Ice Gator

[blakeb]

they were all the buzz a year or two ago and i dont think that i seen a single mention of them this year, were they just hype? Did they go out of business?

[Steve Foss]

Look here for one thread. There are other threads as well.

[tsande00]

From what I've gathered on another forum they are still around and better than ever. They newer ones can be ordered with the Lithium Ion battery that dramatically reduces weight and increases run time.

Very spending units though.

[Northlander]

Still out there and better than ever. If I ever decide to go battery powered I will go with a Ice Gator. Put a Nils cutting auger on there and its the best of both worlds.

[pulleye16]

I think people are realizing that battery is NOT the way to go for most fishermen. Unless you can punch 50-100 holes through 2 feet, gas is the only way to go!

[Great Outdoors]

they were all the buzz a year or two ago and i dont think that i seen a single mention of them this year, were they just hype? Did they go out of business?

Nope, they're still in business.

I just bought one three weeks ago and put an 8 inch Nils auger on it, works great!

[Steve Foss]

Put a Nils cutting auger on there and its the best of both worlds.

That's what I did. Couldn't be happier with the combo.

[jwmiller33]

I think people are realizing that battery is NOT the way to go for most fishermen. Unless you can punch 50-100 holes through 2 feet, gas is the only way to go!

If you have a Snobear, you will realize that gas is not the way to go unless you want to be breathing fumes for the entire day. We don't have a ice gator, but we have a 36 volt dewalt hammer drill and it drills FAST. We had a 'drill off' on LOTW between our 1 year old Strikemaster Magnum (10 inch) and the 36 volt dewalt with a 7 inch Strikemaster Lazer and the battery drill beat the gas drill by a lot. We have 4 batteries and have never burned thru all of them in an entire day, and being that we are in a snobear, we move around A LOT more than the average fisherman. For the record, we bring both the strikemaster gas auger and the battery operated dewalt out with us when we go on trips, and the gas auger never gets used.

As for the ice gator, I have heard nothing but positive remarks from people who have them. I think one of the reasons you don't hear much about them is that people who have them have absolutely zero issues with them. There are a lot less things that can go wrong on a battery operated auger compared to a gas auger. Another benefit is you don't have to let the auger "warm up". Heck, you don't even have to get it started, just start drillin!

[Steve Foss]

I have the IceGator a couple years old that runs on two of the Vexilar/Marcum style batteries. I can get about 40 holes through 2 feet of ice on a charge. And I bring a second set along as backups. It's a rare day I drill 80 holes. In fact, it's a rare day, even guiding, that I drill 30 holes.

And I also keep an inverter on the truck when using the truck on the ice so I can recharge the IG instead of swapping the batteries. I haven't had to rely on either backup yet. For me, still much nicer than a gas auger, and the newest generation IGs are even more efficient. With a sharp Nils drill, you'll get more holes per charge than the auger is rated for.

[jwmiller33]

A few more notes about battery operated augers:

- no gas to buy (major plus right now given gas prices)

- no oil to buy and mix

- no recoils to break

- no spark plugs to change

- no engine to get flooded

- no fumes/exhaust in fishhouse

- no trouble getting it started on really cold days

- have reverse gear for clearing slush out of hole

don't get me wrong, I love my strikemaster gas auger.... But when I have both of them sitting right there, I always grab the battery operated one for two main reasons:

1) it's easier

2) it's faster

[pulleye16]

I agree with most but if you use it for your permy or "Snowbear", then an electric is good. But other then that it serves no benefits. You pay WAY more up front cost. Batteries cost WAY more then gas EVER will (people claim "never have to buy gas again" but the cost of a battery $25 will go bad before you'd hit $25 in gas on an auger). You still have to maintain batteries and there usually only good for a couple years. You can't come close to punching the amount of holes gas can.

I HAVE an electric auger and it has its place but it doesn't take away the gas auger. Nothing worse then drilling 20 holes and you still can't find the fish and your auger is dead.

I guess I see it like buying a shotgun. Would you buy and all-around 12 gauge or a specialty .410? I guess it depends what your going after huh? But you can do most anything with the 12 gauge!

