Shark Z43 or Z51?

[tashit]

After drilling a bunch of holes yesterday through 13+ inches of ice with the trusty hand auger, I decided it's time for a power auger. I've been looking for awhile and I'm pretty much set on the Shark but I don't know if I want the Z43 or Z51. I've read a lot here on the sharks in general, but I can't seem to find much comparing the two. Is the 43 enough for an 8" or 9"? I was leaning towards the 9" so I thought the 51 might be better but now I'm starting to think an 8" would be fine. I would like it to cut fast but I think weight is more of an issue to me. Is the 20% increase in displacement/hp worth the increase in price and weight?

[Buzzin']

I had the same thing happen to me, kindof. When I first got mine it ran great right away and I cut about 7 holes just fine. After that though it would start just fine but it would die as soon as I started drilling. So I tried the cap thing but that didn't work (tried loosening it to the point it leaked also). So I called them up and they only came up with the cap thing. So I figured my cap was defective or something. So I brought it back to where I bought it and they gave me a new cap. Now it works great. Hopefully thats all it is for you too.

[LocalGuide]

Yeah on my first auger that had a bad carburator the gas cap was also bad. I could tell it wouldnt breath b/c the gas tank would be sucked in after a few holes.

On my new auger now the gas will actually leak out of when its layed with the gas tank down. I could tell there was a big difference there.

I still dont like the fact that it leaks. My dad has last years model and it has the same type of cap (just different design) and his is perfect, it lets air in and no gas out. But I cant really complain, my auger starts on the first pull.

[tashit]

I thought I would update you guys that have been helping me out. I called Ardisam last week a couple times and they ended up sending me a new carburetor. It came Friday but I wasn't home so I got it on Monday. I put it in and it started up right away and idled just fine. Last night I walked down to the lake and drilled a couple holes. It worked great besides killing after the first hole. I am almost positive that this is because it is idling too low however. It was dark and I only had a flashlight so it was tough to adjust the screws but I feel safe saying that it's fixed. This weekend when I'm out during the daylight I will drill some holes and adjust the idle and fuel screws to get the best performance. Thank you guys for your help and thank you Ardisam for helping me get my auger fixed rather painlessly. It looks like I'm going to be another happy Shark owner.