Icegator review

[Loos15]

after dealing with my auger the last 3 times....i wish i would've just saved the money and got the icegator. I saw one with a nils blade in action, and i'm thoroughly impressed. No gumming up the carbs, no dying in the middle of drilling, no fumes, no trying to figure out what oilmix to use, no seafoam, no stabilizer, and no worry about starting it up next year.

[harvey lee]

They are a awesome powerhead with a Nils auger for sure.

[nitro180tf]

I use a 18V Snapon drill and 6" mora early and late ice, When the battery's get cold I loose drilling power. How is the Ice Gator? Looks sweet!

[Boar]

I'm looking at these things an tossing around the pros an cons although there are alot of pros with no fuel, speed, no exhaust indoors an ect... but the one thing I was looking at was the weight, The less expensive one weighs in at 15lbs, two pounds lighter than a jiffy 2hrs white lightning, an the higher end modles weight in at 28lbs right around where my jiffy 3hrs white head is, so there is no realy savings on weight. Which is my main concern right now, it would be nice if a guy could rent one for a weekend but thus is not the case. Would be nice in my perm camper cause I a foot and a half off the ice an have to remove tubes so the slush gose under the camper the put back the tube to fish, cant just bring the augwer up without spilling slush all over. Sound alot like a case of personal preference. Boar

[stumper]

The weight seems like an issue, but to be honest I dont even notice it. I think the main reason is the fact that it takes no physical effort to drill a hole and it takes less than half the time to drill a hole as a gas auger.

[harvey lee]

I agree that the one with more power is a bit heavier but that baby can really cut through ice. With my Nils auger, maybe faster with the Ice Gator powerhead. One does not need to push down either.

[fishwater]

The extra head weight is kinda nice. It is just enough so that your drill digs in great without even the thought of putting any extra weight on it.

[WinterHaven]

I drilled 35 holes through 13 inches of ice and when I came home to place it on the charger the light was already green. Not bad that I didn't hardly use any battery with 30 holes. I believe that owning an IceGator isn't all about the savings in gas and oil at all. Its all about how user friendly it is with no gas, fumes, oil and gas mess, the noise, trying to start it in cold weather and how unbelieveably quick it is to drill a hole.

[croixflats]

What are you gonna do with that extra time you save not messing with the gas and drilling a whole quicker.

What, fish?

Boy, the dog is going to be confused not hearing any cussing because it wont start and the cat is going to be relieved because he wont be kicked.

[fishnfool]

I drilled 35 holes through 13 inches of ice and when I came home to place it on the charger the light was already green. Not bad that I didn't hardly use any battery with 30 holes. I believe that owning an IceGator isn't all about the savings in gas and oil at all. Its all about how user friendly it is with no gas, fumes, oil and gas mess, the noise, trying to start it in cold weather and how unbelieveably quick it is to drill a hole.

When you plug the charger into the auger the light will be green but when you plug it into the wall it should go into charging mode after about 10 seconds. 35 holes had to draw something from the batteries. If yours don't go into charge mode you may want to call Greg at Gator and see if your charger is OK.

I also love my Gator and don't care to go back to gas & oil anytime soon. I figure if I get two seasons out of the batteries I will be happy. I may not be money ahead at that point but it's all about the convenience for me. It's great to grab the auger and be drilling in a fraction of a second and not having to gag on the fumes in the shack is a real bonus.

[ec30_06]

So can can this thing use a 10 inch bit? Will it re-open a hole that shrinks to 8" back up to 10" if it does take that big of a drill?

[stumper]

Right now they dont recomend using bigger than an 8 inch.

[hovermn]

Hey Stumper,

I'm coming into this discussion a little late in the game, I know. You've had the gator for some time now, and the ice is getting thicker. Have you had the batteries go dead yet? How many holes have you drilled in a day? And, how did it work in the Cooooold temps we had a few days ago. Did you notice any power issues, like the bit turning slower?

I'm seriously considering an electric auger for the perm. The Strikemaster is a 1 pull auger when kept in the house, but I just can't deal with the fumes anymore. Also, with the forced air furnace, I heat the house before heading to the lake to get a head start. However, after popping the holes, all of the windows and door are open, which effectively dismissing any heat that's built up. How nice would be be to keep all of that heat in, as well as not having the burning eyes and nose. BTW, I run Amsoil Saber

Anyway, my interest is not for cost savings, speed or weight. It's purely for the pleasure of breathing well, and staying warm in the "cabin!"

So, whatcha think of it thus far? What size batteries did you go with? I don't remember if you posted that.

[stumper]

I havent killed the batteries yet.I carlessly forgot to charge it a few weeks ago and had around 240 holes in about 15 inches of ice on it. It was slower,but still faster than any other auger on the ice.This was 100 holes one day ,100 holes the next and 40 the following weekend.Im sure it woulda been dead faster had I drilled that many holes in one day. I cant see me ever buying another power auger.unless it would be the 8 inch model,lol.oh, I have the 12 ah batteries.

