Augers

[Pikemaster101]

Dose any one Have any suggestions for what the most top of the line augers are?

[Note from admin: You can see the Nils Master Augers by Clicking Here.

[MRWALLEYE2005]

Nils Master Jiffy Stealth and Strikemaster are the top of the line augers.

[Northlander]

Nilsmaster is my favorite and I have owened every brand and used every auger but the new 4 blade Strikemaster. Its very light, fast and super effortless to run. I have ran it all winter and once I figured out not to prime it she starts on the 3-4th pull every time.

Also the Jiffy Stealths are nice but Jiffys are heavy. Last a long time though. Strikemasters are also good. I know a lot of guys who run them and like them. I myself didnt like the blades not cutting right when they got a good film of ice on them. So I went to a chipper bladed Jiffy.

If you have the $ I recomend a Nilsmaster. Plus for early ice you take off the powerhead and put on the handle for the hand auger. Fastest hand auger out there and just like the power auger its effortless.

I guess I would suggest finding people with all the augers your interested in and then asking to cut a hole or 20 with each one. Then base your decision on how you will use your auger and how often. Good luck you should find some deals as the season winds down.

[Knotwood]

Eskimo shark 37cc. Well built, no leaky cap, cuts efficiently, good grips/handles, primer, runs GREAT! Lazer type blades with cut-outs keep ice from building up. Worked on some Jiffys and Strikemasters, not impressed. Sorry guys!

[Moose-Hunter]

I own a Strikemaster Ultra (3 blade, 9") and have been very happy with it's performance. HOWEVER... I am very impressed with the Nilsmaster and may be "jumping ship" next season. GREAT running, cuts fast, light weight and the ability to convert it into a hand auger for early ice.

[hanson]

Just upgraded the 4 year old Strikemaster Lazer Express 8" with a new set of blades this weekend. I do this yearly because I love a sharp auger. Brand new blades are $40 for a pair and reconditioned are less.

But one thing I never paid attention to before was that replacement blades for a Jiffy Stealth 8" are over $70!!! Yikes!!

I don't like how the Jiffys seam to snag in the ice, especially when you are about ready to punch through.

Sorry, I'll take my Strikemaster every day of the week including Sunday.

[Deitz Dittrich]

This truely is a ford vs chevy thing. I got the chance to use a Nilsmaster auger this year.. and IF I was buying again, I would give them a serious look. A VERY SERIOUS LOOK..I like to bore about 20 holes a day on my light days.. usually upwards of about 50 holes a day. And every hole means a lot and that nilsmaster really blows threw the ice!!! like the perverbial hot knife threw butter...

I myself have a Jiffy, I like the fact that you really do not have to worry about how sharp the blades are.. a dull chipper blade will still get threw the ice just fine.. I see people with shaver blades with 2 guys trying to litteraly melt threw the ice with old dull strikemaster units. If you keep the blades sharp they are great units.. but once they are dull they are almst worthless. I have had the same blades on my jiffy for 3 years now and have lost count of the number of holes it has drilled.. A good guestamite would be close to 1000... maybe more... Both stike master and jiffy have the same engine, so that has no sya in the unit what so ever... the Nilssmaster is MUCH lighter, and like I said..if I were buing today.. would give them a SERIOUS look!

[LEECH21]

I myself own a Jiffy Stealth 8". It works great. Cut holes in the ice as if it was soft butter. The 2 hp, 8", like the one I own is not very heavy. I can tell you though, it is tremendously lighter than my old 3 hp Jiffy. I don't think you could go wrong with a 2 hp, 8" Jiffy Stealth.

[Woody Erickson]

I'll second Northlander's opinion.

Nilsmaster is a great auger. I have the 8" power auger along with a 6" and 4" (4.5" I guess) hand augers. All work as power or hand augers (versatility).

Just bought the 4" at Cabela's Bargain Cave for $20. Going to try it under the power head this weekend. Should cut extremely fast.

[Beaver15]

Hanson-

You mentioned that Jiffy's seem to "snag" in the ice. My new 9" 2hp Stealth is doing exactly that. Once I get about 1 ft down it seems to "snag" up a few times and I have to do the old lift and drop method(tiring and can't be good on the auger). Is that normal from what you guys have seen/heard?? It has no problem breaking through at the bottom. Just wondering if this is just part of the break-in period or if I have a problem/power loss going on. Thanks for any info guys--

[augernaut]

I haven't run the Nils yet, but I am dying to try. I currently run an 8" Lazermag. Cut with any Jiffy you'd like, then pick up the Lazermag. There will be no doubt which is the lighter, faster auger. In addition, my Strikemaster is 100% reliable, and every bit as durable as the Jiffy. Weight does not necessarily equate to durability! LOL!

[upnorth]

Not sure if this will apply to yours but the breakin instructions for my new Eskimo z51 said it could take up to 2 hours of use before the clutch would be grabbing at full capacity. Might be similar for yours.

[MRWALLEYE2005]

I have a 2hp Jiffy Stealth 9 inch too and I have the same problem with it getting stuck. Anyone know why it does that?

[Bob Horn]

Strikemaster!!! Never had a problem. Just change the plugs at the begining of the season. If iceing up is an issue just spray some cooking spray on them. I looked at the Nils, looks nice but the strikemaster keeps ticking. One good thing going for the Nils is that you get a gas and hand auger all in one, that might get me to switch next season.

[Beaver15]

Mr. Walleye-

At least I'm not alone on this one. But I didn't think this would be normal for an auger. Another guy mentioned 2 hr break-in for clutch. Starts great, no other problems, just gets hung up--and becomes tiresome. Anyone else have this happening with theirs??

[cold one sd]

I have had no problems with my 2 hp stealth.

[hanson]

Beaver15-

I suppose it could be the 'break in' period for the clutch but my Strikemaster never did that for me.

I have just seen it alot on the ice. I cannot comment on the Jiffy owners blade condition, newness of the auger, amount of effort they apply, etc.

What I have seen is a number of Jiffy's seam to go 8" or so into the ice and 'bog', 'snag', or 'stall'. Call it what you will but you have to stop augering and then start again. You can get another 10" or so and it will happen again. I don't know what causes it but it seams to happen quite a bit.

My question is, does this happen on the first hole you auger or the 6th or 7th hole you auger? If it happens on only the first hole, you need to let the auger warm up more before you give it the juice to cut a hole. My Strikemaster is the same way, it needs to warm up before I really start cutting holes or it will bog on me.

In all fairness, it may just be that I notice this 'snagging' on the first hole other people cut with a cold auger.

[92python]

I see the "which auger" topic come up pretty often on this forum. Seems like the auger companies keep adding blades or faster RPMs or teflon coating or whatever.

There are many good augers that put holes in the ice that you can fish through. I have one of the older 8" Lazer Mags and it has worked for me for about 12 years and has punched many holes.

If it brakes or get stolen tomorrow I will buy another 2hp 2 blade Lazer mag if I can find one. It's kind of like an 870 in my book.

I think it gets down to how well you maintain your stuff.