Remember the Ice Gator? Anyone have/use one?

[Hawg]

Any of you guys have an honest answer?7

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Well I'll tell you after first ice. I needed new batteries for my 18volt dewalt. Ended up getting a charger 2 batteries and another dewalt drill new for $89 in a kit. If I bought the two batteries alone they were were $99.

So I bought a clam drill plate for $45 new, plan on putting my 18volt dewalt on it with an 8in HT shaver bit. Should be nice and light when putting in portable. I really Don't care if I only get 10-15 holes out of a battery. Or if it isn't the fastest. Just want something light weight to pull in shack, and usually drill maybe 10-15 holes when i go out, since the lakes down here are small and have the good spots GPS marked.

If it doesnt work figured i needed the dewalt batteries anyway, and got a free drill and charger with the kit. Plus I'm sure I could resell the clam plate for $40 after a light trial use of it.

[Smellson]

I've got an ice gator. Had to send it in for repairs to the push buttons after the first year and this past year I had another failure with the power button which resulting in me breaking my hand. Auger bit got stuck in the hole and the power button didn't disengage when I let go of it so ending up smashing my hand when the motor head started spinning. Push button no longer works...no response from the company. Love electric augers but my next will not be from ice gator

[DTro]

The new 50V Strikemaster Lithium looks pretty impressive.

23lbs and 56 8"holes in 24" ice on a single charge.

[JoeMX1825]

Well I'll tell you after first ice. I needed new batteries for my 18volt dewalt. Ended up getting a charger 2 batteries and another dewalt drill new for $89 in a kit. If I bought the two batteries alone they were were $99.

So I bought a clam drill plate for $45 new, plan on putting my 18volt dewalt on it with an 8in HT shaver bit. Should be nice and light when putting in portable. I really Don't care if I only get 10-15 holes out of a battery. Or if it isn't the fastest. Just want something light weight to pull in shack, and usually drill maybe 10-15 holes when i go out, since the lakes down here are small and have the good spots GPS marked.

If it doesnt work figured i needed the dewalt batteries anyway, and got a free drill and charger with the kit. Plus I'm sure I could resell the clam plate for $40 after a light trial use of it.

The Clam plate will eat cheap drills for breakfast, expect it to start smoking after the first few holes. You need the contractor quality Lion drills, they aren't cheap. As a former clam plate owner, i know from experiance.. Now if you stick to ealry ice, it should last alot longer..

[Hawg]

Dtro, remember though the SM will probably have lazer blades and if you nick them or dull them they're done. The Ion is pretty foolproof after 2 years of use for me so far. I've never got that long out of two sets of lazers. The Ion is more like hand drill blades and doesn't have that curve that lazers do.

[pushbutton]

Yep, what they do for the cut will be interesting. One of the biggest issues with the newer electras were those durn blades. If you put on a chipper it was actually a decent unit. Maybe the extra snort will help the issue...dunno....we'll see.

[B-man715]

That Strikemaster looks like a nice unit.

But if you're reopening old holes or partially frozen holes...... no es bueno .........

[WalleyeVision]

I'm going into my 4th season with the Gator Lithium Ion battery. No complaints so far. I use it on Lake of the Woods in my wheel house and love the power and lack of fumes.

The only time I ever ran out of juice was when I was drilling holes for a church outing on Lake of the Woods in late season and only one other guy showed up with an auger. I ended up drilling 18 holes and could barely reach through with the extension, but it was slowing down on that last hole. My buddy has an ION and the power and number of holes you can drill is nowhere near comparable to what the Gator is able to do through deep ice.