[jwmiller33]

You have a valid point, but stating electric costs WAY more up front than a gas auger is simply not true. Our 36 volt dewalt drill cost less than our 2010 Strikemaster Magnum and our 2009 Jiffy (all bought brand new). Not to mention that we have had absolutely zero problems arise from the battery operated auger, whereas we had recoil issues with the Strikemaster and the Jiffy has been a pain to get started at times. Does this problem happen frequently? No, it was a one time issue with the Strikemaster, but the point remains, there are a lot more problems that can go wrong with a gas engine (dirty carbs, gas lines, recoils, sparkplugs, starting the engine, etc) than an electric.

One point remains, like I said earlier, when we go on trips we bring both the electric AND the gas auger(that includes when we fish out of portables) and the gas auger never gets touched. The battery operated auger is a) FASTER and EASIER. When it comes to ice fishing, being faster and easier is what it's all about. I don't know what kind of electric auger you have but we have drilled over 100 holes in a day and never burned thru all 4 batteries with our electric.

[buzbunni]

From what I've gathered on another forum they are still around and better than ever. They newer ones can be ordered with the Lithium Ion battery that dramatically reduces weight and increases run time.

Very spending units though.

My experience with Lithium Ion batteries in cold weather is not good.

Perhaps it is not a problem with larger batteries, but on battery powered tools like cordless drills, etc., L-ion is completely worthless in cold weather conditions.

[Neighbor_guy]

I have seen Steves Gator and I will have one like it (Li gator and 8" Nills bit). My brother has a gator with a Stike Master chipper bit. It is good too.

This past weekend was my first real experience with one on a trip. I ran into a flaw, that was an example of an "I wish I had the Jiffy" moment.... We made the trip out to Bridges and back cross country. (27 miles 1 way) It was a bit of a rough ride with all the roads that had to be crossed. Anyway's even though the gator was on the charger overnight and everything looked good it struggled and eventually died the next day after only 8 holes. (it was 40"+ of ice) Turns out the terminals got loose and the connections were bad so it did not get a charge. Something to look out for in the future. This was not a HUGE issue, just something to watch out for. When I re-did the conections and wires last night I was able to just pull the terminal conecters off with my fingers. They could have done a better job of that, mabe even solder them.

But, if I did have my Jiffy Mod. 30 in the sled on the same trip, I would have had gas spilled all over everything. Been there, done that, have the t-shirt, and the stains on the fishouse canvas to proove it.

I will still buy one....

[Jimmy from Cottage Grove]

I just got a brand new one attacker two its not as great as I thought it would be. I have a strike master lazer bit. The gas auger is way faster. Its nice for fumes in the wheel house but I wouldnt use it any other time.

[jerkbait]

Neighbor_guy, what size chipper bit does he have?

[Great Outdoors]

I don't know which auger you were running Jiffy or NilsMaster, but the Gator people told me the most efficient cutting is with a Nils. You get about half the holes with a chipper blade. So about 8 holes in 40+ inches of ice isn't too far off if you consider that a Nils should get about 28-30 holes through 28 inches of ice, cut it in half for a Jiffy makes it 14-15, then decrease the number when adding the extra 10-12 inches in ice thickness.

[jwmiller33]

This past weekend was my first real experience with one on a trip. I ran into a flaw, that was an example of an "I wish I had the Jiffy" moment.... We made the trip out to Bridges and back cross country. (27 miles 1 way) It was a bit of a rough ride with all the roads that had to be crossed. Anyway's even though the gator was on the charger overnight and everything looked good it struggled and eventually died the next day after only 8 holes. (it was 40"+ of ice) Turns out the terminals got loose and the connections were bad so it did not get a charge. Something to look out for in the future. This was not a HUGE issue, just something to watch out for. When I re-did the conections and wires last night I was able to just pull the terminal conecters off with my fingers. They could have done a better job of that, mabe even solder them.

the list of flaws for electric augers is a lot shorter than the list for gas augers

[Steve Foss]

I don't know which auger you were running Jiffy or NilsMaster, but the Gator people told me the most efficient cutting is with a Nils. You get about half the holes with a chipper blade.

