I'm so excited that I finally came into contact with someone who makes block ice for shave ice vendors - so now I'm back to looking into block shavers. Is one better than the other? I read on another topic that the swan has a gear vs. a belt and that the belt is better? I know that the Hatsuyuki has a belt like the Fugimarca. Can anyone share any thoughts of one or the other?
Thanks

Hi Lisa, both are fairly good machines and are very similar. The only thing I dont like about the Hatsuyuki shavers is the safety guard in front of the machine. Those guards are made rather brittle and can crack easily if the ice happens to fly off the s having plate. In the past years, we have sold many of the HF 500s however we have all converted to Swans due to that issue.

Make sure you check whether the Hatsuyuki is NSF rated. I don't believe that they are. Many states require all equipment to be NSF. The Swan machines are all NSF. This rating is a HUGE hold up for Hatsuyuki. I have 4 swan machines and have been in the business for 16 years and have never had one fail. Your very safe with a SWAN and they really hold their value. Good Luck.

Yes I do agree with you Snobiz. I like the SWAN block shavers over the Hatsuyuki's. I just do not like the gear design though, rather noisy over those belt driven ones.