Any companies making a 10in hand auger?

[Agronomist_at_IA]

With the clam plate and electric drills pushing 1200in/lbs plus and clam having the gear box, are any companies coming out with 10in hand augers? I know nils has one, but they are about like finding a unicorn.....and expensive. 

I'd like to get one just for the wheel house, so when it's cold a guy's hole doesn't ice closed so fast.

Edited August 2, 2017 by Agronomist_at_IA

[Billy G]

Think an ion with their bigger battery might be the way to go instead for you

[Agronomist_at_IA]

8 minutes ago, Billy G said:

Think an ion with their bigger battery might be the way to go instead for you

 

Reports of Ion augers trying to turn a ten inch are poor at best. I did talk with a guy that put a 10in nils on a clam plate with a 1200in lb Milwaukee that was happy with it. Didn't say how much ice he cut through though.

Edited August 2, 2017 by Agronomist_at_IA

[bobbymalone]

Will the drill plate thing work with a chipper blade?  I didn't think anybody had shaver blades on a 10inch, but I also haven't been looking for one.

 

Why a hand auger?  You can buy just the bit for a power auger.  I bought an 8 inch Lazer bit just so I can swap out the 10 on my Strike master if weight is an issue.

[YettiStyle]

Go with the Eskimo HC40.  4-stroke and any fumes are gone before you're done scooping out your holes.  Electric is nice if you're wanting to just push a button and drill but the HC40 will outlast any electric comparison, specially when you step up to a 10" auger. 

[Agronomist_at_IA]

12 hours ago, Billy G said:

Think an ion with their bigger battery might be the way to go instead for you

 

My uncle has an Ion. Tried it. It is not bad for an 8in bit, but if you try the 10in bit u can get on them it is way underpowered for the 10in bit. Also the batteries are expensive for them, and the handles stick out and get in the way when trying to drill some of the holes. I think the biggest battery is a 5ah, the original came with a 4ah. The batteries are expensive, and it cuts somewhat slow.

 

I found the 1200in/lb Milwaukee drill on a clam plate to be a lot easier to fit into tight corners in the wheel house. I have two batteries that came with it (5ah) and can take the drill off it and put a bit in it to raise my wheel house up so I don't have to crank it. Plus it's super light weight. I've already got all of it, and just looking for a 10in light weight hand auger so when it's cold out the holes don't freeze closed so fast, same for the tip up holes. If I could find a decent 10in hand auger, I'd probly get the 9ah battery to up the amount of holes I could cut if I was going out to find fish. I'm guessing a clam plate/Milwaukee/10in hand auger would be around 20 lbs. I think my setup plate/milwaukee/8in nils is about 15lbs. I doubt any 10in setup would be lighter. 

 

 

[Agronomist_at_IA]

10 hours ago, bobbymalone said:

Will the drill plate thing work with a chipper blade?  I didn't think anybody had shaver blades on a 10inch, but I also haven't been looking for one.

 

Why a hand auger?  You can buy just the bit for a power auger.  I bought an 8 inch Lazer bit just so I can swap out the 10 on my Strike master if weight is an issue.

 

Power auger bits are built heavy. I don't think the drill could handle a heavy power auger bit. I know mora had an old 10in shaver they made and nils has a 10in they sell. Problem is a 10in nils would be $200+ and $99+ for a spare cutting head. Right now I'm looking for an old 10in mora hand auger, but can't find one.

8 hours ago, YettiStyle said:

Go with the Eskimo HC40.  4-stroke and any fumes are gone before you're done scooping out your holes.  Electric is nice if you're wanting to just push a button and drill but the HC40 will outlast any electric comparison, specially when you step up to a 10" auger. 

 

I've ran plenty of gas & propane augers. Once I went electric i can go back.

[Billy G]

I've got a jiffy pro 4 lite 8in and it has never seemed under powered to me, my father has a 8in ion with the original battery and hasn't let him down on power, going to a 10 in is gunna cut down on power and battery either way. I'd find a nice used older 2 stoke with a 10 in and get either electric or propane 10 in for re opening if I was In your shoes.

[bobbymalone]

47 minutes ago, Agronomist_at_IA said:

 

I don't think the drill could handle a heavy power auger bit. 

Didn't know that.  That sucks, 10 inch hand augers seem tough to come by, probably on account of being waaay too much for actual hand use.  

 

Good luck, man.   Also, I appreciate that you basically singlehandly keep the ice fishing forum alive year round.

Edited August 3, 2017 by bobbymalone

[Agronomist_at_IA]

3 hours ago, Billy G said:

I've got a jiffy pro 4 lite 8in and it has never seemed under powered to me, my father has a 8in ion with the original battery and hasn't let him down on power, going to a 10 in is gunna cut down on power and battery either way. I'd find a nice used older 2 stoke with a 10 in and get either electric or propane 10 in for re opening if I was In your shoes.

 

I'm a little confused with this post. I never said the ion or jiffy were under powered with 8in augers. The Ion battery will cut a nice amount of holes. However if you do a lot of hole jumping you'll need more then one battery. Reports of guys who had original ions really had complaints on the power not really being able to turn a 10in auger. 

 

So why would I want an old 2 stroke with a 10in and a propane or electric 10in? 

[Billy G]

I just mentioned the 8 in one's for example because it was mentioned that a ion with a 10" bit wouldn't last long, and someone mentioned a propane option. I shoulda explained better but more or less I was saying if you have a Older 2 stroke 10 in or newer for that matter you can let that augur do the brunt of your drilling, searching, and hoping with out having to worry about drill batteries until you set up shop and then it would be alot easier for a ion or propane to reopen holes. But that just means you have to have 2 augurs which alot of people don't want and if you already have a good drill and battery then you almost already have what ya needed. 

[monstermoose78]

My uncle has one of those rare 10 inch mora hand augers. He uses it when he goes into the bwca for lake trout. I will see if any of his buddies want to sell theirs. You could use a strike master laser 10 inch for a gas auger I tried my 8 inch on my clam drill plate and it works fine you would want to clear the shavings out often in thicker ice.

[Billy G]

Let us know what you end up doing, I'm sure there's a few people that will be trying to fugure out what to do come this winter.