12 v. Power Augers

[eman]

My father-in-law needs an easy to start auger. He's 75. I see Strikemaster has an Electra Lazer 1200 w/batytery pack. Don't have a price on it though. I'm interested on advice on this model or others.

[TV BOY]

They work great! No fumes in your house and just push the button and go. They do weigh a slight bit more than the gas model with the battery in them, you can however run them with the "jumper cables" that come with.

[Ed Carlson]

If you intend to use it to open old holes look at the Jiffy Stealth model. A jump start bat/pack will run a Jiffy as long or longer then self contained StrikeMaster bat/pack unit. The reason for this is most jump packs hold 10 amps vrs the 7 amps on a fully charged Vex style bat.

Both units work well in 8" or less. The 6" is the most efficent on power in the StrikeMaster electric/bat model. On the StrikeMaster it is recomended you wait a bit between sets so the bat will recover. Four or five sets of 3-4 holes if spaced out will about use up a self contained StrikMaster 7 amp battery.

When hooked up to a vehicle they cut better due to the added amps. If you tried to drill 40 holes in a row the unit may heat up or the power cables may. A bit of time between sets is always wise to reduce heating. An 8-10 hole set is not much of a stress on a hi-amp system or on the auger. You would wish to avoid overheating any elec augers. They will likely kick-out to protect themselves before any long term damade is done. Yet repeated heating will make the re-set weak and it will start to kick out sooner.

They work well if you know their limitations. You need to keep in mind an elec ice auger does not have the longevity or brute strngth of a gas ice auger.

Hope this is of help.

(FYI- you may find some good deals on demo elec units of both models at many stores right about now.....I would check out GM or maybe Fleet.)

[Surface Tension]

eman, The electric auger would be a good match for an older fisherman that won't be hole hopping much and weights an issue.