Which power auger? - opinions needed
 

Just had some questions and wanted to hear some opinions with power augers. First off what brands do we see the most of around here... jiffy, strikemaster, eskimo, the odd nils and husqvarna? I have run an eskimo for about 5 years now.( 1.2hp stingray) And still to this day i dont have a single complaint about it. Priced GREAT, its light, it starts extremely easy EVERYTIME within the second pull. Although a small 1.2hp it has never hestitated or bogged down going through any thickness of ice. just endless good things to say about it. then this season my old man got an eskimos shark Z51 10''. And again I was really impressed. That 51cc flies through everything. easy starting ( bit heavier ) and again a very good price that the other brands cant seem to compete with.

Also this season I won a strikemaster lazer mag 2 1/2hp auger at the jackfish lake derby. And this auger blew my mind how light it was, how fast it was, and how good it sounded, and again the ease of starting was there. Never use to be a big fan of the strike masters with how much plastic they use but performance wise, although ive only used it a handful of times, very very impressive.

That brings us to jiffy. I use to work a wholesale sports and cant tell you how many jiffy augers came back every season let it be for mashed gears, problems cutting, rattling noises in the gear box etc etc. countless. never saw one eskimo come back and only one strikemaster due to the pull cords coiled spring was broken. Now i realize that wholesale isnt a warranty repair center and some have gone to lawn mower hospital or straight back to the manufacturer but even so that could only mean that many more jiffys were being sent to those places as well as back to wholesale. Seeing so many problems with them has really turned me off of jiffy. but then i talk some guys and they say have had there jiffy for 30 years and still running better than new? i guess this is my question, whose running jiffy's and what do ya think of them? i also understand that they are extremely finicky augers. but when you get a good one they really fly. ive yet to have personal experience running one but i know they are a very popular brand name for augers. and im trying to figure out why.

An age old debate. I'm an eskimo fan and always would be, however I'm also really impressed with the strikemasters.

ran all the brands....never had a issue with my jiffy 3...never had a issue with my e-mo....always had a back up power auger to my SM so i experimented with different ones. Everytime someone would buy my my backup because it had virtually no hours on it and they also had no issues. I wont sell my lazer 4 blade SM it does tricks no other auger ive tryed will do and it cuts really good. My propane jiffy should be here this week....i'll report on it after i cut a few holes

strikemaster all the way i have had one for 25 years still runs great.next one strikemaster hands down :)

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I just copy and paste my last responce to this question in 2010.




I guess I will put in my two cents....



StrikeMaster 10" Lazer Mag 2.5hp Power Auger is running a German engine on a Swedish auger blade. When I was looking for an auger this year this is the one I bought. From what I was reading the Jiffy is using a new chinese motor not the old reliable techumsa engine (techumsa went out of buisness). And the other augers just didn't feel right. The only issue I had with the auger before I bought it was the plastic on it. Then I found out what it was, Tufflite Dupont Zytel, the same stuff used on a lot of military equiptment to bring the weight down. And that is a good thing!

As far as using the unit, I have drilled about 100 holes with no issues. The shaft bolt loosens after about 30 holes and needs to be tightened. My auger also starts and runs at -20C better than I do.

Almost forgot, the unit is lighter then most other units.

I hope this helps.....

2011 update

Still very happy with the StrikeMaster auger. I did have one issue with the pull cord on the top. The recoil wasn't working well and the cord got wrapped around the top of the guide causing it to get stuck. This was on Spray of course after a 30min hike to the fishing location. I took out my pliers and proceeded to rip chunks out of the top bezel till I freed the pull cord and had it working. Once I was home I called StrikeMaster told them what I did pliers and all. StrikeMaster promptly sent me out a new recoil assembly and top bezel for free.

I was able to start the auger with no issue at -28 this year also. :)

Jiffy 3 HP Model 30
 

Bought a Jiffy Model 30 3 HP (Tecumseh, now discontinued) 10" 3 years ago because I THOUGHT it was the biggest and baddest so it must be the best. Never operated a power auger before that. Did not do my research at the time.

It's as strong as an ox, practically no plastic but weighs as much as an ox too. I'm a big guy so I can handle it but after trying some "smaller" augers, I would have opted for something else at the time, regardless of brand.

Yes, I can speak for my auger; it is finicky. Tuning, tuning, tuning all the time and 2 screws not just one. It does not run the same in fluctuating temperatures so it needs tuning which is frustrating and time consuming when you just want to get your lines down ASAP. But it works and get's the job done so I guess I'll stick with it. The new Jiffys seem more user friendly and they have improved the tourque on the smaller engines so I'm not neccessarily against Jiffy.

I tried premium gas, better oils, Jiffy products, stabilizer and all of the things that you all do maximize performance but it still needs tuning at different temps. Sometimes I have to drill my holes at full choke, sometimes 1/2 choke and sometimes no choke. On the other hand there is nothing broken on it and I have not done anything to it other than straighten and sharpen the original blades when I hit bottom earlier this year.

If I win a new auger at a derby, I will be selling my current auger cheap or giving it to someone who really needs an auger and isn't in the financial position to be able to afford one; as long as a new one gets the job done just as well or better. Jiffy may be a bit behind in applying new technology as compared to some of the other brands.

That's my Jiffy experience.

I prefer electric, no recoil, oil, gas, spark plug, choke or carb to screw up, the only limiting factor, or decision you have is how long do you want your cables to be, and do you want to carry a battery or clamp on to your truck battery.

I use wheelchair motors, they last forever, and 30" of ice is gone in 20 seconds with a 8" hole left behind.

