Man what a fishing trip... LONG

[Nicholas_23]

Ya know if werent for bad luck I wouldnt have any luck at all. Went fishing with a friend of mine from Arlington MN this past weekend and headed north to meet up with his buddy. We were up by ball club/deer field. On saturday we were on bow string by 11 am and thats when it started goin down hill.We got the shacks set up and were ready to drill the holes when the recoil spring on the strike master busted on the third pull. My buddy thought he could fix it but he didnt have a crescent so he went back to deerfield? for one ( needed it for the empty propane tank anyways). When he got back we pulled it apart and found the shaft that the spring sits on was busted off. This is cast onto the top cover of the head by the way and there was no way to mount it back on . So 15 bucks later we had 4 of the eight holes drilled before one of the locals jiffy took a dive on him. No biggy we could share on and off. When we were sick of the sharing routine there were some wisconees that pulled on the ice. I went over and asked him if he would punch the other four holes for us which he did ( thank you) . I gave him five bucks (he didnt want to take it) then my buddy went to the truck to get him a few more bucks and found the truck was locked with the keys in it ! AHHHHHHHHHHH
So there we were for the next two hours trying to jimmy the lock with the recoil spring from my auger and a fishing pole with the eyes busted off I think it was only about 10 below~~. Eventually the guy that was from up there called his girl friend courtesy of someone elses cell phone and her dad came out with slim jim.After a half hour of that and the dodge was open. All in all not a bad time ..... but always have two augers and a second set of keys. ( :
P.S. anyone want a strike master cheap!!?!!?

[bturck]

Sounds like a great day, no pun intended. Did you catch any fish? Bill

[Wobbler]

Had a simlar experience two weeks ago on LOW with my 3 year old 10" 3 hp Lazer Mag 3000 strikemaster. On the first hole my gear box shattered and my auger was in 3 pieces. It would have cost me so much I traded it in and got a new one. The next day we had my dad's new 9" triple blade Strikemaster and on the second pull the recoil broke. I also called someone from Strikemaster and told them about my auger and they said well the warrenty is over and it was too bad about my gear box. I did not expect a new one or anything just some help and I was deeply disappointed. I like to keep my business in the state but that was bad. Rule #1 Customer Service! When my buddies ask what auger I think is best I will tell them my story.

[Nicholas_23]

Actually we did we caught some nice craps all 14 and below .

I'm wonderin how much this things going to cost me (auger).

[bturck]

Other than the frustration there was still some good that came out of your trip. Its tough to stay positive when all that @#$t keeps happening though. Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. Bill

[Deitz Dittrich]

I had the recoil break on my auger this year also.. Mine is a jiffy. I had to take it to a authoised tecumsae dealer.. cost me $70 I think.. good as new.. .I think you could do it cheeper if you found a used part!

[Ruegs23]

Had an experience close to that on Red. We were at least a mile from anyne else and we locked the keys in the truck. We ended up using the antenna off the truck and jamming down through the weatherstripping on the door and hitting unlock! We would probably still be out there if we hadn't thought of the antenna!!

[ackotz]

Wobbler...I'm sorry you had such terrible experiences with your Strikemaster equipment...but I had problems with mine and they bent over backward to please me. Same thing with my friends auger. They replaced both our motors...and I've read on this forum, other people who have had nothing less than great customer service from Strikemaster. They pride themselves on that. Again, sorry you didn't experience what we all have...

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I had the same thing happen to me on LOW on 16 mile reef!
My son thought of the antenna trick, worked great too! Had to use it a couple of times after that. The power lock switches on my Ford are located right where your elbow will hit them when you exit the truck!!!
I always grab the keys out of the ignition when I exit the truck now.
Cliff

[Nicholas_23]

Well I took it in . It's going to cost me 53 bucks. Supposedly this "newer" version is built a little bit tougher.

[upnorth]

Call me paranoid, but I always leave the window out the wind partway down when out ice fishing to avoid the locked keys in the truck thing. There have been times when I have been out on Vermilion and there is no one within miles of where I am so....

Take it for what it is worth. I figure after a half hour an open window is not gonna make a dang bit of difference on the cold anyhow.

[metro 1]

I have never owned a vehicle that I didn't have a spare key somewhere on it. The one now has a duck tape key in the topper ,the other truck has it wired to the frame. It sure saves allot of panic when there needed.Metro