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The CLT no refrigeration cart is a tough-as-nails cart. It’s primarily used by people who want to get into vending Italian ice but are on a limited budget. If you’re planning to scoop Italian water ice, this cart might just be the cart for you because it can hold dipping temperature for quite a while. I say quite a while because it’s hard to say exactly how long it will hold temperature. Holding temperature depends on the type of ice you’re selling, how hot it is, how busy you are, and a few other factors. But in general, about 5 hours is an average time.

The CLT-4 can also be used to vend prepackaged ice cream novelties or fruit bars. If you’re going to go with the prepackaged route, you’re definitely going to need dry ice. The cart has a really strong aluminum base frame that allows it to take the beating you know its going to take when being moved around from event to event. Also standard is the umbrella bracket, which makes it really easy to mount an umbrella. It sits on the base and you just tighten the screws and your umbrella is secure.

A quality cart starts with a quality wheel. Nelson wheels have a high content of natural rubber. They have the softness and the bounce of an air tire, yet they’re made of rubber. What’s important about this is that rubber is naturally resistant to Ultraviolet rays; vinyl is not. Vinyl wheels after being in the sun for a year can begin to crack. So for longevity and other reasons, a rubber wheel is simply the best choice. They’re smooth, bouncy, and resilient just like an air tire, except they never go flat.

The CLT-4 has an 18-gauge stainless steel top, as well as a stainless steel lid. All exposed corners are welded and polished to make them smooth. The CLT-4 holds 8 total 4 gallon tubs: 4 flavors for scoopers and 4 flavors below for storage. It has a 24-gauge stainless steel bottom, which is extremely important to an Italian ice vendor because at some point acids from the Italian ice will end up on the bottom of the cart. An inferior cart with a painted steel bottom will eventually get a hole in it; a Nelson cart will not. Also standard with the CLT-4 is a lid-locking bar, which simply slides in through the U rings to protect your inventory. Nelson carts are also NSF approved for outdoor use and come with a 5-year warranty against insulation failure.

In summary, the CLT-4 is an excellent start for anybody wanting to get into the Italian ice business. There’s also a CLT-6 which holds 6 tubs on top and 6 tubs on the bottom in storage. So if you have any questions about the CLT model carts, please shoot us an email, give us a call, or visit TurnKeyParlor.com. We’re here to help and hope we can answer any questions you might have. Thanks again for taking the time to watch this video on our CLT series Italian ice carts.