eskimo z71

[slick2526]

anyone own one? for how long? any problems? any reason you wouldnt buy one again?

[PurpleFloyd]

I have a Z51 that I bought last year. They upgraded the handles after I bought mine so they are more durable.

As with pretty much all of the augers, they are not the units they used to be in that the motors,which used to me made domestically and last decades, are now made in Asia and do not have the track record and my guess is they don't have the longevity that the older ones did.

[slick2526]

i hear you about the motors. It seems nils is the only one that has stuck with the same brand. Do you have any idea the brand of the motor? I would like to do some research on the company.

[PurpleFloyd]

Not sure of the parent company. Artisdam (Eskimo parent company in Wisconsin ) is importing and rebranding them as Eskimo but you can buy the same auger in Canada in green paint under a different name and I have even seen them offered In an earth auger configuration. If you poke around google searching for viper Chinese auger motor you will turn up some info on it.

Sadly it is a sign of the times. Consumers want lower prices, companies want higher profits and the result is a shift from manufacturing quality products domestically to branding imported products and be oming a distributor.consumers for the most part are willing to sacrifice long term durability for a lower initial price.

[fish_eat_sleep]

You can buy the 43cc mako engine from a scooter parts store online for $99! Its a SCOOTER motor too! Thats how you know its good!

Even the jiffy 2 strokes have a Chinese company name on the serial number sticker. Its one thing to be designed well in USA, Germany, or another well known engineering place, and manufactured elsewhere to the companies standards. Apple makes world class stuff in china for example, with strict regulation by apple. Same goes for many other US and European companies.

Sounds like Eskimo and jiffy are Chinese built AND Chinese designed. (the Solo on strike masters are Chinese built) but even the online parts manuals have some german print and german details in them.

[fisherman-andy]

You can buy the 43cc mako engine from a scooter parts store online for $99! Its a SCOOTER motor too! Thats how you know its good!

Even the jiffy 2 strokes have a Chinese company name on the serial number sticker. Its one thing to be designed well in USA, Germany, or another well known engineering place, and manufactured elsewhere to the companies standards. Apple makes world class stuff in china for example, with strict regulation by apple. Same goes for many other US and European companies.

Sounds like Eskimo and jiffy are Chinese built AND Chinese designed. (the Solo on strike masters are Chinese built) but even the online parts manuals have some german print and german details in them.

Well said. The over played made in "China" is bad or junk is getting tiresome to hear. Being made in another Country or China does not equal junk as long as their are quality control and design material standards.

[PurpleFloyd]

Not to send this to the level of silly town but if you read the news lately you would find Apple doesn't have as tight a control on what goes on in those factories as you might think. But I am sure those teenagers working terrible hours for peanuts are well trained and putting out a great product.

[fisherman-andy]

Not to send this to the level of silly town but if you read the news lately you would find Apple doesn't have as tight a control on what goes on in those factories as you might think. But I am sure those teenagers working terrible hours for peanuts are well trained and putting out a great product.

You be surprise, if not Apple then the Manufacturer themselves have strict control to please Apple to ensure production is met. If their not able to meet these criteria there's is no way they are going to be able to hold onto a conglomerate like Apple or other tech giants companies.

[PurpleFloyd]

Not to send this to the level of silly town but if you read the news lately you would find Apple doesn't have as tight a control on what goes on in those factories as you might think. But I am sure those teenagers working terrible hours for peanuts are well trained and putting out a great product.

[slick2526]

I guess what really has me interested in the eskimo is the few videos of them cutting compared against other augers and it blows them out the water. I am really trying to to figure out why and how they can sell similar model auger $200.00 less then a strikemaster or a jiffy.

Its nice having a local warranty center. For some reason I am just not sold on the strikermaster power auger flighting/blade system. I have read a lot of post's about people losing their blades and the pitch of the blade being a effected for no apparent reason.

I dont know how the new jiffy's are now. I am not completely sold on the propane model's yet and I think I will be sticking with mixed gas. It seem's a lot of jiffy's I have seen come new from the factory run great and never have a problem from day one. Or they have problems idling and keeping running when in the middle of drilling. I dont know how many I have seen just quit in the middle of drilling with auger is trying to open all the way up.

I am willing to take the chance on the z71 mainly because I have heard that eskimo has awesome customer service.