Hate my strike light auger

[furnace man]

Does anyone else have a heck of a time with there auger freezing up I go hole hoping all the time but my stupid end of my auger freezes so bad I can't auger a hole with out slaming it on the ice to get it started.

And this weekend I was auger some holes by some chunky ice and it must of had some dirt in the ice and now my blades are nicked and dull. My jiffy was heavy and slow and old but I sure did not have trouble with it.

[zamboni]

The end of my auger ices up, but it still drills with the ice on it. I have a StrikeLite as well.

[leech~~]

Does anyone else have a heck of a time with there auger freezing up I go hole hoping all the time but my stupid end of my auger freezes so bad I can't auger a hole with out slaming it on the ice to get it started.

And this weekend I was auger some holes by some chunky ice and it must of had some dirt in the ice and now my blades are nicked and dull. My jiffy was heavy and slow and old but I sure did not have trouble with it.

Huuum?

[broken line]

I just bought a Strike Lite this year - I love how it starts and runs so far. However, I have experienced what you speak of, that the blades ice up easily. When that happened to mine, I could not cut even an inch through the ice.

I had to bring it in the house and thaw it out. The next time on the ice, I made sure to rinse the the blades completely of ice and slush. I then actually wiped them with a rag, and it did not seem to freeze up as bad. I too like to hole hop so I hope to get past this blade freezing issue.

Anyone else have any good fixes for this?

[hunter322]

ive herd if you spray the blade with PAM or something of the sort it helps.

[Brad B]

I now it would add a little weight to the unit but you could switch out the drill unit and put a lazer drill unit on the strike lite power head.

[Surface Tension]

They will all do that, some worse then others. The space between blade and mount plus nuts and bolts like to build up ice. Just another reason I like the Nils blade, there are no nuts and bolts on the blade or spaces between mount and blade for ice to cling to. You still have use care though to keep the blades clean.

When completing a hole use a little throttle to pull the chips out of the hole. As you pull the auger out the blades should be fairly clear of ice. If they aren't stick it back down the hole right away and repeat the throttle up, you'll clear more chips out of the hole by doing this too. Go drill another hole but keep the wet blades out of the snow. Set the blade onto the ice and drill right away. I have an auger rack so when I'm done drilling the auger gets put there and the guard put back on. Times when I might not have a rack I'll set the auger on the ice but clear the snow away for the powerhead and blades. Snow will stick to wet blades and freeze fast. Also snow can get into the throttle and governor linkage and freeze up the throttle.

If for some reason the blades get fouled with ice sticking it in a hole you drilled earlier is usually enough. Hold it there till the ice melts. Worse case is you'll have to take it into the portable and warm it up. Don't use your ice scoop to chip the ice off the blades. If you do, it only takes one bad strike and your out.

[MNice]

Well, since no one offered, I'll trade you even up for my lazer mag

[Ryan_V]

Well, since no one offered, I'll trade you even up for my lazer mag

I'll do one better, I'll trade straight up for my old heavy jiffy that works great!!

[DTro]

This concern about the plastic flighted Striklight seems to come up quite often.

The few guys I know that have had them, put a different shaft on it because of the freezing up.

[leech~~]

As you pull the auger out the blades should be fairly clear of ice.If they aren't stick it back down the hole right away and repeat the throttle up, you'll clear more chips out of the hole by doing this too.

This is what I do also. And when there is some sun out, I will set me auger across me sled skis out of the snow facing into the sun to help melt any ice in between holes, the sun will heat up metal pretty well even on the coldest days.

[furnace man]

That is all fine and dandy but when I was done drilling fifty holes the shaft on my auger was 3 inches across.I do run my auger up and done the holes to get the slush off. I just wish they came up with a little different design for the end of the auger I think it needs to be more open.

[huntingmaxima]

I like everything about my strikelite but, I ahve the same problem.They told me to spray pam on it. But you should not have to do that, very poor engineering.

[Ed Carlson]

When you finish off a hole, flush it a good spin and again spin it in the air to rid the point of water and it will not ice up.

If you have been banging it on the ice to get it to start, you likely dulled the blades and or the center point...so new blades are likely in order as well as the center point.

Don't bang it on the ice...it just will damage the blades and the center point.

As was recommended already, a shot of Pam before and after a day on the ice should help water droplets to spin off when clearing the blades off after a fresh hole is cut.

[deadeye]

Ya, pam is a good thing to have on hand. Its a essential part of the joe dirt tool kit.

I have heard of those problems too. With all the run and gun I do it wouldn't be the greatest to have that happen. I have held off buying one until I can get it with a steel bit. If they would ever let me buy just the powerhead I would be all over it. From what I hear they are not even letting people buy just the powerhead still. Bummer.

[mikey1685]

D-rock in new brighten will sell you just the powerhead