I run a small strikemast mag. 2000 with an 8" blade. It is my first auger and I bought it almost 3 years ago now. It is a light weight auger and has never had any problems starting it. It isn't the fastest auger on the market but being as light as it is I have no problem taking a few seconds longer on each hole.

My buddy bought one of the new strikemaster strike lites last year with the plastic auger. It drilled really nice and was pretty light. I was worried about the auger being plastic but he hasn't had any problems with it so far. It is also a 4 stroke so its really quiet and no mixing of oil and gas. He told me the other day that he was having a problem with it and thinks its a head gasket so hopefully he can get that figured out soon and strikemaster will help him out since the auger isn't even a year old yet.

I have tried a couple different eskimos and they seemed heavier but drilled nice and seemed to be pretty reliable.

I have also used a jiffy and it was really heavy and really loud but drilled holes like a monster. It also used gas twice as fast as my auger does so that is another downside to the jiffy I tried.

I remember a guy has a pretty new husquavarna that wouldn't start in anything below like -10 to -15. It was a really good auger on nice days but good luck trying to get it going when it was cold and crappy out. It was also super light and super quiet when it ran. I am not sure if this was just a problem with that one or if they all have that same problem.

I had a Jiffy 3 hp with 8 in flyte for 16 years and the only problem I had was I broke the off/on switch off (my fault). Had it sharpened a few times by an old guy that lived down the street from me. And I drilled a lot of holes with it.
I never owned any other's so I can't make any comparisions.

Have jiffy model 30 for 15 year no problems always runs good have adjusted the idle mixture srcrews couple times. Few years ago most used tecumseh engines so same issues. Jiffy definitly the most popular on the ice so there would be more returns. Driving around the lake at badger it be at least 5-1 jiffy to the all other brands.

Did they use a tecumseh engine 15 years ago?

yup they did we have an old auger must 20 yrs old same model 30 engine looks like this 1 http://www.fast-autos.net/diecast-ca...733738807.html

Yep the good ole lawn mower engine on a big drill bit. I also noticed the majority of augers at Badger were white or yellow.

[QUOTE=cujo1969;849883]Have jiffy model 30 for 15 year no problems always runs good have adjusted the idle mixture srcrews couple times. Few years ago most used tecumseh engines so same issues. Jiffy definitly the most popular on the ice so there would be more returns. Driving around the lake at badger it be at least 5-1 jiffy to the all other brands.[/QUOTE]

very good point

Ice augers
 

I have had a TML ice auger for over 25 years, only changed blades and still cuts like new. Just hope I never need parts because they haven't been made for years.

i'd like to have one of those modified augers they use in the ice auger championships.....

I'm quite new to ice fishing. I have an 8" Swede-bore hand auger that I used last season and most of this season. After getting very tired I decided to buy a power auger, and I bought the Eskimo Stingray because it was the least expensive. Right off it needed a carb adjustment, but I got that taken care of pretty easily, and then took it out. I drilled 12-15 holes in 26" ice and it had no issues. Probably not the fastest out there, but it worked, it started, and best of all... my arms weren't aching the next day!

I have a Jiffy 3hp STX 10 inch and have had no issues whatsoever. It cuts very quickly but it does not start 1st pull like everyone else's LOL. It starts about the 4th or 5th pull and will idle all day long if I wanted it to. Most other augers I have seen being used on the ice, the guys have to constantly feather the throttle when walking to drill a new hole so it doesn't stall.

I have never tried anything other than Jiffy but I am certainly happy with mine.

did the extension fit?

i run an eskimo Z71. a bit heavy but the power is nice. i dont like no name bash other peoples stuff, but i dont like jiffy, more expensive than other brands for some reason?? and you can always tell when someone is trying to start a cold jiffy auger, pull pull stall, pull pull stall, run run rev stall, run run rev stall. i think you need to be mechanically inclined to own one, most people arent. IMHO...

Sure did. It came in VERY handy as well. The STX has a quick connect collar so I put the extension directly to the power head then the quick connect to the extension.

nice i was alittle worried if models would be different

Sounds like " Name Bashing Other Peoples' Stuff " to me LOL!!!

Augers are pretty simple machines and I don't know that it matters all that much if they can drill a hole in 10 seconds or 20 seconds or if they start 1st pull or 30 seconds later on the 15th pull. As long as we can avoid hand drilling or chiselling we should be happy.

I bought a Jiffy since I have had them in the past and they worked well for me.

Back in Northern Ontario there was huge name bashing about the Major Snowmobile manufactures, truck bashing everywhere,now ice augers......I think it's part of the fun with any given past time to rib people about their gear.

I wonder if cooking forums have arguments about who makes the best equipment? ..........." I have been running a Cuisinart for 10 years and they are awesome;your Kitchenaid SUCKS!!!!!" LOL

im a purist give me a old fashion stick and i'll stir a pile of poop into a frothy choc milk shake

I'm on my second season with this machine with an 8" auger, very happy with it. Love the power to weight ratio and ergonomics. Never had any problems with the recoil (or anything else) but before I even used it I followed the tech bulletin fix for that on the strikemaster site....Starts with one or two pulls and lots of power. My dad (who had a jiffy for 10 yrs) even likes it.

I have a jiffy white lightning 2hp auger that has been running frequently for about 8 years now. All that's had to been done was replacing a spark plug, getting a new throttle linkage, and a ripcord. I haven't even had to ajust the carb screw once. The auger still runs as good as when it was new, if not runs better than new. :sHa_shakeshout:

I must agree though that it does take quite a few pulls to get those jiffys started.

I haven't used any other brand of auger though I have seen people use ancient looking strike masters that were still performing awesome.