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Auger advice needed

calli4120

By calli4120
in Ice Fishing

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calli4120 Collaborator

calli4120

Posted
Posted

I have been wanting my own auger for awhile now and as a christmas gift my in-laws gave me $400 to buy one. grin

The only problem Im having now is trying to decide on what to get so I figured I would ask the experts. I'm sure this has been discussed on here many times but unfortunately the search feature on the forum hates me. frown

Here is what I have found from my experience.

Strikemaster augers are lightweight, dependable and cut well.

The downside to my experience with strikemaster is that their kill swith is poorly designed (switch and wires broke on my friends auger that was only a month old with no misuse)

The handles are plastic and are prone to breaking.

I havent cut holes with any new jiffy augers but there older ones weren't bad. Things I don't like about them are they are very bulky and heavy.

I have never seen or used an Eskimo or Nils auger so have no opinion on these yet.

So with all that being said, what do you recommend and why? Is buying new the best way to go or are there older models that have better reputations? Do augers go on closeout at the end of the season like the rest of the ice gear of do they hold them for next year?

Thanks in advance,

Adam

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harvey lee Grand Master

harvey lee

Posted
Posted

The new SM Solo is a nice auer. They had a small issue with the recoil but that should be resolved.

A auger that would serve one well. I used it last winter before it was on the market and I was suprised how well it cuts and leaves a very clean hole.

It may be a few more clams than what you have at this time byut I would say it would be work a little wait until you could come up a few more dollars.

It will be my next auger.

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Esox_Magnum Grand Master

Esox_Magnum

Posted
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Nils is more than your $400 but no regrets here with mine, little if no plastic, light weight ( 22 pounds with a 48" bit) also converts to a hand auger if wanted or needed, come with the unit, fast drilling and quiet. The Tanaka motors are well proven and reliable motors, get a 2nd drill head and you get them sharpened for $20 every 2-3 years or more. Haveing a spare is nice in case of that oooops or to not wait for your other to be resharpened.

Nothing against the rest I just think the Nils is the best proven auger on the market at the moment. Jiffy and Strikemaster have new motors this year and so far reports are great we don't have the 25-30 years to draw on like the old Tecumseh on years of reliability.

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Lip_Ripper Guy Grand Master

Lip_Ripper Guy

Posted
Posted

I have an older Strikemaster 2000 that has been great (pre-emissions requirement). Used a couple of the Lazer Mags that I wasn't impressed with at all. Haven't used the new SOLO yet, but I may be interested in one if they can get the issues worked out.

Earlier this year I used an Eskimo Z51 8". It started great, ran great, and was really quiet, but it was awkward to use compared to my Strikemaster. It seemed to carry a lot of weight up high. The clutch also didn't fully release at idle, causing it to spin slowly, but fast enough that you couldn't hold it with one hand on the handle and one on the bit while carrying between holes.

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calli4120 Collaborator

calli4120

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Thanks for all the feedback guys.

I kinda torn though. I don't have a problem with tossing in a little extra cash to get a better auger but on the other hand I wouldn't mind saving a little and putting it towards a GPS with lake chip.

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jrtardy99 Newbie

jrtardy99

Posted
Posted

My buddy's Eskimo burnt up recently so when I get a new one I will not be buying one of theirs. It was two years old and his gas definatly was mixed right.

Try out HSOList.com list. Find yourself something almost new and you will have close to $200 left. There is a guy in Cambridge that has a husky for sale. That is what I have and I will tell you right now that minus a Ice Gator it cuts holes faster than anything out there.

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Cecil Veteran

Cecil

Posted
Posted

From my experience I trust the Jiffy a lot more. Like you said, I have seen a few problems with what SM does to make their augers lighter. I have a 2hp 8" Jiffy Stealth and have had 0 problems with it. Yes, it is a little heavier, but it is because they use a heavier gearcase, teflon coating around cutting surface to prevent ice build-up and the flighting (auger part of shaft) goes up higher so it kicks out snow and ice in deeper holes.

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herefish101 Proficient

herefish101

Posted
Posted

so long as your not hand crankin the holes who cares, they all make holes in the ice. I have a SM lazer mag 8" and love it, i'v used jiffy's, eskimo's, and a nils. the nils is nice, the only one that compares to SM, but like i said above, no crankin = a much better fishing experiance. there are alwayse goo deal on used augers, and if treated right they will run forever.

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Big A Proficient

Big A

Posted
Posted

ICEGATOR

Smooth. Powerful. Quiet. No gas fumes. No exhaust. No sore shoulders from pulling the cord a billion times.... just press the button and watch the magic happen grin

I had a Strikemaster and broke the plastic handle on day 1. switched to a Jiffy and ran that for a year. Heard about the ICEGATOR and made the switch. I WISH I HAD GONE WITH THE ICEGATOR IN THE FIRST PLACE. I love it.

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McGurk Grand Master

McGurk

Posted
Posted

ICEGATOR

Smooth. Powerful. Quiet. No gas fumes. No exhaust. No sore shoulders from pulling the cord a billion times.... just press the button and watch the magic happen grin

Slightly cheaper to have a tank of mixed gas waiting in the sled versus a bank of batteries, though, for serious hole punching.

Just slightly cheaper.

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&JAG Rising Star

&JAG

Posted
Posted

Well you live in EP... Big Lake is near... They have the best customer service I have personally ever seen (all products in life)... The SM Solo is a mean machine... If you going in another direction look to Nils. In the end please support the Minnesota-USA based company. You will not be disappointed.

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Up North Rookie

Up North

Posted
Posted

this is one of those Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge kind of things. I agree with the gentleman that said anything will be better than hand-cranking. With that being said, I have a SM Magnum that's 6 years old and I've never done a thing to it. It came with the 10" chipper drill and still tapped holes faster than my brother in laws Jiffy.

Last year at one of the tournaments I worked SM supplied the augers to drill all the holes with, and he let us demo the new Solo. If you need a hole in 18-20 inches of ice in a few seconds this is the auger to get. The thing is very nice and the recoil issue has been resolved from my understanding.

Good luck on the decision, and bottom line is any of them will be better than drilling by hand.

Buck

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jon1719 Contributor

jon1719

Posted
Posted

Jiffy's customer service lol. thats a good one. I didnt even know they had customer service. Guess i never had to call em. Mine was runnin ratty this year but sea foam made it new again. Jiffy white lightning 2 hp. Its Never let me down yet!

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DrKen Collaborator

DrKen

Posted
Posted

Finally had my Eskimo wear out after 18 years of service (tc300 tecumseh) amd was very happy with it the entire time but I bought a strikemaster solo lazer last weekend to replace it. Strikemasters customer service is what sold me. Eskimo uses chinese engines now and they seem to be holding up overall. Jiffy continues to be a great auger but tends to be heavy. There are a lot of good choices out there but like any machine it will break eventually and the close high quality customer service of strikemaster sold me. The Big C store in rogers had them on sale and I got the 2.5 horse for 349 after all discounts List price of 449. Hope that helps

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