Strikemaster Electra

[H2O]

I am hopefully going to be getting a Strikemaster Electra soon and will only be using it in my permanent house. My biggest concern is how well it "re-opens" previously drilled holes. I know when I use my gas auger to re-open holes it often jumps around quite a bit and is fairly difficult to control. I was wondering if the Electra will do the same thing or will it be better because it drills with less RPM's.

[eyebjim]

I know several on this site have complained about them reopening holes but I have not had any trouble reopening holes with mine. It is a 7 inch. Maybe it is harder to reopen with the 8 inch?

[dfv87]

I asked this question to the Rep from Strikemaster and he said the Chipper blade is better at re-opening than the laser but he also said that with the laser blade you need to "feather" it in slowly until it starts cutting normally then just let it go. The laser blades cut with almost no downward pressure already so don't force it when re-opening. I love my electra laser no fumes and no mess as the blade is not spinning so fast and slush is going everywhere. Couple it with the "slushmaster" from SM and you are fishing in no time! Good luck.

[Rope]

I have an old white Electra,and I can reopen 7" holes.Of course my ice isn't like yours,here in Kansas.

[2ndminn]

I have a Strikemaster Electra and am quite happy with it. Going on its third season. No noise or gasoline. Its great!

[thatoneguy]

I have an 8" Electra, and it's good for re-opening holes. Like somebody mentioned above, feather it down until it bites in, then let it go. A great auger!

[ib_jigged]

I have had mine for over a year and love it. The toggle switch brokee on me the first time out last year, but I replaced it with another and rewired the switch. Now instead of External(cable)/off/Internal(battery) it is, Forward/off/reverse. I really like it when the blade starts to bind that I can switch to reverse and not have to horse it out of the hole.

Great auger! At the end of last season on LOW I was drilling 6 holes through 4' of ice no problem. Put it back on the charger in the truck, when I moved to another spot it was ready to drill again. I bought the Kwik Koupler for it so I can keep the auger head in the cab of the truck to charge as I drive from home to the lake.

[H2O]

Thanks guys for the info. Any other input will continue to be appreciated!

[jigginjim]

IB jigged, I really like your idea, of recharging. Whatbsize is your auger, and how many holes do you get from 1 charge?

[ib_jigged]

I am able to get 6 holes through 48" of ice no problem and just put back on charger for next move. I have never an out of battery power I drilled about 20 holes a day.

I also have a 25' cable made to plug into truck or ATV.

I have the 8".

[goose89]

Could one clip the charging cables (seen on Strikemaster site)onto,say the D/C charging cables off of a Yamaha generator (invertor)???

IE: Would it be possilbe to run and gun w/ generator on back of 4 wheeler "hooked up" to the Electra auger and drill countless holes??

[snoozebutton]

Wouldn't it be easier to just use a gas auger goose89?

[goose89]

Sure would be and is. Just asking a question, IF one were to go the electric route. Thanks for your reply anyway....snoozebutton

[Tom7227]

Could one clip the charging cables (seen on Strikemaster site)onto,say the D/C charging cables off of a Yamaha generator (invertor)???

IE: Would it be possilbe to run and gun w/ generator on back of 4 wheeler "hooked up" to the Electra auger and drill countless holes??

My guess is that the charger is a trickle charger and not a full replacement amp for amp and so it wouldn't keep up with your usage. The charger from your generator may be pushing too much out and blow something. Push comes to shove you can always drop in a fresh battery and be good to go. They change out pretty easily and are the same size as the standard vex battery.

[goose89]

Tom, Thanks for the reply. That's kind what I was worried about. Would be nice if you could bypass the battery, and run off a generator/invertor, IF you needed / wanted to. I'm still going w/ gas, but could see the day I'd consider an electric, but would always be concerned about how I may be limited in # of holes I could drill.

[ib_jigged]

If your fish house has any type of 12V batteries in it you can run off of them. When I build my drop down I will have a couple deep cycles and will wire in two outlets to them that I will be able to run my auger and Marcum off of.

I also have a cable attached to the battery in my turck and have it mounted in the the bumper of my F150 I can connect to if needed. I used the Anderson cable connectors (same type that is on auger) and I don't need to open the hood to get to the battery if I need to use that battery.

I have never had a problem of running out of juice yet when using this auger! Nice not having to worry about gas all over everything.

I can also use the charger to charge my Marcum battery if needed.