power auger opinions....

[Shawnny B]

I would agree with some of hte others, I have looked at the Nils with the googly eyes, but my main concern is the service behind it? Where would one take it if it needed service? That was one of the things I looked at when I baught my Eskimo 5 years ago, there was a place in Flake that would work on them and the main distribuiter is in Cumberland, not that far of a drive for me.

Thanks

[Scott K]

I just went through needing an auger. I did a little research. I wanted the Nils auger pretty bad, with all the good things said about them here. But I ended up going the cheaper route, and bought a SM lazer mag, from a sponsor. The boss is the one that made up my mind, I either could buy the SM now, or wait until after christmas to get the Nils, that was a no brainer there. Couldnt miss out on fishing for 2 weeks! That and my old auger was an old eskimo from the 80's, so anything was an upgrade at this point.

So far I have drilled about 100 holes, there is no leaning on this to cut a hole. Alittle on the cold blooded side, but it hasnt really been broken in yet. If it remains cold blooded I will just rejet it.

[harvey lee]

Quote:

---

arent the nils hard to get parts for and dont they take forever to get once you order it???

i have a strike lite and i find it hard to find a better auger than it. fill it with pump gas, a tank lasts forever, it is quiet, no smoke, cuts real nice and quick and it is made in minnesota.

---

I have never needed to have a repair done. if I needed to, I would assume that any small engine repair shop could get it fixed. I have also been told that Nils has great customer service. I dont believe it takes that long to recieve one. No, its not as fast as walking into a store and buying one.

[aczr2k]

Why doesn't someone get set up and actually be a store for Nils? Instead of the mail order dump. I do own one but it sure would have been nice to walk into a store, a garage or whatever and try one out. I think marine general in duluth is a reseller but I can't believe no one else will sell them. What does it take to be a dealer? Heck I'll set up my own dealership, come find me every weekend on LOW you can try mine. I was skeptical at first when I ordered mine and struggled through the first couple tanks of fuel, had I bought from a dealer they could have told me about that. Now you couldn't pry it from my hands, only downfall is now I have to bring my auger and drill holes when a group of us go fishing.

[Neiko]

I don't own a Nils and they are pretty nice auger but the biggest thing for me is serviceability and with no shop around that made me leary on buying one. I know you guys sell them on this site but a lot of guys like to be able to go into a store and touch one before spending that kind of money.

[Sonicrunch]

My next auger is gonna be electric. Being able to grab the auger, start drilling immediately, and setting back down with no worries about fuel spillage appeals the most to me.

I have my eye on the icegator.

[aczr2k]

Exactly what I thought when I bought mine. The tanaka service centers could care less, they don't sell augers. I needed a simple grommet for the fuel tank, called nils they said call tanaka, called tanaka they said call local dealer. Called local dealer, they said they weren't set up for parts yet. Went to an short line small engine shop and luckily they were able to order parts through a master distributor. Grommet was a whole 69 cents, so much for the two year warranty, what good is it? Who would honor it anyway? Couldn't tanaka just send out the stupid part? I asked there response was, "I could send it but you might not get it." I like my auger, it just feels like you have an Agco in a John Deere world, all alone. Spare parts are non existent, if you do need something its at least 1-2 weeks away. Even talked to the nils rep at the show, wasn't impressed, seemed pretty arrogant for someone who has no dealer support.

Yep my rant is over, too much holiday stress, time for a cocktail.

[Juan Grande]

I have a Strikemaster Lazer Mag (purchased three years ago) and haven't been happy with it. It takes 20-30 pull to start it and when I finally get it running it kills often. I brought it in to Strikemaster to get the carb adjusted, but it still doesn't work right.

I'm going to try to put fresh gas in it with some Amsoil instead of the strikemaster oil this year.

Strikemaster's customer service is great, but it would be nice if I didn't have to use it every year. Seems like if you pay $370 for an auger the thing should run like a charm with little maintenance, at least the first few years.

[eyebjim]

I am well into my second year with the strikmaster electra. I really like this unit. No gas in the hole, no starting and if the battery does go dead ( I rarely have that problem) you can connect a cable to a 4 wheeler battery and keep drilling all day long. I can get about 20 holes in 2 feet of ice with the internal battery.

[Neiko]

Are you using higher octane gas? I got a friend who goes cheap and always has problems with his stuff running right. I would suggest putting a little Seafoam in there also and see if that helps. Another thing you could do is take the muffler off and advance the motor until you see the top of the piston. I then take some q-tips and hose them down with Brake Cleaner and clean the top of the piston. It is amazing the oil build up on some of my buddies augers.

