an ice crushing apparatus for use in combination with an ice making machine which has an ice storage bin . the ice crusher includes a plurality of rotatable blades which are mounted on a motor - driven shaft and which pass , preferably in sequence , through slots in a grate , for crushing the ice in an ice crushing zone . a mechanism is provided for bypassing the ice crusher and dropping ice directly from the ice maker to the ice storage bin . a mechanism is also provided for moving the grate to change the size of crushed ice particles . in one embodiment , a device is provided for breaking apart large sheets or other chunks of ice before they reach the ice crushing zone . an electronic control system provides ice crusher operation only when ice is harvested in the ice making machine .