Strikemaster Electric augers

[BuschPilot]

How do people like the strikemaster augers. do they drill well, i just ordered me one and have not seen them run or work. whats the pros and cons to them. this one has the battery pack, looks like the big volt doesn't have the battery built into it. any thoughts. thanks

[MinnGuy]

Mine works great. It's nice to flip the switch and go. Bring an extra battery if really cold out or you want a bunch of 24 inch depth holes.

[ClownColor]

Pros:

No adding gas

No spilling (vehicles/ clothing)

No fumes in wheel house

Push button start (no broke ropes)

Always starts

Can add to external power source for more holes

Cons:

Plastic handles like every other strikemaster so plan on fixing them

20 holes (per charge) during a typical winter months...if not less

hooking up to external power source sucks..not very functional

If thinking of swapping batteries to get more holes...it's a pain

Heavy(er)

Good for wheel house ONLY

If you have to "find" the fish...good luck

If thinking of saving money on gas, guess again, batteries arond $30 and need to be replace atleast every 3rd year if not every other

After 3 years I'm ditching mine...can't beat the old relaible gas augers that can drill hundreds of holes...hundreds...on one gallon of gas! More diverse. I'll take a few minutes of exhaust in the house for more flexible fishing...run and gun.

Unless you plan on buying two augers and having one atleast being gas, I never do it unless ALL my fishing was from a wheel house!

[westrush]

Best Auger out there work every time And No Smoke

[Finlander]

I have both the gas Lazer and the electric lazer and for me drilling holes in the permanent with the electric is the only way to go! Can't stand smelling like a snowmobile hours on end with making holes from the gas auger. I have the gas auger for outside drilling when run and gun fishing.

Works for me, plus if you dull your auger blades, you'll always have a backup!

Also early ice the electric auger works great for drill multiple holes thru the thin ice

[CoorsCaptain]

Will the Electric Lazer reopen holes?

[Finlander]

Yes they do re-open holes, the trick is when re-opening the holes is not to take a too big of a bite while drilling, meaning, don't push down on the auger at all, it's best to hold the auger so it's just touching the ice. After drilling the last two years with my Electra, that is what works best with the Lazer blades!

[pushbutton]

Pros and cons to most things in life and Clown Color laid them out well. I sit warm and toasty in a house most of the winter, am bad at maintenance, and dumber than a box of rocks when it comes to try to fixing something, so it is by far a good choice for me. For the people who like to be cold, are slightly mechanically inclined, prize their cylinder index, have ADD......and like to catch more fish.....gas is probably a better way to go

[HuntFishDude]

Anybody use the Strikemaster big Volt with 10.25 hole?

I guess the big difference in what you get is no power source with the big Volt and of course the hole size. Looks like the volt is same weight as the 6" electra... Big volt is 120 RPM while electra is 90 RPM...

http://strikemaster.com/bigvolt_auger.html

http://strikemaster.com/electra_lazer.html

I have a gas auger for outside, definitely want a fishouse only electric version...

[pushbutton]

I did get to try one and was a tough decision for me. The volt has more snort and a better stock blade for reopening holes. I was able to always reopen my holes, but have a feeling one day that eclectra is going to get stuck in a hole, unless i buy a chipper blade Another reason did not get the volt last year was that it was it's first season and thought it would be better to let whatever bugs be worked out with the first seasons run. And yes, portability was also a factor. If you already have a reliable gas, would probably lean towards the big volt.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I really like the idea of an electric auger, but the one I used bit REALLY hard at the bottom of the hole. They have so much torque that it almost put the handle through the fish house wall. It may have been this individual auger, but it was brand new.

[CoorsCaptain]

A couple of years ago some of the LazerMags would bite at the bottom of the hole. It was because they were shipped out with blades that were made in China. Strikemaster would swap out the blades if you had the ones from China.

[BLACKJACK]

I really like the idea of an electric auger, but the one I used bit REALLY hard at the bottom of the hole. They have so much torque that it almost put the handle through the fish house wall. It may have been this individual auger, but it was brand new.

Bingo!!! You better be holding on tight when it hits the bottom of the hole!! And when the battery is running down, it will actually stop the auger when you hit bottom.

Electric auger was nice for the no fumes but not a lot of capacity, if you're drilling a few holes to find fish, better have a spare big battery with.