stuck auger #$%^&*!!!!!!

[skunked_once]

How can this happen? I was drilling a hole with a 2hp Strikemaster, 10", and the auger got stuck. Two of us worked and twisted and grunted and swore but we couldn't get it to turn in either direction. Fortunately, we were able to enlist a nearby good samaritan to come and drill it out with another auger. Has this ever happened to anyone else? What did I do wrong and how can I keep it from happening again?

[vitalshot5]

It happened to me once and i was told I was pushing down to hard and that i should let the auger to the work....must have been good advise cause it hasn't happened since

[Corey Bechtold]

...2hp...10"...That could be the problem. Call Strikemaster and see what they say. (763)263-8999

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[skunked_once]

Thanks vitalshot5. I'll take it easy next time and let the auger do the work. After I posted this I found a thread in the equipment section about strikemaster augers and someone else pointed out the same problem.

[hanson]

I've had it happen a number of times but it is always when the ice is real thick, 3 feet plus of ice.

What I've noticed is if you allow your hole to fill with ice shavings while augering, when you break through, the water saturates the shavings and puts you in a bind.

What I do is lift my auger up while its running to clear the shavings on these deeper holes. Then when I punch through, its a lot easier to get my auger back!

I'm guessing this is not your specific problem however since we don't have 3' of ice right now.

[Northlander]

I drilled into a log with my Nils and had to turn the shaft the opposite way with a pipe wrench to get it out. Good thing I had my tool box in the truck within walking distance.

[riverrat56]

Strikemaster does make a 2hp 10" doesn't make alot of sense, but they do.

[cliffy]

Ah..this is good humor....it brings back a funny memory. I also have a 10inch 2hp strikemaster.

About three or four years ago I was on LOTW on one the coldest days I can remember. I think the high that particular day was -35below. It was so cold that we had to warm up the propane tank (heater) to get it to flow correctly.. I remember the ice being so thick that I had the extension on the auger. I drilled until the auger head was almost to the ice level and the auger tip broke thru to the water. The whole hole filled with water....and I had not cleaned out the shaved ice while I was drilling. That auger FROZE solid in a matter of seconds. It took forever to break it free....I ended up bending the shaft a little....and my buddy fried his nylon coat on the auger muffler........to this day she still smells like burnt nylon when I get her good and hot.

I guess the key is to let the auger do the work and to clean out the ice shavings as you go. Good Luck.

[trapperdirk]

If blades turned the other way that 3hp jiffy powerhead of mine would roar her thru . LOL I've heard about some issues with the 2hp SM ten inch 4 bladers doing this . Is yours a 4 blade ? . Takes alot of umph when turning a ten inch and like stated if its slush and thick ice you might be wee bit underpowered at times or also having 4 blades taking a hold .

TD

[icehousebob]

A couple of guys I know went to Red Lake late season with a brand new Lazer auger. They decided to drill a hole to see whether they needed to put on the extention. As they broke through the bottom of the ice, the auger jambed. They tried to chisel out to get to the point where they could disconnect the shaft and the chisel hit the gear box and shattered it.Then they unscrewed the auger shaft from the motor assembly and the auger dropped to the bottom of the lake. One hole and they more or less totaled a new power auger. Some guys shouldn't be allowed out without adult supervision .

[Cygolf1]

well I did not get mine stuck by drilling a hole but by leaving it in a hole half way thru the ice. I had been storing my auger in half drilled holes for an entire trip to SD 5 or 6 years ago. It was 20 or so below and blowing like a fan on high. So after we drilled holes for our shack we were scooping the ice out and basically flinging it behind us at a fast rate. Well to make a long story short, when we went to move an hour or so later, I went to get the auger to find that when we were scooping the ice and water out of our holes that some ended up in the auger hole and frooze the ice shavings solid. we pried, pulled, chiseled, yanked and cuss and swore. We finally used our two torches we have for lighting laterns etc. and heated it up enough to get it loose. It took us at least an hour to get it out and all that happened was we bent the shaft a hair. I will never do that again......

[hanson]

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well I did not get mine stuck by drilling a hole but by leaving it in a hole half way thru the ice.

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And that is another really good way to get your auger stuck.

For you newer ice fisherman out there, never drill a half hole and leave your auger sitting upright in it. It may be a convenient way to store your auger while fishing, but you'll get it stuck one day.

[Harmonica Bear]

You're darn right it is. You only make or witness that mistake once. I will never forget when we had our permanent at Lakeside on Mille Lacs. Some guys in a shack 75 yards away let there auger sit upright in a hole 1/2 drilled. It was one of the funniest scenes I ever remember watching ice fishing. After witnessing their endeavors and struggles, you'll never see me drill my auger 1/2 way and leave it.

[so haaad]

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I drilled into a log with my Nils and had to turn the shaft the opposite way with a pipe wrench to get it out.

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Northlander, I'm willing to bet that Nils would not recommend using an auger as a wood chipper!

