ICE® i28BT 28" Traction-Drive Walk-Behind Floor Scrubber - 26 gal

Picture a distribution center or a school at 10 p.m.: a long run of open floor, then a hallway, a break room and a row of offices. A rider is too big for half of it and a 20-inch machine takes all night on the rest. The ICE i28BT is a 28-inch walk-behind floor scrubber built for exactly that mix.

Two 14-inch pads cover a 28-inch path, the traction drive moves the machine forward and in reverse so your operator only steers, and an electric actuator gives you three pad pressure settings up to 119 lb. The 26-gallon solution tank and 31.7-gallon recovery tank mean fewer trips to the drain, and ICE backs it with 5 years parts and 5 years labor.

ICE's current manual rates it at 30,667 square feet an hour. Take off 30 to 50% for turns, refills and edges and you still get roughly 15,000 to 21,000 square feet an hour of real cleaning. Order it machine only if you already stock 6-volt batteries, or with a lead acid or AGM battery pack ready to run.

Machine Only, Lead Acid or AGM: Which i28BT Should You Order?

All three versions are the same scrubber with the same on-board 25-amp charger. The only difference is what sits in the battery compartment when it arrives.

• Machine only ($13,135). For fleets that already buy batteries. It takes four 6-volt deep cycle batteries of about 260 Ah, and each one has to fit a space of 10.4 x 7.5 x 11 inches.

• Lead acid ($2,317 more). The lowest cost to get running, but somebody has to check the water level before charging, every time.

• AGM ($1,776 more than lead acid). Sealed and maintenance-free. Pick it when several people share the machine or nobody owns battery care, which is most schools, clinics and contract crews.

If you'd rather never think about batteries at all, ICE also builds this machine as the i28BTL+ with a lithium battery warranted for the life of the machine, i-Synergy fleet reports and ID card start. It's only $1,315 more than the AGM version and about 177 lb lighter, so ask us whether your hours justify it. Our guide to lead acid, AGM and lithium floor scrubber batteries walks through the running costs.

How the i28BT Compares With Other 28 to 30-Inch Walk-Behind Scrubbers

Figures from each manufacturer's brochures, manuals and our product pages. Battery coverage on all four machines is shorter and separate.

Not sure which one your building needs? Send us your square footage, floor type and door widths, or call (855) 601-5678, and we'll tell you which scrubber fits, including when the answer is the cheaper one.

The Owner's Insights on the ICE i28BT

What sells me on the i28BT is the recovery tank. At 31.7 gallons it's bigger than the solution tank, so the float doesn't shut the vacuum off before you've used up your solution. You scrub a full tank, then dump once. Add ICE's 5-year labor coverage, longer than any of the three machines in the table above, and it's an easy machine to own for a long time.

Now the honest part. If price is what matters most, the Tornado BD 30/20 cleans a wider path for about $1,335 less, and the Clarke Focus II pushes down harder at 150 lb. The squeegee on the i28BT is 40.5 inches wide, so it won't pass a standard 36-inch door until you pull it off (no tools needed, but plan for it). And ICE's manual limits it to 5% slopes, so it's a flat-floor machine, not a ramp climber. With batteries it weighs about 660 lb.

Why You'll Love the ICE i28BT

• Traction drive, forward and reverse. Up to 213 feet a minute while scrubbing, so your operator steers instead of pushing a 660 lb machine.

• Three pad pressure settings. An electric actuator gives you 39 lb for daily cleaning, 79 lb in between and 119 lb for scuffs and ground-in soil.

• 31.7-gallon recovery tank. More room than the solution tank, so you scrub a full tank before you dump.

• Cast aluminum scrub deck. ICE builds the deck from die-cast aluminum instead of plastic, so it stands up to bumps against racking and door frames.

• Tool-free squeegee and pads. Blades, pads and brushes come off and go back on by hand.

• Built-in safety. A red front strobe light, an emergency shutdown system and a delayed vacuum motor shut-off.

What's in the Box, Pads, Parts and Care

Your i28BT arrives with the on-board charger, the 40.5-inch squeegee assembly and two 13-inch pad holders (ICE 9040014) that take standard 14-inch floor pads. Pads aren't included, so order a case of 14-inch pads for your floor with it. For grout and textured tile, ICE sells 14-inch brushes in medium (9050014) and soft (9050014P). The lead acid and AGM versions add four 6-volt batteries.

On ICE's current parts list, each pad holder and brush is $254.00, the front Linatex squeegee blade (8310536) is $57.40 and the rear (8310535) is $76.72. Polyurethane blades for oily floors are 8310546 front ($60.66) and 8310545 rear ($98.94). A spare recovery filter (8119200) is $32.02. Pads, brushes, pad holders, squeegee blades, hoses, the charger and wet or AGM batteries are wear items, so the warranty doesn't cover them.

After every shift, drain and rinse both tanks, rinse the float shut-off, wipe the squeegee and turn the blade if the edge is worn, then charge with the recovery tank propped open for ventilation. On lead acid batteries, check the water level before you plug in. Once a month, clean the battery tops, check the cables, the recovery lid seal and the grease points, and charge the batteries if the machine is sitting unused. Drain everything before storing it anywhere that could freeze. ICE's maintenance video below covers the same routine.

Why You Should Consider an ICE Walk-Behind Scrubber

ICE USA, a division of ICE Cobotics in Holland, Michigan, builds walk-behind and ride-on scrubbers and the Cobi 18 robotic scrubber. Its scrubbers carry 5 years parts, 5 years labor and 3 years travel, among the longest in the industry, and its rotationally molded tanks carry lifetime parts coverage. We're an authorized ICE retailer, so that warranty is yours from day one. See all our walk-behind floor scrubbers or every ICE Cobotics machine.

ICE i28BT Specifications