[fishnfool]

Hovermn, I also have the 12 ah batteries and have not run them dead yet. I made a spot in the shack where I stand the auger up and bungy it to the wall just to keep it in a warm area. Not sure if that's needed but it's peace of mind for me. Once you try a gator you'll never go back to gas fumes again.

[hovermn]

I just checked out there site, and after seeing their prices, it may have to wait for next year. They sure look like the ticket, though.

I'd use my Lazer mag express 8" bit on it, so I won't see as many holes drilled per charge as Stumpy, but for the perm I wouldn't need that many anyway. The gas auger would still be used for fishing out of the portable, simply because with gas, I'd never run out of charge, and I tend to move around a lot. That's just not the case with the perm. Besides, while hunkered down, it could be on the charger in the house, anyway

Thanks guys!

[Charlie kempf]

being a proud owner of an icegator, I got to tell you how simply nice it is to fall through the ice, faster than you can blink, it is perfect for ice trailers, shacks, no fumes no burning eyes, no lost heat, Ive had mine for two years now, no problem with the batteries, the cold will zap em a little faster, but gary is coming out witha battery blanket to keep em warm, it is a good investment, I use mine everyday, no complaints well satisfied, I rate this item a 10.

[WinterHaven]

I agree that the Icegator is a 10 in my book too. I love mine and it is great on cold days to stand it up press the button and you are through the ice in no time.

[Big Buck Buster]

I will be purchasing one very soon. Of the three that they offer, which one would you recommend? I have a StrikeMaster 7" Lazer hand auger now. I know that the Seeker is only suppose to go up to 6", and the Attacker goes up to 8". I think that I already ruled out the Competitor. Could I still get the Attacker and be OK? Either option I will get the 12ah batteries. Would you get an extension right away also? Any help would be appreciated.

[Smellson]

If you have a 7in auger I wouldn't plan on getting the seeker as I am guessing any warranty would be voided by using too large of a auger. The difference between the seeker and attacker is the gearing so Im assuming that is the reason the seeker is only designed for augers up to 6in (higher gear ratio/higher rpm). I ended up getting my "competitor" model at the Ice fishing show but they were out of the actual competitor head so they just put the 12volt block system on an attacker labeled power head which I believe is the same head as the attacker. I have since then purchased a couple 9ah 12 volts to run when Im not using the auger in my wheel house and the thing is crazy fast when running on 24 volts. So that would be another route to go just in case your batteries did die you could still hook it up to your truck battery, although im sure you could just use a set op jumper cables hooked up to the battery clamps it just wouldnt look so "pretty". Either way I am very impressed with the Ice Gator!

[Big Buck Buster]

What you are saying is just get the competitor, and a couple of the 12ah batteries to be versatile(use with the cables or the batteries)? I was thinking of just getting the attacker. I really don't feel the need to take cables along. If I did go with the competitor, how hard is it to change over to the cables out on the ice? Do I need to bring wrenches along, or does the unit come with the proper tools to change it over? Thanks for the info.

[Smellson]

It is easy to changeover. The lid has 4 screws that you twist off just using your fingers. The reason I got the competitor was because I primarily use the auger in my wheel house and just hook the cables up to my deep cycles. I got a couple 9ah batteries in case I want to go do a little exploring outside of the wheel house or for drilling holes for tip-ups. If I didnt have a wheel house I would probably just go with the attacker with the 12ah batteries...if for some reason your batteries did go dead you could just hook up a set of regular jumper cables off your deep cycle to the battery clips on the gator....again not as neat as the block system but would still get the job done. Also when I got my gator it ended up being cheaper for me to get the competitor and add the batteries than to get the attacker and add the 12 volt block system. Looking at the prices on the HSOforum now it looks like you would be better off getting the attacker with the 12ah batteries. As for the extension, strikemaster sells a 12inch extension specifically for their hand augers(different than the power auger extension) Which is what I use. It was cheaper than getting the ice gator extension but I think the ice gator extension may be more heavy duty? Havent had a problem with the strikmaster extension yet going through 2+ feet of ice so I cant complain.

[Big Buck Buster]

The competitor isn't a bad idea, because I have a wheel house also along with a portable. Is the competitor strictly a 12v system verses the 24v attacker?

[Smellson]

It was my understanding that the attacker is the same exact powerhead as the competitor, its just that the competitor comes with the 12volt block instead of the two 12 volt batteries. So basically you can take a competitor and turn it in to an attacker by installing the two twelve volt batteries with a short wire jumping from the negative on one battery to the positive on the other battery thus making it a 24 volt system now

[Big Buck Buster]

Thanks for the info. It will help with my decision on which one to purchase.