[Borch]

Well let me tell you a bit about Nils and Tanaka's customer service. In the past when I needed an extra auger bit for my Nils I had one within 3 days on my doorstep from Nils Master USA in Vermont. This week I had some issues with mine and called Nils. Once there I was directed to the top Tech guy at Tanaka USA in Seatle. Since I was under a tight time frame for getting my unit fixed he took time to trouble shoot with me over the phone. This didn't resolve the issue but did narrow down what the issue was with my Tanaka engine. He shipped parts out to one of my local service centers next day air all covered under the 2 year warranty. There are no issues in getting parts. Most of the parts are distributed from Rogers, MN and when they are out, they are shipped from Washington. There are a lot more Tanaka service centers around than you are aware of. Most of the Northern Tool & Equipement stores are Tanaka service centers. I'm working with a smaller shop who has a bit more flexibility for my situation. In the St Cloud area I found three shops in a short search. Most of the shops had a 1-2 week turn around time frame do to the volume of stuff they are working on this time of year. Mine took 3 days and now I'm in action now for this weekend.

I've had serveral strike masters and they are good about fixing hteir stuff as well. Repairs took 1-7 days for augers I had them work on for me in the past.

So you can see that the anticipated worries of some regarding service is just not a big deal. Pretty much the same repair turn around as any other brand.

[BIG DS]

Quote:

---

arent the nils hard to get parts for and dont they take forever to get once you order it???

---

The Tanaka engines on the Nils are a very good engine and very seldom need much attention. However, if you do need service, as stated above, there are a bunch of places around that do service these engines. For those of you looking to buy a Nils, there are retailers around that are selling them and have some in stock. You will pay the same whether you buy it retail or on-line. Reel Fishing and Tackle in Madison Lake, for example, has one on diplay for sale. At least they did this morning when I stopped in there.

[flyboy2]

Has anyone used a Husqvarna ice auger? They make great chainsaws and have service centers all over, although I have never seen a ice auger in a showroom.

[Northlander]

No but I heard good things about them. I would be curious to see and use one. From what I hear the motor has some serious RPM's.

[rockman]

I have 2 Strikemasters at this time.Strikemasters customer service has been absolutely stellar for me over the past 11 years I have had these augers.Back in 1999, I took in my new 10 in.,3 hp to their main office because the dang thing wouldn't cut, and spin right.Turns out the factory forgot to put a gear box upgrade in the factory reconditioned unit I had,so the tech gave me a brand new power head, at no charge to me.Recently I took my 2 hp,8 in Lazer in to get the gear box looked at.A bushing had gone out on the 11 year old auger, and the tech at Strikemaster fixed/replaced it,at no charge to me.This kind of customer service ,well, it doesn't get any better than that.

However, if I had to replace one of these Strikemasters right now,I would give strong consideration to a Nils auger.I have seen one in action, and it was impressive.

[Bandit]

I have had 2 Jiffy 3 horse models. Sold the first after 18 years, have had the second for 7 years, NEVER had to worry about customer service. Nothing ever went wrong with either of these. With experience like that, it would be hard to get me to buy anything else.

[harvey lee]

Yes, all products were made to higher standards years ago.

[Surface Tension]

The most common reason for service is having the carb tuned or cleaned and new kit.

Second would be from long arms and breaking off the recoil rope.

Any good small engine shop can do the above.

[Jim Almquist]

I was able to take my Nils out for its maiden voyage and I really can not say enough good things about it. Just start it up and let it warm up and start cutting. It was so easy that I let the wife and another buddy's wife who came along cut all the rest of the holes while I checked depths to get us lined up on the bar. It is so effortless that I was able to cut a hole with one arm ! I really wished that I would have tried the hand crank because with only 11 inch of ice I am sure it would have been a breeze. I think for the money and the fact that you really get 2 augers it is worth the price.The build quality is great with very good looking welds on the auger shaft. Now only if the fishing would have been better but I think the front shut them down but I have all week off to fish

[EyeSkater]

I do not own a Nils auger, but have heard for a few years how excellent their cutting qualities are. I have owned several pieces of power equipment that featured Tanaka engines and drivetrains. I know them to be well engineered and tough enough for daily commercial work. That particular powerhead (used by Nils) is a real workhorse.

I have fished 9" & 10" holes exclusively for 14 years as I pursue big walleyes and pike. An 8" hole is basically adequate, but leaves little room for error. The math teachers out there would confirm that dropping from a 10" to 8" hole equates to about a 40% loss in hole area. It may not seem bad on paper, but leading a 12 pound 'eye into a small hole is like threading a needle on horseback.

That is the only reason I don't already own a Nils.

'Eye-Skater

[melikefishn]

I am also thinking about a Ice Gator did you get one if so how is the pro & con of it MLF

[melikefishn]

SIC Did you get a IceGator yet?? if so like it pro or con MLF