Ice Auger Poll

[Colonel Angus]

Love my 2 stroke strikemaster 3hp for burning a pile of holes in short order no matter how thick the ice. It's been running great for 25 yrs. As the kids are getting older and off to college, I likely won't need to drill so many holes. And, as I get older, I have less of a tendency to want to have a workout. If I start wanting to hide out in a fish house all day or only pop a few holes here and there, I can say I would rather have an electric (no fumes, no noise, no spilled gas) and the K-drill idea has me intrigued. Got to drill a hole with KDM's Ion last year and thought it did a great job. I don't know anyone with a propane.

 

[tommygun23]

I have two strikemasters, an older plastic handled Tecumseh laser mag and a newer solo 2hp I think. Have a 8in laser auger on the solo and a 10in chipper on the older one. Both work fantastic and I love the lightweight design of the strikemasters, they lay in my pickup all winter long and don't get babied. The laser blades for lots of holes is the way to go. No problems with starting unless I forget to turn the switch on occasionally.

 

[Captain Ahab]

Electric will take over in the next 4-5 years. I have an Ice Gator and a Honda Strikemaster right now. I never drilled a hole with the Honda last year. If the manufacturer of Ice Gator would have been brighter that a 2 watt light bulb, he could have really had something. Sounds like he filed bankruptcy. I know I can never drill it out of charge in a day with an 8 inch Nils on it. The components are pretty simple, so I should be able to fix it pretty easy if I have an issue.

 

[lunkerslayer]

Electric will take over in the next 4-5 years. I have an Ice Gator and a Honda Strikemaster right now. I never drilled a hole with the Honda last year. If the manufacturer of Ice Gator would have been brighter that a 2 watt light bulb, he could have really had something. Sounds like he filed bankruptcy. I know I can never drill it out of charge in a day with an 8 inch Nils on it. The components are pretty simple, so I should be able to fix it pretty easy if I have an issue.

I agree to this that I even purchased another Icegator for the old man this one has the 8 inch nills with the power point head. Now he can put away his jiffy for good.

 

[NDSportsman]

Not sure. My 30 year old Jiffy won't die.

 

[lunkerslayer]

LOL because its a tecumseh, reminds me of the old maytag commercials where the service guy is waiting for a service call.

- - - Updated - - -

 

[Enslow]

That's the problem with anything new. Next year there is always an improvement. You never catch up. Finally you just have to buy what you want and in a few years buy something else to keep up. All sporting equipment is that way or else manufacturers would never be able to sell us suckers anything new.

Electric will improve but when will it be perfect? Never. For me I love my ION. It's lighter than my old reliable Jiffy Model 30 (until it finally wore out after many years of use), it starts at the squeeze of the trigger, it has reverse. The best auger depends on what type of fishing you do. Late last winter when the ice was thicker I could drill about 30-40 holes. For me that is more than I will drill most days but for some that is barely half of what they will drill.

For me an 8 inch is also plenty big. You can bring a 20# northern through a 6-inch hole. If you have young kids fishing with you and you use a 10-inch auger you are eventually going to have a boot full of water. As earlier, best is defined by what you want and need.

Last winter the ice did not get thick. I like a 10 inch auger for turning big fish in shallow water. For panfishing the smaller hole is much better.

 

[Auggie]

I have an 8 inch Nils Master. I absolutely love it.

 

[lunkerslayer]

I don't know for sure if it legit maybe ahab could clarify any doubts about reeds carrying the nils/icegator set up
https://www.reedssports.com/nilsusa/nilsusa-ice-gator-electric-auger-1000e-260045

 

[Spaz163]

Started with an old model 30, shelved it, then went Eskimo HC40 and had it blow every drop of oil it had inside of it onto me one very cold day, Eskimo replaced it. Sold it when I got the wheelhouse and got an Ion. Had that run out of juice on me while running and gunning without the wheelhouse one day and will never leave the house again without the model 30 unless in the wheelhouse.

 

[BBQBluesMan]

The new ion looks sweet, but the price tag does not. Haha

http://www.cabelas.com/product/fish...uts?destination=/catalog/browse.cmd?N=1100504

 

[3Roosters]

The K drill with the Milwaukee Fuel 18 will set you back about $500-$600 and then you have the Milwaukee drill for year round use. Not sure why more of you yahoo's aren't giving it a look.#$%^&>

 

[gone_fishing]

I have had a Strikemaster Lazer Pro 8" for about 5 seasons now. Starts good in any temp (once you know the procedure), cut's VERY fast (never lost a race) and is relativity lightweight. If I was in the market for a new auger I would take a good look at electric. Simple to operate, lightweight, no fumes in houses and having reverse would be nice for pushing slush down the hole.

 

[MSA]

Jiffy can suck a fart outta my ass!

 

[DirtyMike]

I only opened up this thread again because I saw MSA had replied.

 

[Traxion]

I think it really depends on style of fishing. I need something that will drill lots of holes. Gas is the got to for that. A 4 stroke would be nice, that will be the next purchase. That said, mixing gas does not bother me at all. Take care of a little two stroke and it will last a lot of years and drill a ton of holes. That said, my FIL has an Ion. It is impressive and nice to use. His is multiple years old though and he is looking at another battery...which is a painful deal. That is what would hold me back no matter what, at some point you gotta get new batteries. Even at $5 a gallon gas, I can fish for a lot of years before ever approaching that type of cost. And the batteries sit for how many months a year? I work in the trades and fight batteries no matter the brand or type with tools.

Man the price is outrageous for new gear these days. Augers are creeping up, heck my Clam flip over is $150 more than when I bought it. Nuts!

 

[bonessk01]

i own an ion my friend owns one we both had gas augers before neither of us would ever go back to the stink and mess of gas and oil in shacks spilt on ice or in box of truck or on hands that have to bait hooks.
both of us bought the extra battery keep them in a small soft pack cooler just big enough to hold two batteries and a reuseable hot pack
light aND TOTALLY DEPENDABLE. REVERSE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO DIP CHIPS AGAIN!
you can easily add a reverse switch to older models just don't ask me how its done!

 

[Kickemup]

For now I'm going to have to say the fuel with kdrill attached. I like the fact that it is light. So far it has been great on early ice but I'll see how it handles when we get 2 feet. I'm going to order the 9amp battery hopefully that will last me the day instead of bringing a couple backups.

 

[deleted account]

Eskimo shark Z71 74cc is the best power auger on the line in my opinion, popped through bout three feet on winnepeg in about 12seconds

 

[espringers]

I've got that z71 in 10 inch. Now that I got it running right, it is a beast. But, it's also a big heavy SOB. Gonna get an electric for the permanent and the first 1/2 of the season.