Electric Augers

[jphersh22]

Has anyone used the Stikemaster or Jiffy Electric Augers? Being from Iowa I don't typically have to drill through as thick of ice as you do up north, but for covering water I want to upgrade above my hand auger.

[ryan johnson]

k now i've never owned an electic auger before...but i'd assume you'd need to have some sort of energy sourse with you to supply the auger..ie..the battery on your truck, or a deep cycle battery say, in your shack maybe being topped up by a solar charger or something like that..now obviously your not gonna be taking yourr truck on the thin ice..so that leaves you with the prospect of hauling a very heavy battery around with you,or getting a very long set of jumper cables..are you sure thats what your gonna enjoy doing?? oh and if your thinking about using your 12 volt vexilar battery ,i doubt very much that the terminals could handle the current that the auger would be sucking out it..

just my 2 cents...

[jphersh22]

The Strikemaster does have it's own battery pack attached AND seperate cables if you want to hook it up to a ATV, snowmobile, etc. Your question, is what I was wondering: how long does the battery last, how many holes will it punch, etc.

[ryan johnson]

well blow me down..they do have there own battery packs

they must have a battery able to withstand the 20 amps draw..hmmm how long could that little battery possibly last??hmm my sonar battery is a 7 amp hour that means at 20 amps that would give u about 20 min worth of juice??could that be right?

[tomfromblaine]

I've read around 20 holes with a few minutes between each so the battery can regenerate it self, but I can't remember how thick the ice was they were testing it on but it seemed to me at the time it was driveable ice.

[SCHAAKATTACK]

I have the 8" Strikemaster version. And I absolutely love it! Yes there is a self contained battery pack that powers it. There is also a connector w/ a seperate cable that you can run it off the car/truck battery.

Is it right for you needs? You have to ask yourself how much moving around you are going to do. If you are going to swiss cheese the ice then it is probably not for you. But if you drill around 12 holes or so then it would be a good choice over a hand auger.

I have yet to drain the battery when I was fishing. I did drain it after I was done to see how many holes I could drill and I think I was close to 20 holes.

Good points-No Gas/Oil- It's Quiet

Bad points- battery life

Like I said I love mine. I used to hand auger it and when this unit became available I knew it was for me.

You could always buy a spare battery and have that charged and carry it with in the portable. It is easy to change out and would double your cutting holes.

[jjjrobley]

I also own the strikemaster. I used it on red lake this last winter with a 12" extension, it drilled 6 holes for the fishhouse and 6 more outside. Early ice you can expect 20 plus holes.Great for inside a fishhouse no fumes,smoke.I already sold my gas auger i don't need it any more.

[TV BOY]

If you fish in a permenant shack it is great no fumes,therefore no rush to punch the holes and have chips flying. Ive drilled 12 holes through 2feet of ice and still had charge left. ( I did keep the auger inside the house)

Not sure how many you would get if say you left it out in 10 degrees for several hours. Batteries don't like cold. I never used the gas one last year.

[Turkeyhunter10ga]

I have a Strikemaster 6in elect that i purchased used from a guy that only used it 6 times previously. It's a couple of years older than the new ones w/ battery, yes there is some extra weight involved with taking a battery out with you.I take my old deep cycle battery that was taken out of my boat and use that for juice. We dont get the amount of ice here in Indiana like they do up there in Minn. Last winter i took my older son ( 22 y. o.) out with me one day, we did a lot of moving around and between the 2 of us we punched over 50 holes thru 12 to 15 inches of ice and still had a lot of juice left ! Iowa should get about the same amount of ice as here in IN depending on the weather of course.This elect beats the hell out of the old hand auger especially when you're pushing 50 and have a desk job now instead of a lot of physical work like i used to do!

[Lost]

Sounds like the perfect auger for me. I usually just drill 4-6 holes since I'm not one to move around much. Now that I'm starting to take others out with me to enjoy ice fishing, I could use something that will last longer than my cordless drill. And I'd love to drill 8 inch holes instead of just 6 inch holes.

[PierBridge]

NO EXAUST SMOKE especially in a permanent house.....is real nice for people with health issues and for the kiddies also...

[SCHAAKATTACK]

Something else to consider is there will be no smell transfered into or on your bait of choice.

[IceJohn]

jphersj22.I have an older model and use a larwn mower battery.Put it in the sled not hard to move at all that way.I fish southeast IA. alot by Bloomfield maybe we could hookup this winter? Give me a yell some time.ICE JOHN TEAM ICEHEAD

[jphersh22]

Thanks all for the good info. IceJohn, I fish a lot of ponds around the Iowa City area. Occasionally lakes, but I feel more comfortable on ponds and seem to find better fish. I tried Lake Belva Deer last year too which looks real promising.