making a smooth surface, and why do some rinks take forever for the water to freeze? I swear sometimes the zamboni drivers at my rink just leave a flood everywhere.

Well we have to use boiling hot water which helps fill in cracks and bonds better with the ice. But I've mastered the art so it's dry within seconds. Your zamboni driver must be putting to much water down

How do you manage to make the zamboni make such sick drifts?

Hydrolic Stering

Does your job ever get boring/monotonous?

Edit: And if not, why not?

It does at times. We usually only have little kids in our rink. Not that that is a bad thing, but it isnt the most exciting hockey to watch. However, we do get some good rep hockey and tournaments which can be real barn burners

Does the rink you work at have curling sheets as well that you are responsible for? If so, could you share your feelings about the process of changing the ice for the curlers?

no they don't

what temperature does the [steam, water, stuff] run?

boiling hot water. freezes faster

That's weird that you require full g license. I'm 17 and only have my G1 License and I drive an Olympia . Had four 4 hour training days and off I went . Defiantly the best part time job for someone my age I think. Not for everyone though.

How old are you? Where you from?

Keep doing floods man!

Yes, but you may work for a private rink. I work for a municipal goverment. Much more strict on labour laws.

Im 23, Ontario Canada.

Thanks buddy! you too!

Represent Ontario!

GTA!

First off Zamboni drivers are awesome, so you're awesome and thanks for doing this AMA. What's the craziest thing that's happened to you while driving the Zamboni/at the rink?

Parent fight...nothing Better than watching two parents go at it over tyke hockey

Parent fight...nothing Better than watching two parents go at it over tyke hockey

Anyone throw shit at you?

Not yet! knocks on wood

How fast do you drive the Zamboni? It really annoys me when I'm at the arena and the guy drives super slow. It also really bugs me when he messes it up and has to go around again for a little sliver of snow. How often do you mess it up?

Most drivers drive slow to make the flood better. The slower you go, you scrape more evenly and drop more water. And no, I've managed to perfect my floods so I clear all the ice with out missing what we like to call "half moons"

Are you dtb?

Yes

When you first start I see the driver scrape about ten feet of ice, lift up the thing in the back, you look at the ice, sometimes make an adjustment, and then start resurfacing the ice.
What are you looking for in that scrape?

The amount of snow you are picking up. Also to see if you are picking up even amounts along the blade. So in other words, to make sure the left side isn't taking off more than the right...and vise versa

What's your fav cheese?

Cheddar

Why do many Zambonis still have internal combustion engines (at least here on the speedskating ovals of The Netherlands)? I'd say electric drive is far superior where not much range is required, the machine is used indoors and there is plenty idle time to recharge.

Not quiet sure what the answer is to that. But ours run on natural gas. Some are propane

Not quiet sure what the answer is to that. But ours run on natural gas. Some are propane

Also maybe it's something to do with easier to maintain

Whats your MPG with that thing?

Runs on natural gas. Not sure what the conversion would be...

[deleted]

no not at all. Frank zamboni was actually born in Utah, but Italian decent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zamboni

Is this a full time job? Are ice rings open throughout the year in Canada?

THis is a full time job. This rink is not open all year round. But the majority in Canada are. In the summer I do greens maintaince at a golf course witch is also nice

From your pic, it looks like you drive an Oly. Which model do you have?

Zamboni

Which model?

The 546. It's a beaut

I was wondering what you do between games on your rink? Because obviously the rink needs to be zamboni-ed between games, but games can go until super late. Do you have to just come back every couple of hours or do you hang out at the rink between your zamboni-ing?

clean dressing rooms and lobby. not the most glamorious part of the job. but thats how it goes

i also do compressor checks to make sure the ice system is running smoothly

did you play ice sports as a kid?

I played hockey. Broke my leg in the same arena I work at now

In an awkward situation, what do you do to smooth things over? (Assuming the ice isn't already broken)

Get er wet nd smooth her over

How long is a usual flood for you? And whats the worst thing to happen to your machine on the ice? And I also am same age and same job and same location!

8 mins tops. Cell phone in auger

Are you Craig?

No I am not Craig. By location I meant Ontario. But thank you for answering me and doing this AMA!

No problem! It's been fun answering

Do you make a living out of this, or is it like an extra job?

Living as of now

How fun is driving a Zamboni?

9/10

I have to ask, even if I'll take some hate for it, Leafs or Habs?

Leafs. But I'm a ducks fan since the movies

who is your Hero of Zamboni driving? Teh guys at HAlifax Metro Center are pretty good at it.

My local rink when I was a kid had a big huge guy with the manliest beard. All the kids were so scared, but always respected the guy

You're on your lunch break, Timmies or Subway?

Timmies

what colour is your helmet??

Black. Wish it was blue

How many dicks would you suck until you'd get your own dick sucked? One? Two? ...

who would be doing the sucking for me? maybe three...

Don Cherry

in that case....4

No clue about hockey ( and i hate Sweden ) how important is a good ride over the ice / is it mostly to secure the players or to have a faster game ?

Helps skating nd puck movement

How come zamboni drivers have mad small dicks and beat off to the Peewee hockey practices on their break? Just thought I'd ask... Source: buckets

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