Auger wont drill!!!

[Hoytmystic]

I went out fishing this afternoon. When i started to drill holes my auger wont drill as fast as it usually does. I have an xl-3000 strikemaster with a 10" bit. Usually it is extremely fast. After 2 holes it wouldn't cut more than 2" into the ice. I looked at the blades they are sharp, free of ice, i just dont understand. Please help me with any suggestions. Thank you.

Kyle Curtiss

[yendor]

If it happened that quick it sounds like you may have banged it down on the ice in your hole and turned the edge back by hitting the ice in bottom of hole or blade came loose and tipping maybe

[Captain B.R.K]

I encountered a situation like this last weekend on a trip I was on. Your blades are probably razor sharp and ice free. They cut fine, you are thinking.

Take a look at your throttle. Our problem was the throttle was frozen and we couldn't get the auger to run at full throttle. We had it working eariler on the trip, but when the weather got cold- it just froze for some reason.

We were able to cut holes, but it took twice as long and had to do some improvising with the auger to get it to cut through all the slush.

Good Luck.

[hip_hop_fisherman]

I've been having the exact same problem, the auger seems like it will only run about half throttle or so, and once I get to the point where its about to fish drilling through the hole it doesn't want to cut anymore and I have to fight with it before I can get a line in the water and its not fun with the -16 we were dealing with this morning. I'll be sure to watch the throttle tomorrow, as I just changed blades to see if that had anything to do with it. Any other ideas if thats not it? Bring it in to have it looked at?

[Hoytmystic]

I know there is no problem with the motor. It works fine, it goes to full throttle, the problem is with the cutting.

Kyle Curtiss

[efgh]

Are you sure you didn;t open a old hole with it? if the auger caught you might have changed the angle on the cuting edge where the blade bolts on. Just a thought.

[tonyjor]

Check to make sure your blades aren't upside-down. I did this the first time I changed the blades on my hand auger and it cut, but not very well. More slipping all over the ice than anything.

[LocalGuide]

OK I have a 3-blade that is acting the same way. It works great to reopen old holes that are partially open yet but it sucks to cut a new hole.

The blades are razor sharp so that isnt the problem. Im thinking the blades are bent.

So if thats the issue, how do I go about bending them back to normal?

[hip_hop_fisherman]

Does re-drilling a hole have that much of an effect on the blade? I've re-drilled the holes in my fish house 2 or 3 times this year, but when we bought the auger the guy brought up (without us asking about it) that it is not a problem to re-drill holes with them. We have last years Jiffy 3h.p. 10 inch stealth model. Hopefully she runs fine tomorrow

[huckleberry]

Sounds like a sticky throttle. Mine did the same thing this past weekend. I looked under the auger while it was still running and manually opened the throttle. She reved up really well and the only problem was getting it to slow down. Under the motor there is a banana looking switch. I rotated that back and she took off. Seemed to do the trick for the day but sure wished it would run like normal. It's got to be the cold!

[cheeks]

I had the same problem with my strikemaster...I took it in and I had bent the shaft on it. I had to replace it and it was spendy...hope i'm wrong but is sounds like what I had.

[hip_hop_fisherman]

Fortunatley, mine still under warranty so I'm not really concerned with bringing it in to have it looked at, the part I'm concerned about is having to go back to the hand auger! Last year, the trottle handle came off and it took them almost 4 weeks for them to fix it. Hopefully if nothing else it will hold up until the end of the season and I can have it checked then if needed. Thanks to everyone for the replys, will look into them tomorrow on the ice!

Good Fishin'

[upnorth]

Check to be sure you don't have ice built up around the blades, if you do it won't cut worth beans.

[Ed Carlson]

If your Jiffy is a 3 HP make sure to allow it to warm up well in this nasty cold weather. If you do not it will act as if it is at 1/2 choke and you will have low power. Give it a good 30 seconds or more of warm up time before you try to drill.

Really no matter what type of power ice auger you have allowing warm up time is the key to get proper operation in the cold. Especially if the unit has been stored in the cold prior to use.

Cutting points ice up fast in this -20 weather. An iced up shaver blade is almost worthless so it pays to make sure they are slush free between cuts in deep cold. Chippers do not ice up in the cutting area very often unless you leave them directly in slush..then they sure will.

A small whisk broom is a handy deal to clean the shaver blades in very nasty weather. Just whisk them off between cuts and they will work OK for the next set of holes. Wiping them with a glove can led to a nasty cut even with a leather glove so that is why we went with the whisk broom. Good shavers are like razors and they will make a mess out of your finger. Yup...been there done that...bad plan to use hand.