ALMOST EVERY HKD a/w tower only goes up to 100CFM!!!
you could prob run a pair of them. they only need 85psi and max out at 100cfm.
of course some take more. doesnt the ratnik super a/w gun run like 1000? or something?? SOME guns use more but most dont use 200. think the avalanche guns i was looking at were like 150cfm
and the whole 8hr thing depends on the rental house, some follow it, and some dont.
however free time is as easy as pulling 1 wire off the hour meter.
thought the budget was $2500? $1700 is under that. and i'm assuming u figured on 8hr rentals? not to mention they give discount rental weekly n monthly??

1700 dollars for a couple short snowmaking sessions doesn't sound like a wise decision groomer. If you blow your budget on rental equipment and then the snow melts during a freak january thaw, you're F'd in the A

um...hes in canada. not alot of freak thaws.
he said he gets plenty of natural snow, just wanted some serious extra for features and to extend his season. he could probably get by with a couple of combos and alot of time, but i think he just wants to make alot of snow, and then use it.
but do you realize how much snow you can make with a weeks worth of snowmaking with 2 HKD towers? I mean, each one makes a VERY sizeable wale overnight. you could rent the compressor for one cold night and seriously replenish any melting. not to mention, if they werent in a rush, they could probably buy a compressor on the cheap for next season and not have to rent anymore.

I could get you a Diesel Hedco Standard from my local resort for $2500
that would CRANK out the snow and throw it so far you could probably cover the whole hill without moving it

well i just checked...its like $300-320 to rent a diesel compressor for a week. so lets say you bought a a/w gun used from boneyard for $250. so u own the gun got it forever. lets say a weeks fuel cost you as much as the rental, so once the gun is purchased, a weeks worth of snowmaking air alone is like $600-$650 plus whatever you do for water. its like $100 to rent a gas powered pump for a week. so $750 bucks and you can blow a ****load of snow in a weeks time. You can do it for less if you find a local construction company thats slow cuz the ground is frozen, and rent the compressor they arent using. or if a member of the private club has access. so you could do like a week of snowmaking early in the season and build up, and then just touch up here and there with a days rental, or another week towards the end of the season. whatevers easiest for you. the only thing is this type of snowmaking will make a VERY large whale of snow overnight, so you'd either have to move the gun ALOT or else move the snow another way. by hand or with a machine of sorts.

Just another option to think about.
You could build a good quality maybe like 18" fangun that would run at about 15gpm and just run it a ton. You could easily build the gun for under $1500 and build a nice hypro roller to keep up for under $400. I think that might be the most cost effective route especially if you have lots or time and dont want to deal with rentals.

Thanks for the input.

I think we are going to try and go airless, like one of the local hills. We get cold consistent temps most of the winter.
I am waiting to hear back from one of their snowmakers, to find out what pressure and nozzles they are using and hopefully we can use the same design. I'll post it when I get it.