Ice build-up on auger bit

[Lund1700Angler]

I was wondering if there are any tricks to prevent ice build up on the really cold days? I have heard pam cooking spray, but haven't tried it yet. Any tips would be helpful.

Thanks

[dan z]

wish I could help. I have heard of the cooking spray also. if your freezing up in between holes just shorten your gap between them if you are gunnin. thats not a cure but it should help.

[Lund1700Angler]

It was -14 down here in iowa yesterday morning and it was kind of tough to keep from freezing. The condensation was freezing on the outside of the tent from the heater running. I am going to give the cooking spray a try and see if that works.

Thanks

[OnAFly]

If you drill a bunch of holes then drill half a hole to stand your auger up in, this will cause a lot of ice build up, especially if there is slush on the ice.

This will also cause your blades to get iced over and make it very difficult to cut until you get the ice off.

[Lund1700Angler]

This ice build-up was from drilling only. Breaking through and layer the new water. Don't keep the auger in the half drilled hole.

[MNice]

After drilling, I run the auger out of the hole and "spin dry". Seems to work ok.

[Fishnblood]

Anytime I have that issue I just set the auger in front of the mr heater for a couple minutes and it melts away.

[Fred_Bear]

I never had this problem with the chipper blade on my old Jiffy. I switched to a Nils this year and had problems with this at first. After fishing the last 3 days in 30 below weather I needed to learn quick how to fix it.

After drilling the hole pull the auger out and spin the blade at full speed until all the water is spun off the blade. When I'm walking to the next hole I carry the auger so the blades are higher than the power head so any water left on the shaft will run away from the blades. If you feel it starting to freeze up put the blades in the water and spin it at full speed. That works if you catch the ice up early but if it doesn't just put the blades in front of the heater for a few minutes inside the house.

[deadeye]

After drilling, I run the auger out of the hole and "spin dry". Seems to work ok.

Thats what I do and I have never had a problem.

[Dothedew]

Was out on the lake this past friday night -18. The PAM cooking spray help but after drilling 20 holes the ice started to build up again. PAM works great on the door zippers too.

[Northlander]

Biggest mistake I see is people drill the hole then set the auger in snow. This will instantly give you a frozen mess.Keep the blade as dry as you can and keep snow off it. Nothing you can really do but give it some spins when out of the hole. When its this cold it freezes instantly once out of the hole.

[shnelson]

Was out on the lake this past friday night -18. The PAM cooking spray help but after drilling 20 holes the ice started to build up again. PAM works great on the door zippers too.

+1 for PAM. I was having ice up issues last week, brought the auger in to thaw and dry then applied a nice coat to the blades. I have not had any ice build up issues since.

I also make sure to keep the blade at an angle where the water will run off when I lay it down, I think that helps a little but it seems most of the buildup would happen immediately after popping a hole.

[hibanks1]

carry a small propane torch that attaches to a coleman disposable bottle .... never had a blade break on me yet and i keep it on low and just melt the ice with minimal heat on the blade...also fires up the grill fast...

[slab master]

anyone use wd-40 would this work as well.

[shnelson]

anyone use wd-40 would this work as well.

wd-40 would work, but keep in mind whatever you throw on the blades goes into the lake. The argument can be made that most boats will put more pollutants into the lake than some wd-40 on your auger ever will, but I like to keep my impact on the environment as minimal as possible - especially when I am the controlling factor.

Pam works just as good, and in theory has less impact (I can only imagine the flavor i'd get by greasing my pans with wd40 ).