checking my ice gear... auger questions

[Fish face]

So my beautiful wife gave me a 51cc eskimo auger for christmas last year. great suprise! i would have bought a jiffy but i was pleased with the eskimo. since i got it and have spent every saturday all winter on the ice somedays with 2 or 3 gas augers on hand. im not sure if i got a bummer unit or what. my buddy has a 10" jiffy, hasnt changed or sharpened the blades in 2 years and hes bailed me out a couple times. his rpms compared to mine are way faster. that thing rips compared to mine. am i geared different or what? theres no way i should have to put that much pressure on it to get through. especiallon brand new blades. i think im on a 1 year warranty. wondering if anyones got any advice on this.Should i start the email & phone assault on eskimo central or just get a new set of blades and giv'r?

[TROLLER]

I have the same Eskimo and mine has never let me down. I am betting you got into some dirty ice last winter. One time and your blades are shot.

My guess is your blades. Also on the side of the engine is a filter that you can take out and clean. It should make a difference in your performance for sure.

[Kim473]

Generaly the eskimos I think are a little slower. As far putting presure on it, Does it cut good for one hole then not for others after that? I found that after I cut one hole, do not put the blades in the snow as it soon turns to ice then it won't cut after that as there is no clearance behinde the blades simialar to a drill bit. I some times have to take a plastic object and tap some of the ice off to cut more holes if water has been left to freeze on the blades and build up. You may need to shim the blades to a differant angle if someone has droped it hard on them, changing the cutting angle. Little pcs of lufkin tape measure work good for that. I think a 12 footer has a thickness of about 0.006" You can cut off pcs off a old sparkplug thickness gap guage and you will have lots of sizes to pick from. Loosen the bolts and stick a little pc in one edge and retighten to change the cutting angle. You may have to do that a few times before you get it right.
Mine works great, third season, I'm very carfull of the blades the and allways keep one brand new set in the tackle box, just incase.

[Fish face]

Sent eskimo an email @ 5:00 last night. had a response by 8am today. great customer service. Hes going to send me new blades (i had no problem buying them myself, but what the heck?) and hook me up with a certified eskimo service guy to tune it and check the pitch of my blades. He says my carb may need adjusting. Top marks for eskimo so far.

[chriscosta]

I got a ten inch jiffy and had the same problem now I carry a fine file with me and sharpen it often I replace the blades once a year and it cuts through ice like now fifteen to twenty holes in the time it takes to have a smoke on eighteen inches of ice oh and I also shimmed the blade a good qt inch good luck

[tight line]

I have a jiffy 10" single blade, works great other than the bolts vibrate out easy, locktight seemed to fix that, also had to get a new pull start, i recomend keeping a spare! My buddy has a 8" eskimo, it runs great, but the first couple holes with new blades be carefull they can screw themselves into the ice if you push to hard, not fun to get out... Lol

[Gilligan]

not sure of how true this is but... I read it somewhere last year.

When Jiffy started to offer the 10 inch auger they changed the
slowed down he transmission speed to make up for the same
torque needed to drill a bigger hole.

So... the old Jiffy and current Eskimo are the same auger speed
but the new Jiffy 8 and 10 included would be slower.

I now have a 10 inch and its plenty fast for me !

I'm sure most would agree that taking a bit longer to
get the job done with an additional 2 inches is a good trade off !!!!

lol.....

see you on the ice. !!!!

[FishingFrenzy]

Here's my experience:

Two years ago I bought a Jiffy White Lightning, it was great except for the crappy plastic parts and it WOULD NOT start in the cold. Without getting into details of this one, I returned it for a full refund.

Last year I bought an Eskimo 51cc Shark

Took this thing out, started up first pull, drilled all day with no issue.



The jiffy drilled thru 20inches in about 75% of the time that it took the Eskimo. Honestly though I prefer my eskimo. Overall its more comfortable to drill with and its alot more durable. Also Eskimo customer service is WAYYYY better than jiffy. The jiffy chipper blade DOES cut faster when new.

