Fastest ice auger ?

[hamms-scooter]

I have a strikemaster mag 2000 with 8 in chipper also have 6" lazer drill for it for chasing pannies.This year wanted a hand auger bought a 8" Nils and then brought it in and had adapter made to run on my powerhead. I love the Nils! Even compared to my 6" lazer it's effortless to drill! I'll take the weight of my 6" obviously. The only complaint I have about the Nils is it leaves a lot of shavings in the hole compared to the others.Easy to see why though flighting is alot smaller then cutting head.

[JimmyJames]

Not with no tecumseh its not!

[foulpole18]

I have a13 yr old ardisdam barricuda that is reliable as the sun coming up in the east. It has a tecumseh motor (which I like since I am familiar with how to fix) that start everytime out, no matter how cold. If I was buying a new auger I would get a Nils. I like that I wouldn't need an extension and less bending over when drilling through thick ice.

Is it the fastest? Don't care. Those tanaka motors are awesome. When I landscape all our hedgetrimmers were powered by Tanaka engines. They took an absolute beating and continued to work. The maintence on them was easy to do and repairs were fairly easy to do in the field.

Find an auger that does what you want in your price range and who care what anyone else says. At least your not chiseling a hole in the ice right?

[Jim Almquist]

At least your not chiseling a hole in the ice right?

Most people these days have never had that as the only option as a way of opening a hole in the ice. Running and gunning meant you chopped two other holes about 50' apart from your first hole

Times have changed so enjoy them instead of getting bent about a couple of seconds opening a hole in the ice.

[Surface Tension]

I started out with a spoon auger and still have it as a reminder of days gone by. You didn't drill a hole unless it was absolutely necessary. Better off finding an old hole to fish out of. Later I got a Mora and it was night and day difference.

Luckily for all of us there are better options to make a hole in the ice.

If you have a perm or wheel house your more likely to need the 48" Nils or an extension for your power auger.

Speed is nice. Nils are fast no doubt. Ice Gator with a Nils bit is pretty fast too. I've heard the Solos are fast.

I've even seen a relatively fast Jiffy with Ripper blades. Weight makes a difference and if your drilling a lot of holes you have a tendency, or I do anyway, to hold the auger out in front of you when you move from hole to hole. A few lbs makes a difference.

Reliability and easy starting is just as or more important, after all an auger that won't start or run good isn't any good.

The re-jetting(one size larger) on the Nils will actually take speed (RPMs) off at the top end. The idea of re-jetting is for cold starts and drilling with a cold engine. End result no bog before warm up. To get more HP you'd have to increase the air intake and fuel. What I'm saying is a stock Nils is going to be faster.

One other consideration is torque needed for a blade to cut. That torque is held back by the user at the handles.

As far as I know a Nils blade wins there.

Just like cars, all it took was two guys that wanted to see who's is faster.

Which is.............

[harvey lee]

Which is----- really does not matter.

[Acemac]

every SM I have ever seen is light weight but cuts really slow and you have to push down on them.

[Ed Carlson]

Personally...I'll trade lighter for faster any day.

Any time I may save with speed in auger A, B, or C can easily be [PoorWordUsage] away with any number of distractions like a hook in my glove for being in a rush.

I believe the whole speed argument is a minor self delusional argument. As we will then stand there and talk about how fast we just drilled that hole, and [PoorWordUsage] away any time savings we just made.

So..I vote for lighter, not faster as being more beneficial as a time saver in the long run.

[NoWiser]

every SM I have ever seen is light weight but cuts really slow and you have to push down on them.

You are on crack, man!! You must only fish with people who use old chipper blades that haven't been sharpened in 20 years. Everyone I fish with uses a Strikemaster Lazer, and I've drilled holes with all of them. The only one that ever required the slightest amount of down pressure was mine, after someone slammed it while drilling a hole and threw the pitch off. Try a new Solo. You will be 1/2 scared, and 1/2 impressed.

[Minnie_sota_Mike]

Alot of opinions here, what is anyones input on which re-drills partly frozen holes better?

[McGurk]

Alot of opinions here, what is anyones input on which re-drills partly frozen holes better?

Chipper blades on any auger.

[CaptainMusky]

When is the last time you saw a 15 year old Strike Master?

Nels

Are you even remotely serious with this question? I bought my Mag III in HS which was over 19 years ago. It was probably 5 years old when I bought it. I used it up to last year. The thing ran perfect all those years. Only thing I had ever done was replace throttle cable, gas line and filter.

There are thousands of those old things around, I see them all the time still running.

Its funny how Jiffy AND SM both use Tecumseh motors, but the SM didnt last? LOL

[Esox_Magnum]

I see many augers every time out that 10-15 even 20 years old of all brands. My first auger was an older Eskimo with the old bike handles, worked well for along time and far as I know still working for someone, after that a Lazer Mag ( not the express the older version) and that thing was an amazing auger and would still have it and be using it if it wasn't stolen, got a Mag 2000 to replace that one and what a difference, that thing was and still is a POS. When I decided to replace the 2000 I was planning on getting the Strikelite but just by chance the local shop had a Nils, since my broher had one and spoke highly of them I decided to take a chance and been happy ever since. For me the light weight and reliability of the Tanakas won over the new and unproven reliability of the Strikemasters and Jiffys as I knew they were going to be changing motors and after the 2000 another Techmse wasnt an option. Someday if myNils dies before I do I may switch but thats along long ways down the road.

[thatoneguy]

every SM I have ever seen is light weight but cuts really slow and you have to push down on them.

If it cuts slow it's probably *because* you're pushing down on it. With a SM all you have to do is hold it straight and let the blades do the work - no pushing required.

[ozzie]

I am a strikemaster guy and it will be the only brand I go with. I have used Jiffy augers and Eskimo and I say the SM is faster than those brands. I don't know what Acemac is seeing or who he is fishing with but SM augers are easy to cut with and take little to no pressure to cut a hole and if the blades are sharpe the SM augers great!!!

[Surface Tension]

When I fish out of the perm I have to drill in old holes. Been using the Nils for that and it works just fine. Before that I used my SM Mag 3 with one chipper blade and it worked fine too.

Here is a Nils in an old hole with the Hogger.

[FrontenacPike]

If your still looking for the fastest

[croixflats]

I put Vaseline on my bit every time to have the edge over the guy a half mile away. I know he is watching.

[SFC]

I knew u were useing something, I thought it was pam. My nils did about 80 going to the lake last friday.

[Surface Tension]

I can't watch that video enough, just wish it was edited down to 10 seconds.

I think what is important is to keep what you have in good working order.

I'm not too impressed on the new shinny things money can buy.

Its the older stuff that has been around and kept up that impresses me.

[Acemac]

took him forever to start that thing..... I would have 10 holes down before he started his super fast SM. testing in 4 inch of ice is fail also!

[tsande00]

took him forever to start that thing..... I would have 10 holes down before he started his super fast SM. testing in 4 inch of ice is fail also!

LOL - took forevever...Riiight. Actually took him exactly 7 seconds to start.

That thing is awesome. It is so modified that it doesn't really matter what brand it is anyways. Sweet auger.

[IceKing72]

Ive beat a strikemaster Lazer mag express with my old blue mora hand auger with 12 inches of ice. not even kidding

[McGurk]

Ive beat a strikemaster Lazer mag express with my old blue mora hand auger with 12 inches of ice. not even kidding

Maybe on the first hole, but not the tenth hole! Maybe not even on the second hole!

[tsande00]

WOw, those Strike Masters must be really slow augers.

I'm betting it takes about 7 seconds to go through 18" of ice. Either you are one hell of a hand driller, or that dude had some banged up blades.