Yup.

Look, battery augers aren't for everyone. Of those commercially available, Ice Gator has the edge in ability to drill more holes than the competition, all other things being equal.

But you still will come up against limitations in how long the batteries will last. It's the nature of the game. I have a first-gen Ice Gator Attacker w/8 inch Nils drill, and I fish lakers on lakes that rarely have 2 full feet of ice on them. I have over 30 specific locations GPSd on my home laker lake, all proven spots that hold fish. The only other kind of ice fishing I do very much is early season pike, and for that the ice is thin enough that I save weight and just use the hand Nils. In other words, I don't need to explore with the auger to find lakers, and when I'm out in summer with the boat and electronics, that's when I search out and GPS more locations.

I say this to illustrate that, for me, 20 holes in a day is a lot of holes unless I've got four or more clients who want to move around. In these circumstances, I'll take the Ice Gator all day every day, and will bring along a backup set of batteries just in case. If I was a panfish guy and needed to punch 100-200 holes in a day, the Ice Gator would not be in my repertoire.

All the advantages of battery over gas have been hashed out, as well as the disadvantages, so I'm not going to repeat all that.

Also, the newest Gators are better than mine. And they'll keep getting better and better as the technology continues to improve.

And, lastly, it's like anything else you see. Lots of folks commenting on equipment they haven't used. They assume they know how it would be if they owned an Ice Gator, and so they feel free to comment about it. Now, maybe some people make correct assumptions part of the time about gear they haven't used, but many, many times more often, actually using the piece of equipment in question opens a lot of eyes in surprise.

I've turned quite a few sneers into grimaces over the last couple of seasons when guys I was fishing with had augers that were hard to start or had to warm up in cold weather. By the time they were drilling their first hole, I was done with mine and was already fishing. And then when I point my thumb at the Ice Gator and say "go for it," those grimaces turn to reluctant smiles.

[jwmiller33]

Well said Steve

[Big A]

+ 1

dont knock it till you try it. I love the ice gator. I couldnt sell my Jiffy Stealth fast enough after using the ice gator for the first time.

I am a gator for life. No doubt.

[Big A]

Neighbor_guy, what size chipper bit does he have?

8" Strikemaster Chipper Blade. Not the hand auger size either.. but the "full" blade used on their gas models.

By the sounds of it and just for sheer fun, I may have to look into a NILS. then I can have the chipper blade for re-opening holes. and a NILS for ripping new ones.

[Surface Tension]

You won't get near the amount of holes with a chipper blade vs a Nils blade using an electric auger.

It comes down to a matter of which blade will cut a hole needing less torque to turn the blade and speed of cut.

A Nils blade hands down will out perform any blade on the market there.

The only reason to open an old hole is if you have a perm and a Nils will do that just fine.

I've seen the Gator in action with a Nils blade and it cuts very well. IMO they are a perfect match.

Not only does the torque and speed of cut factor have a direct effect on how many holes you can drill with an electric but MOST importantly is the load which in turn is heat your putting on the motor, switches, wires connections, and relays.

Heat is the killer on those components.

The more the load + time = more heat and will shorten the life of that $500 investment and one more reason I'd recommend using a Nils blade. Even with that combination I wouldn't recommend drilling hole after hole, after hole with an electric.

Dull blades with a gas powerhead isn't the end of the world but dull blades on an electric isn't doing the motor any favors either.

.

[Big A]

allrighty.. you guys got me diggin for cuz it seems I will be in the market for a NILS blade.

Any good location to find one? or is it best to wait for the ice fishing show next year?

[Surface Tension]

If you start looking in Nov you'll find one on problem. If you buy a used Nils or one from a bargain bin just remember I'll be there for you. All kidding aside I've never been so happy to get into sharpening the Nils blades and being associated with Nils Master.

Every blade I get is like opening a package at Christmas and then I get to send it back, cutting like it should.