[boonedocks]

I really hope that i dont jinx myself by saying this but i have been running my Strikemaster 49cc Magnum, 10 inch auger for approximately 12 years now with the same single, serrated style, blade and spark plug that it came with when I bought it used. It ALWAYS starts on about the fourth pull, regardless of weather or how long it has been stored for. Im very dilligent with my fuel/oil mixture and run a touch of fuel stabilizer through it when I put it away in early spring.It may not drill as fast as some but it has outlasted several others that my friends have got new over these years. I fish almost every weekend and drill several hundred holes each winter. If it aint broke ,dont fix it.

[Kokanee9]

Sent eskimo an email @ 5:00 last night. had a response by 8am today. great customer service. Hes going to send me new blades (i had no problem buying them myself, but what the heck?) and hook me up with a certified eskimo service guy to tune it and check the pitch of my blades. He says my carb may need adjusting. Top marks for eskimo so far.


I'm impressed.

[Kokanee9]

I really hope that i dont jinx myself by saying this but i have been running my Strikemaster 49cc Magnum, 10 inch auger for approximately 12 years now with the same single, serrated style, blade and spark plug that it came with when I bought it used. It ALWAYS starts on about the fourth pull, regardless of weather or how long it has been stored for. Im very dilligent with my fuel/oil mixture and run a touch of fuel stabilizer through it when I put it away in early spring.It may not drill as fast as some but it has outlasted several others that my friends have got new over these years. I fish almost every weekend and drill several hundred holes each winter. If it aint broke ,dont fix it.

It sounds like you take care of your stuff very well.

I'm just wondering if you push down when drilling or just let the weight of the machine do the work.

I have a 20 yr old jiffy with original plug and blades on it also. I have never needed to push down on it and also have never tapped the blades on the ice to clear off the slush while drilling. Using just the weight of the machine to cut the hole is so much easier on the gear case and blades, that I believe its the main reason I have never had any problems. Also luck, I guess by not drilling into any dirty ice.

[harrydude]

Have a look at this

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=122476

It is my hot auger .... Fastest auger in the west

Lol

[New Hunter Okotoks]

Just a tip for those with power augers; run only Premium Fuel in your augers. An even better suggestion,is to source Premium gasoline that contains zero ethanol. I am not sure what Manufacturers this would include.

What has been explained to me is that the ethanol eats away and deteriorates the seals in these units. While ethanol might be fine in todays cars and trucks, 2 strokes are not meant to run on it.

[boonedocks]

It sounds like you take care of your stuff very well.

I'm just wondering if you push down when drilling or just let the weight of the machine do the work.

I have a 20 yr old jiffy with original plug and blades on it also. I have never needed to push down on it and also have never tapped the blades on the ice to clear off the slush while drilling. Using just the weight of the machine to cut the hole is so much easier on the gear case and blades, that I believe its the main reason I have never had any problems. Also luck, I guess by not drilling into any dirty ice.

I do have to apply slight pressure to my auger to make it drill optimumly and you are defineatly right about never tapping the blades to remove ice from them. If I could find another like mine that has been gently used I would buy it as a spare. Im not sold on the newer models and their plastic gear boxes and such.

[Fish face]

The one thing that really impressed my about the eskimo was the starting. First or second
pull no matter how long it sits or how cold it is. fired up a couple days ago like I'd been running it all summer, right to idle and no stall. I must admit, I was surprised.

[Kokanee9]

I do have to apply slight pressure to my auger to make it drill optimumly and you are defineatly right about never tapping the blades to remove ice from them. If I could find another like mine that has been gently used I would buy it as a spare. Im not sold on the newer models and their plastic gear boxes and such.

Did you always have to apply pressure since new or did it gradually require that over the years?

[Fish face]

I've only had it one winter. and was pretty much having to lean on it the second or third trip out.