[Guest]

I somehow have never got an auger stuck that bad that I needed a tool to get it out, but I have wrestled with them many times breaking through the bottom in thick ice. 2 hp is plenty to turn a 10" auger, but its going to be rough breaking through. You need to run up the rpm's while lifting the auger to clear the excess shavings out of the hole or your going to be fighting every time.

I always have some tools in the truck... a pipe wrench is in there! They also come in handy if you need to pull of a rusted out trailer ball. Any large pair of pliers os going to give you more leverage than trying to turn it by hand... and a much better chance to get it out quickly before it has a chance to freeze in more.

For those who like to store your auger in a 1/2 drilled hole.. It WILL haunt you some day! Either a little water is going to seep into the hole, the auger is going to have some moisture left on it from drilling other holes, or the sun is going to warm up your auger shaft and it will melt into the ice enough to cause some serious issues... bad things are going to eventually happen!

[Howieroch]

I also have a 2 HP 10 inch Strikemaster auger. Mine has only gotten stuck once, and I haven't used it since.

I was fishing Mississippi backwaters with a bunch of FMers when mine stuck at the bottom of the ice. I already had a bad back, but that made it worse - a lot worse. The shock of the auger sticking shattered a disc in my lumbar spine and I spent 4 months flat on my back. I've had a surgery to fix what they could, but to this day I still have days when I can't get out of bed.

So there you have it. My 10" auger hangs on the garage wall, and I can tell you that I will never again use it. An auger getting stuck at the bottom of a hole can be a bad deal.

The picture in my avatar was taken the day this happened. The only fish I caught all day - a sucker.

[Stoneman]

Interesting.......I have a new Laser 224....a few weeks old and each time i drill she sticks right at water level, but can get her out easily......A friend told me he had same problem until he broke the blades in alittle...Didn't think i am using down presure, no, i'm not.

[kenlaker]

Drilling a hole to stand the auger in was the way I learned it. Never had a problem myself, although we did once with my buddy's auger and after 2 hours with a propane torch (2 hours of lost fishing time) we got it out. He had drilled farther than he thought and broke through the bottom of the ice. That was the last time either of us did that. I was up on URL 2 or 3yrs ago, and there was an auger stuck in the ice with the powerhead removed, I'm guessing that was another last time for someone doing this!

[Sutty]

I did that once leaving my auger in a 1/2 drilled hole. On waubay in SD. I got it out but bent my shaft. bought a new 10 inch and have not had a problem since. I'll take the less weight of the 2 horse and clean the slush out of the hole before I punch through.

Come to think of it every dumb thing I have done ice fishing has happened at or on the way to waubay.

Lets see.

On the way to waubay I was on a dirt road looking for an access, came over a hill and hit a 4 foot snow drift. Stopped my truck dead and launched my 4 wheeler through my rear window of my truck. (I have a trailer now)

Leaving waubay lake once my four wheeler slipped off to the side of my wood ramps. Broke a ramp and I sat dangling from the other one. I sat there for a minute and thought hmmm learning opportunity here how am I going to load this thing with one ramp and not get flattened climbing off of this four wheeler in mid air.. drove ditches for a while till I found one I could drive into with the truck and back the tailgate to the road to drive the 4 wheeler in. A little elmers glue and sand made my ramps grip better and I have a trailer now...

drove across thin ice where another truck had gone through the week before that was not marked and the ice was not thick enough yet under some snow and dropped the front end of my truck to the frame coming off the lake in the dark with nobody else around. To complicate things my cell phone did not have a good signal and the battery was dead. I had to climb back in to put it on the charger hmm never forget that moment. Some college students that were driving around the lake drinking beer found me a couple hours later and after calling another truck doing the same they both hooked up to me and got me back on the ice.

If I ever invite you to go fishing with me on waubay you may want to take a rain check!

[PierBridge]

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Interesting.......I have a new Laser 224....a few weeks old and each time i drill she sticks right at water level, but can get her out easily......A friend told me he had same problem until he broke the blades in alittle...Didn't think i am using down presure, no, i'm not.

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Two seperate problems whats happening to you happens a lot I like to let up at the bottom of the hole just a tad and then bust through the bottom.

The other issue is a suction issue like Hanson said sometime's you can break the suction by jerking the auger but if your stuck right down on top of the ice it's difficult I usually dig all the snow and slush by hand out of the hole and I then take a long screw driver and poke hole's as best i can to break the pressure, i know it sounds crazy but last March I got a least 6 augers out using this method a couple of the guys i helped out were actually in tears.

[DOC33]

That's exactly what was happening when I purchased my 224. I emailed Strikemaster and they said it was a bad batch of blades. They sent me a brand new set the next day. Might be worth a quick email.

[arcticcat400]

i had the same thing happen on my strikemaster i drilled 2 holes then the auger wouldnt spin so i just fish out of the 2 i had went home took the auger assembly apart cleaned and oiled it and its worked fine ever since