Best auger

[adamr]

I own a jiffy lite and 2 of my buddies each bought a new auger one bought a ion the other a strike master Honda I've now ran all 3 and my honest opinion is the strike master my jiffy lite starts ok about 5 pulls when cold 1 or 2 when warm . Way under powered for me. It cuts alot of holes on a tank of propane the ion is good except when he went to show us a piece of plastic busted off the handle cuts good better than the lite. The Honda about pulls your arms off makes drilling alot of fun the thing idled upside down . You just needed to prime it a bit when cold .seems a little plastic the on off switch seems cheap but man it cuts like butter. I can't wait to run it again.

[polarispro600]

I just bought a jiffy lite 4 and love it. It is a little under powered but I guess drilling holes isn't a race for me. I did notice that when it is really cold the blade ices up quickly and only let's you drill 5 inches or so before you have to clean the blade off.overall I'm happy with it and glad I don't have to deal with gas anymore. Have drilled about 70 holes on the same tank of propane and still going.

[fishinnut_3446]

Love my Pro4! Pro4 lite not so much Took both the ones I had tried back

(Posted problems on other thread)

Ended up getting a 8" Nils, one thing I got to say is why did I wait so long ! Now I know why the Nils guy's are so happy.

[dfeste]

I'm figuring this is a thread about irony. Anytime you mention anything about the best auger and don't include Nils it must be a joke.

[Greenhornet84]

Obviously you forgot about the Eskimo stingray!

[dan z]

Strike-lite all the way for me. Light quiet and drills really nice with a 8" 224 bit underneath it. Buddies solo burns through ice like butter with the same bit only 10" . Trolling is our favorite thing to do

[Bob Hicks]

NILS! Nothing else comes close.

[cableguy2]

Mine is

[gonehunting]

I'd take on your Nils with my Strikemaster Solo Lazer Pro any day.

[fishingstar]

I'll take my mag III any day

it's old and slow but it runs great

Dan

[highlife4me]

It will be interesting to see if the new augers of today will last 20 - 30 years or more like the old Jiffys, Eskimos and Strikemasters of yesterday. I don't ever plan on replacing my old 10" Eskimo with the 3 hp Tecumseh with another gas auger but I wouldn't mind an electic for the wheel house.

[FISHINGURU]

I'd take on your Nils with my Strikemaster Solo Lazer Pro any day.

The Strikemaster Lazer Pro is the most bad a$$, I like it more then my Nils.

[hamms-scooter]

I ran a strikemaster, jiffy stealth, and now a Nils/Tanaka. I have no reason to change again. Super light, faster then any other, quiet, oh and 7 yr warranty. Tanaka makes a great product. They all have there place and strong points the Nils just covers all the bases for me.

[aanderud]

I'd take on your Nils with my Strikemaster Solo Lazer Pro any day.

[hamms-scooter]

Sorry to hear that. Plastic is a bad word. I know some guys that run the Tanaka with an adapter to run a Mora hand auger. Clean holes and fast! Bee on this site has access to adapter. Good luck with the lazer hope you get it repaired soon and have good buddys with augers

[hawkeye43]

NILS! Nothing else comes close.

Nils are OK, If you like dipping the ice out of holes

[FISHINGURU]

My Nils liked to leak gas out of every where and the gas tank came apart at the seams.

Like I've said in the past you get good and bad augers in every brand, sometimes it's how you take care of them sometimes you have the ones that malfunction.

Customer service from Nils left alot to be desired for me and I don't like the fact they don't make a 10". Your also in bad shape if you hit some dirty ice because she won't cut anymore and no one sells heads anywhere. Pretty much every bait shop or store in this state sells Strikemaster blades. A guy should have a spare head or a spare set of blades with anyway but sometimes you don't.

Nils started everytime but I haven't owned an auger yet that hasn't. The long shaft was nice because you never needed an extension but these days you rarely need one so the extra length just takes up extra space. The holes are narrow so even the 8" is smaller then a normal 8" auger.

I would try Nils again if they make a 10" but they probably never will. So far so good with the Lazer Pro 10", hopefully this is one of them tough ones that last 10-20 yrs.

[aanderud]

Like I've said in the past you get good and bad augers in every brand, sometimes it's how you take care of them sometimes you have the ones that malfunction.

...

So far so good with the Lazer Pro 10", hopefully this is one of them tough ones that last 10-20 yrs.

You're right -- you can get good and bad with any brand. But the odds of bad go up quickly when they start using plastic parts in the gearbox. If you want to get 20 years out of your lazer pro, you will need to either hang it up on the wall and skip drilling or replace the plastic parts with metal ones.

[ClownColor]

I'd take on your Nils my Strikemaster Solo Lazer Pro any day.

I'm not a name brander by any means but I made the switch from strikemaster to nils this season.. In fact, I'll take ANY auger over strickmaster. Anyone that thinks plastic components will last will be buying a new auger we'll before any Eskimo (non plastic model), jiffy, or nils owner. And if your worried about weight, the nils is super light weight, cuts like butter, extremely reliable, metal components, so I don't get why anyone who has the money to spend won't just buy the nils and get it over with. Oh, and the power head comes off and attaches to a hand crank for early/late seasons.

I guess after buying 3 plastic handles and sitting home with another cracked throttle assembly, I'll NEVER give strike master my business again, for anything they sell...they made "my list."

[gonehunting]

Seriously, what are you doing to break three handles and a throttle assembly. I've owned Strikemaster ever since the plastic handles came out and have never broken one. Also another reason I don't own a Nils is because they don't offer a 10" auger. Glad to hear you are having success with your Nils.

[ClownColor]

Seriously, what are you doing to break three handles and a throttle assembly. I've owned Strikemaster ever since the plastic handles came out and have never broken one. Also another reason I don't own a Nils is because they don't offer a 10" auger. Glad to hear you are having success with your Nils.

1) replacing battery in electra lazer. auger slipped in garage landing on handle.

2)walking on ice two seasons ago when we had no snow. Slipped and fell on my back, auger landing on my stomach...broken

3)auger in sled being pulled by snowmobile. Bump...broken handle.

4)throttle broke from slipping on ice

[CaptainMusky]

Yeah because those incidents are manufacturer issues and problems with the material.???? I suppose I could blame them for the bent blade on my auger when it fell off the front of my ATV and ran it over. Yeah that makes sense.

When I drill 35 or more holes in a day I don't want something that's 30 pounds.

My strike master laser hasn't let me down yet other than the crappy gas lines which I replaced.

[ClownColor]

Hey...go drop any other auger and see what happens... bet it won't cost u $50. When I drop good money on something, it had netter handle ice fishing abuse. Besides, I dropped my phone today and nothing happened.

To each their own. If u had good luck with your plasticmaster then I wouldn't look else where either.

[gonehunting]

I wasn't expecting you to admit it was owner caused issues. I bought a $35 case for my cellphone just to protect my $200 investment. You really think you should be able to drop your auger and expect things not to break. I hope everyone else has a different train of thought. I can't believe that someone would give a review on a product based on this type of incident. Hold your vexilar 4ft in the air and drop it on the ice. You'll probably go buy a Marcum then. Instead of a $650 auger you may need a $7 pair of ice cleats. Really?

[aquafang]

Yeah because those incidents are manufacturer issues and problems with the material.???? I suppose I could blame them for the bent blade on my auger when it fell off the front of my ATV and ran it over. Yeah that makes sense.

When I drill 35 or more holes in a day I don't want something that's 30 pounds.

My strike master laser hasn't let me down yet other than the crappy gas lines which I replaced.

I agree those are not manufacturer problems, but i think what Clown Color is trying to get at is that "stuff" happens and when it does, it is nice to have equipment that will hold up and not send u packing and reaching for your wallet.